Changing Lives One Drip At A Time
Dan Wolf, Founder and CEOJust outside the town of Apac in a district by the same name, I met David Otim who, in March of this year, joined our drip irrigation initiative. In exchange for a modest deposit up front and a contractual promise to pay the balance over the next three years, we supplied David with a complete irrigation system – that means drip lines, a hose, a tank and a pedal pump to feed water from a nearby swamp to both hose and tank.
At the time David signed up, he was earning about a dollar a day. Yet, he had to support his wife, his four kids and his 90-year old mother. He struggled to put food on the table and, all too often, his children would be turned away from school because he was unable to pay their fees.
In four short months, however, everything has changed. Whereas previously his crop was limited to maize and beans, the drip system has enabled David to grow cabbages and tomatoes – and to do so during dry season when prices are at their apex. He has already made about $500 from his first irrigated harvest (with more to come) and his projected annual earnings are over $2,500 -- a five-fold increase in income over the previous year!
David proudly told me that “I have cleared all of my children’s fees for this term so they are able to attend school every day.” He also said that he had purchased bricks for a house he plans on building for his mother. Moving forward, he is hoping to buy more land and even some cows.
David’s life has truly turned around and, as this is an initiative that can pay for itself over time, we are confident that it can be scaled to reach thousands of farmers just like him.
