PIPES International - Water and farming

A Dream Come True!

Thousands of children and families struggle to survive without access to clean water. Women and girls walk miles to get water for domestic use. Men and boys take their livestock away from home, searching for water and green pastures.The children are the most vulnerable as they miss school, get sick from drinking dirty water, and continue in the cycle of poverty.
The Maasai Community's traditional source of livelihood, cattle rearing, is threatened by changing weather patterns, which has caused a prolonged drought that has negatively affected the livelihood of the Maasai people. PIPES' partnership with Worldserve-Kenya and Davis & Shirtliff has achieved the desired results. We now look forward to implementing farming projects and moving the community from over-dependency on cattle rearing to both cattle and crop farming for food security.

Water and Farming Initiatives

EXCITEMENT AS THE BOREHOLE PROJECT IS COMMISSIONED!

Finally, a community that traveled an average of 8 kilometers witnessed a unforgettable milestone. PIPES International partnered with Davis & Shirtliff and World Serve-Kenya to realize the dream. And on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, the community gathered for the commissioning of the borehole. Moses, a local pastor, stated, "This borehole is an answered prayer, and it will go a long way in serving the community for years. The project will have long-lasting effects and will impact areas such as economic growth, improved health and hygiene, improved cleanliness, enhanced livestock management, food security, and creation of jobs through farming initiatives."
Overall, the borehole project will have a transformative impact on the lives of the Maasai people, significantly improving their access to water and contributing to their overall well-being and economic development. This project will transform lives in a region that has been hard-hit by drought for years.

The Maasai Community's traditional source of livelihood, cattle rearing, is threatened by changing weather patterns, which has caused a prolonged drought that has negatively affected the livelihood of the Maasai people.

Prolonged droughts have become a common feature among the Maasai community in Namanga region due to climate change. Women and girls walk numerous kilometers in search of water that they carry back home. The long-distance walks take away time from other productive activities. Since water access points are far, the amount of water used in households has to be highly rationed so that water lasts longer. Extreme water rationing has implications on hygiene practices at household level. Often communities draw water from rivers and it is consumed without purifying. Traditionally, rivers were clean and consuming water from rivers poised little danger. However, with increased use of chemicals and litter, the water bodies are polluted. This problem also affects schools as some lack reliable clean water.

Water is life

Without access to clean water, economic growth is significantly hindered. In 2023, we drilled a borehole in Mailitisa, Namanga region in Kenya for the indigenous Maasai community. The water project will have a transformative impact on the lives of the Maasai people, significantly improving their access to water and contributing to their overall well-being and development.

The years 2022 and 2023 was characterized by immense losses of cattle. The Maasai community lost thousands of cattle owing to prolonged periods of drought with many cows and goats starving to death.

Water is a blessing to the Maasai women

Women and girls are significant beneficiaries of the water. Normally they walk numerous kilometers in search of water that they carry back home. The long-distance walks take away time from other productive activities. Since water access points are far, the amount of water used in households has to be highly rationed so that water lasts longer. This means some important chores are left unattended due to shortage of work.

A blessing to the whole community

Male members of the family walk long distances in search of drinking water for their cattle. During the droughts, semi-nomadic tribes travel numerous kilometers across other counties in search of water and greener pastures. In some instances, conflicts arise between the pastoralists and communities where the pastoralists are considered to have trespassed and let their animals interfere with the farms of host communities.
Since commission the borehole on August 2, 2023, male members of the community do not have to walk their cattle for hours in search of water. Water in now available in their community.

Shallow wells in Pakistan

In Pakistan we have dug seven shallow water wells providing water to the indigenous Jogi community. This has significantly improved their access to water and contributing to their overall well-being and development. Without access to clean water, economic growth is significantly hindered.

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Mixed Farming

We aim to empower the Maasai community to embrace crop farming and equip them to practice it by applying modern farming techniques. We will invest in demonstration farms, capacity building, seed investment, and sensitization. To achieve the dream, we have already purchased 10 acres and drilled a borehole. We will set up demonstration farms, showcase the application of farming techniques to the target communities, and promote small-scale agribusiness farming using modern farming techniques.

We want to start this project with a few acres and scale up later. We will install drip irrigation and divide the area into blocks where learners study and practice farming. We will help them transition to their homes, cultivate food, and sell the surplus.

NEXT STEPS IN KENYA....

Kenya has many unemployed youth. They face multiple vulnerabilities such as poverty, low literacy, lack of employability skills, lack of opportunities in their locations, and near zero social capital from family. Overreliance on cattle herding as the primary economic activity has worsened the situation due to prolonged drought.

Our next step is to introduce community-driven solutions to create jobs for the youth by leveraging the community's land resources for agribusiness. Youth will be trained, mentored, and handheld to initiate agribusiness activities, access markets, establish partnerships, and create jobs for their self-employment.