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| Most of our work is in remote rural areas, in the mountains where people’s lives are at the mercy of nature. When it rains enough, plants grow well, animals can eat, food grows well, people can eat, and all is good. However, during periods of dryness, things shrivel up, there’s less for all to eat, and people begin to worry. | ||||
| We may not be able to control the amount of rainfall, but we can control how much is wasted. So, we enable the communities to build more effective, leakproof irrigation systems (with basins, canals, and pipes).When rain does come, it often causes flooding and dangerous erosion, leading many villagers to decide that building agricultural terraces along the side of their mountain, and guiding the water down a carefully-chosen path, can replace the erosion with a perfect space to grow food. So, we work to design innovative systems that irrigate crops while reducing erosion. Villagers whose corn and barley subsistence farming barely makes ends meet often decide that a transition to raising a cash crop like fruit and nut trees will change their lives. Fruit and nut trees can increase household income multifold. In addition, the trees diversify the economy, prevent soil erosion, offset carbon emissions, and reduce reliance on neighboring national parks’ natural resources. Because HAF projects are all community-initiated (conceived during HAF-facilitated participatory planning meetings and chosen and executed by the community members themselves), the people are discovering ways that their active participation and commitment can make a difference. Yes, every day is Earth Day here at HAF, and we thank every one of you who enables us to do this work! One world, one earth. Happy Earth Day 2012
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Without the advantages of clean running water or piped-in cooking gas, everyday tasks become far more time-consuming and unreliable. Here in Morocco, as in much of Africa, many people cannot (and most do not) take these for granted. | |||