| |  |  | Milestone for beekeeping | Eritrea’s six-year-old beekeeping development programme has reached a notable milestone with the distribution of the 1,000th colony reared at the queen bee rearing centre being supported by Self Help Africa at Mendefera.
The facility is one of three rearing centres we are backing as part of a national programme to promote apiculture as an alternative income generating activity for rural households.
Although environmental and climatic conditions continue to challenge beekeepers, who often face hive absconding rates of 20%, the project has been a significant success.
By providing training, supports and an extensive programme of planting of foraging crops such as sunflower, rapeseed and euphorbia, hundreds of rural families have been helped to establish successful small beekeeping enterprises. Work is also under way to organise hive owners into honey producer associations in Maekel, Emni Haili and Eritrea’s Southern Region. |
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| | Irrigation | The 12 founder members of the Asugie small scale irrigation group in Gogne, Eritrea didn’t realise the influence they would have when they first started work on a pilot horticulture project in their area two years ago.
But the success of their irrigated activities has become a model for others, and in the past year six similar community irrigation groups, involving a total of 55 local farmers, have been formed in their district. |
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| Situated in the hot and dry western lowlands of the country’s Gash Barka province, landowners in Gogne relied primarily on herding and subsistence agriculture until Self Help Africa began a programme to promote horticultural production in the region.
“I was able to produce food on my farm for just five months each year and used to spend the rest of the time selling firewood, palm fruit, and doing other jobs,” says group member Ismael Gufe. “Now I can farm all year around”.
The group received training in horticultural production and also benefited from the boring of a well and installation of a diesel pump for the district. ‘‘We took charge of the upkeep and maintenance, and in return were given access to the water for our irrigated farming activities,” Ismael explains.The Asugie group produced chilli and other vegetables on six acres of irrigated land last year and earned more than É9,000/£8,000 from the plot. Six new horticultural groups have been established in the area, with in excess of 80 acres now irrigated for farming.
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| Water benefits | Villagers in Shekat village in Gogne are benefitting from the recent construction of a local rainwater harvesting pond in a local valley. The pond, which has a holding capacity of approximately 30,000 cubic metres should provide livestock owners with a year round watering hole for their animals.
Meanwhile, the judicious management of available water has been applied in Gogne by a group of small farmers at Armecha, who have constructed a series of gabion walls to allow them to divert a local seasonal stream through their farm-lands. The stream will allow them to produce a second crop, each year. |
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|  | New projects | Preparations have been made for planned start up of a series of new area based projects in Eritrea, in the coming year.
Needs assessment work and baseline studies have been undertaken, in preparation for the commencement by Self Help Africa of projects in Elabared, Mai-Aini and Kimira districts. The planned Elabared project will succeed the Keren ABP, Mai-Aini will take place in an area close to the completed Emni Haile project, while Kimiri is situated in Eritrea's Southern Red Sea Region, and would be the organisation's first ABP in that area. |
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| Pond construction | More than 210 households (approx. 1,200 people) are benefitting from the construction of a rainfall harvesting pond in Gogne during the second half 2008.
The utility will also service the drinking water needs of over 1,900 livestock in the area. Meanwhile, remedial works have been undertaken to strengthen the construction of a second rain gathering pond in Gogne, after it had begun to experience seepage. |
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| Sorghum | Local farmers in the Emni Haili area in Southern Eritrea are to begin seed multiplication of sorghum in 2009.
Improved quality sorghum stock has been provided by the country's agricultural research service, and planting and multiplication of high yielding sorghum will be started during the rainy season in Spring of 2009.
Farmer producers of multiplied seed will sell their produce to other landowners as part of a campaign to promote increased sorghum production. |
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| | Introduction to Self Help Africa | | Above is a short introduction to Self Help Africa and its work. |
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| School opened in daughter's memory | The elderly parents of an Irish schoolteacher who died tragically in early 2007, travelled to Eritrea recently to perform the official opening of a new school that was built in her memory.
Margaret and William Gill from Offaly, Ireland, travelled with Self Help to Adi Gebru, where they unveiled a memorial to their daughter at the site of a school that has been built in her memory. | | | Tree planting programme | A major programme of tree planting was undertaken in both the Emni Haili and Gogne area based projects during the second half of 2008.
Nearly 100,000 tree seedlings of different species were planted in total, providing rural farmers with cut and carry fodder crops for their livestock, shelter belts and a means of halting erosion on farm-land, and fruit trees, which will eventually provide households with an added source of nutrition, together with a potential source of additional income.
Communities were also provided with training in tree nursery management. | | | Supplying local communities | A programme of activities was carried out in 2008 to tackle the shortage of equipment, and to build the capacity of local communities to increase productivity at farm household level.
Included amongst this work was the provision of ox-ploughs and other tools for sale through local farm input shops, and the commencement of work on the construction of a seed potatsprouting store in the Emni Haili area. Local materials for the construction of this facility were assembled by the community, and building work had started as the end of year approached. |
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| News from our African programmes : | | | | | | | |
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|  |  | A water reservoir to provide clean water was built |
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School improvements to be started | Self Help Africa recently completed construction of two new classrooms, to address overcrowding at an elementary school in the Emni Haili area.
The work took place during the second half of 2008, while a programme of remedial works, including the replacement of doors and windows, is underway to two further classrooms on the property.
These structures were originally built by local parents and members of the local community.
Other works taking place at the school include plastering and masonary repairs, the construction of a water reservoir, and the development of a pit latrine to improve sanitation at the school.
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| | | Self Help Africa - Ireland
Annefield House,Dublin Road,
Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland
Tel. +353 (0) 578694034 |
| Self Help Africa - UK
Second Floor, Westgate House,Dickens Court,
Hills Lane, Shrewsbury, SY1 1QU
Tel. +44 (0) 1743 277170 |
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| | Self Help Africa is an international charity registered in Ireland and the United Kingdom Registered charity number : 6663 (Ireland), and 298830 (UK) | | | Powered by go2web
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