We were out in the fields yesterday, seeing our work at the sharp end.  It’s when I meet the farmers and hear their stories that I really understand the difference we are making as well as the challenges these young people face.

Hastings is on the left, with Peter, who has provided Hastings with technical assistance.  Hastings  has done well and his crop of beans is ready to harvest. In the picture you can just see the river that passes close by meaning that Hastings can benefit from one of our Futurepumps and plant a second crop after harvest , to grow during the long dry season (now till November).  This will double his annual income!

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Dora has had challenges this year – through illness, she was late planting the crop so, although it looks good in the field, the lack of rain now means the beans won’t ripen in the same way and her harvest will be reduced.

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Elafa has grown soya and she has put in a huge amount of work this year.  However, it has been tough – she planted her crop in December at the start of the rains, as instructed but then there was a period of two weeks when the rain stopped in her area and she lost all the young plants.  She cleared the ground and replanted but by then it was late which means her crop is not yet ready for harvesting, but the rains have stopped.  Climate change is such a challenge and, in a world where justice is hard to find, the poorest people suffer most.

This is why we need the irrigation pumps that many of you are helping to fund.

This is also why people are pressing their buttocks to the security glass at the House of Commons!

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/naked-climate-change-protesters-disrupt-14220263