When we started our Rural Assistance Program in January , our initial target area was plagued with hunger and extreme poverty. Most of the farmers there grew only a single annual crop of rainy season rice. Now, we rarely see serious hunger there. However, many of our farmers still produce only enough to feed their families with little or nothing left to sell.
This new initiative is centered on promotion of moringa farming for a select group of fifty farmers. Our partner organization in the field recently made a multi-year contract with a moringa processor in Phnom Penh. Of the fifty farmers selected to pioneer this effort, forty already have water wells on their farms. As of the date of this report, about ten of our farmers have already planted their first moringa crops.
The new moringa plants should be ready for pruning after about six months from the date of planting and then the plants will be pruned again on a rotating basis every two or three months thereafter. From the start of our RAP program in , we placed a strong emphasis on the benefits of crop diversity. However, if successfully cultivated, a small moringa field can bring our farmers meaningful cash income. For some of our farmers, this will be the first time in their lives that their small farms provided them with not only food for their families but significant cash income.
Hopefully, the cash income will enough for many of our farmers to discontinue the practice of leaving their farms to work as construction laborers in Phnom Penh and instead be able to stay at home with their families on the farm. Put differently, if successful, our moringa program will provide farmers with cash income comparable to what they might have otherwise earned from working as laborers in Phnom Penh.
Rey right and B. We are very excited by the prospect of providing our farmers with an alternative to the dangerous, backbreaking and rather poorly paid work in Phnom Penh so that they can remain throughout the year, productively employed on their own farms. Our donors have been and will continue to be vital to the success of this program, especially for our 10 farmers lacking wells.
