The Lady Fâtemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust
September Lodge, Village Way , Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire , HP7 9PU
LFT Donors £80.00 will provide 1 family with arable farm land hence potentially providing food for about 20 people every day.
Country OverviewAfghanistan is a land-locked and mountainous country with extreme weathers of very cold winters and very hot summers. Although the country suffers from severe droughts, agriculture is the main industry with approximately 80% of the population depending on agriculture for their livelihood.
Droughts, avalanches and deforestation have led to the degradation of the land and have greatly reduced the size of arable land in the country to about 12% of which only a half is being cultivated due to a lack of water supply.
Due to the absence of sufficient rainfall, farmers usually have to rely on irrigation and the melting snow to recharge the ground water, but over the past seven years there has not been enough snow and very little rainfall which has resulted in severe shortage of farmland and subsequently food shortages.
As farming and animal husbandry are the main occupations in Afghanistan , water is a precious commodity. The shortage of farm land has resulted in the poor farmers having to seek cheaper and accessible alternatives such as engaging in poppy farming while others work as labourers or migrate to Pakistan in search of jobs.
Phase One
Boring of the well began on January 3, and reached an ultimate depth of 156 meters by January 27, 2009. Boring is a process where a large and deep hole is excavated with an outer ring and then an inner ring is inserted to allow a fitting of a steel tube to connect with the submersible pump to be built. Over the next three weeks, the steel tube will be inserted and connected to the submersible pump, as will the pump’s generator.
The tube well is located near the main Masjid which is approximately 500 metres from the farmland that will receive this water. The initial boring was attended by the some members of the community together with the community representatives who will be overseeing the proper usage of the tube well once it is completed.
Future plans
The weather conditions in Qalay Ghulam have been good to start this project – it has been very cold and the ground is hard given the temperature and snow. Work has progressed at a decent pace and once phase one has been completed, phase two and three will begin in mid March of building the reservoir once the ground is in a good state for cementing the foundation and walls of the reservoir. The reservoir will be located approximately 100 meters further down which will feed the irrigation channels to the farms.
Project Impact
There are approximately 700 families who will potentially benefit from the installation of this tube well in terms of farming and in being able to collect clean water for use at home. The installation of this tube well creates a natural opportunity for households to have water. They would be able to go with buckets and containers and fill up the water themselves. The committee would need to control and manage this.
Summary
Giving people the means to provide for themselves is one of the best ways to empower an individual. The provision of this irrigation channels would generate crops which can be sold for income, food for the families as well as water for their livestock. The difference this project will make to the lives of these families is immeasurable; mothers do not have to worry about feeding their children, fathers do not have to go into poppy farming and sons do not have to migrate as refugees to neighbouring countries to seek odd jobs.
• £15,710.02 would mean that 4 acres of farm land produces bigger harvest, better crops, increased income and better health for approximately 4,000 people
• It would cost only £80 to provide 1 family with arable farm land hence potentially providing food for about 20 peoplehttp://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org/
Tel: +44 (0) 7798 76 10 20Tel +44 (0) 1494 762 063,
