Inviting our best thinking

Greetings!

Hello again from Tanzania

It is good to be working here on our Project.

These demanding problems have a clarity that is motivating and invites our best thinking and problem solving.

Climate change adaptation is becoming a unifying theme.

For example, sanitizing water is an important challenge in itself. But when the water source might dry up due to a drought, climate change rears its head.

Getting the life-damaging smoke out of a house is a powerful goal. But as wood sources are depleted , sourcing energy for cooking becomes a new challenge in the changing environment.

People everywhere are encouraged to be find ways to lessen global warming. But here in a “least-developed country," the damage wreaked by climate change out-scales any capacity for prevention. So adaptation has become the most urgent requirement.

As always, your help makes all the difference.

With deep appreciation,

Twende!

Robert Lange

June 2023

Facing the many aspects of rain dependence

Livestock management when there is less rain

As we’ve described previously, we have been doing what we can to demonstrate ways to manage the livestock economy in the face of drought.

We continue to purchase our excellent raw materials for cow fodder supplementation and recently began a new round of fodder production.

Each production cycle takes 300 of the 80kg bags of sunflower cake, and an equivalent amount of maize bran.

Both are the nutritious waste products from the sunflower oil and cornflour production processes.

We are also cutting grass from our hay farm for storage. We'll use it at a later time at our cattle feedlot.

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More solar power to the people

New solar supply store with solar power demonstration area in the front

The International Collaborative is building a good reputation as experts in solar power application.

To continue to encourage increasingly widespread solar usage, we established a new duka (store) for selling solar supplies (pictured above and at the top)

Located in Mto wa Mbu, it is far from the usual retail sources clustered mainly in Arusha.

We’ve already completed the duka construction. We’re now in the process of creating a solar demonstration set-up outside to attract and interest the people . This will include pumping, lighting, and even cooking with solar panel energy. See the pressure cooker demonstration above.

We are stocking up with solar supplies to use for International Collaborative projects and to sell to the people. We now have hundreds of solar panels, 12-volt, DC pressure cookers, and DC pumps. We imported them directly from China at good prices with the help of Robert Van Buskirk, who works alongside us in Malawi.

Farming and climate change

More Maasai are turning to farming as some communal grazing lands have been divided up and allotted to villagers for raising crops.

But that too is rain dependent and is “out of the frying pan into the fire,” in terms of economic diversification.

We at the International Collaborative are studying the multiple approaches to adapting farming to climate change. Many of these approaches focus on selecting crops and seeds that grow well in dryer situations.

Building on our strengths

As utilizing solar electric power is an area of expertise for us, we are building on that strength. We are analyzing the use of solar power for pumping and distributing groundwater for irrigation.

Groundwater utilization has its problems and challenges, of course. But when the plants are dying of thirst, rather than leaving the water down there, we feel we must use it to address the drought conditions.

We have the initial funding we need and will use it first for surveying for ground- water in the Rift Valley in an around farms there.

There is one well there already being used by a vegetable farmer and there is certainly groundwater for broader use. Our pilot installations will include vegetable farming in the shade of solar panels, pumping water up, and distributing it over the acres it can serve using the electricity.

As always, your ongoing interest and support mean the world to us.

Thank you!

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