Even if the rains came immediately and poured on the thirsty ground every single day, it is too late in the growing season for the corn plants to properly germinate and grow.  Which means there is no hope for a harvest.  And yet, each day, farmers like this one take their teams of oxen out into the fields to plow.  When asked why they do this, the farmers responded, “We plow so that we don’t lose our skill, in case there is a harvest next year.”

The lack of rain presents a host of problems.  First, there isn’t enough crop waste to feed the oxen, so the plow animals get weaker and weaker.  In this picture, you can see the ribs of the emaciated oxen. 

This field should be lush with green corn plants bursting through the soil.  With supplies already low, and the cost of grain skyrocketing because of global economic realities, the outlook is bleak for the farming village of Worja.  Because the land is so dry, afternoon winds whip over the sun-baked landscape and, in the process, blow away much of the fertile topsoil, making the likelihood of a strong harvest next season more difficult. 

CAPTION: Water flows from a pipe into a simple irrigation aqueduct that provides crop irrigation for hundreds and hundreds of acres of cropland.

CAPTION: A group of women raise their farming equipment above their head in joy and jubilation.  The local irrigation system gave these women not only water, but dignity and hope, as they can now determine their own destiny and prevent their families and children from starving to death.

CAPTION: A girl stands in front of the tomato fields she helps tend.  Though young, she contributes mightily to the work of her family, spending several hours a day pulling weeds by hand to ensure that only the crops pull nutrients from the soil.  She is eager to do this.  The alternative - starvation - is only a few miles away.

CAPTION: Irrigation dramatically improves the soil structure of the land.  Look how rich and dark and wet the earth looks, compared to the soil in Worja.