Rain, Rain ...
people become hungry.
Kipara wanted to find ways to solve this problem. First,
he changed the way he farms his land. He started to
farm with new ways of taking care of the soil, so that his
crops would grow even with less water.
Then, he did something his neighbours thought was
very silly. He dug a path from the road by his house to
his farm field! Now when it rains, water pours off a hill
close by, down the road, along his path and into his
field. He has more water to make his crops grow!
He also found a way to store rain water at home so
that his family does not have to walk very far to get the
water they need.
Kipara continues to work hard to find ways to make
water more available, even if they are brand new ideas
and others might think he’s strange. Because
of this hard work, Kipara’s family is not hungry anymore. Kipara is also helping his neighbours change the
way they are farming so
their families will not be
hungry either.
Ask an Adult!
Learn these new words and then quiz an adult to see if
they know these words!
Precipitation – any form of water that falls to the ground
from the sky. This includes rain, snow, sleet and hail.
Irrigation – to supply dry land with water. This is done
through canals, ditches, streams, pipes and many other
ways.
Drought – a period of time where there is not enough
rain. Droughts often result in water shortages and poor
crops.
Conservation Farming – a method of farming that is
inexpensive and helps farmers protect their soil and
conserve water, resulting in growing more food. This is
the type of farming Kipara is using.
Learn the word for rain in
these languages:
French – pluie (sounds like “plu-ee”)
Haitian Creole – lapli (sounds like “la-plee”)
Japanese – ame (sounds like “ah-meh”)
Portuguese – chuva (sounds like “shoo-vah”)
Swahili – mvua (sounds like “mm-voo-ah”)
Think, think, think...
In many places around the world people have to walk
a long distance to get good water. Often women and
children carry large buckets of water on their heads the
whole walk home! How far do you think you could walk
with a bucket full of water on your head?
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Photo: MWJeffrey
This is a picture of Kipara
and his youngest child,
Joshua. Kipara and his
family are farmers in Tanzania. It often does not
rain much where they live
and the farm fields cannot
grow enough food. Then
foodgrainsbank.ca/education