Return the Rains

Let’s bring change by returning the rain
 

In the Aweil district, South Sudan, changing climate and weather patterns have negative impacts on local farming and the environment.

Over the last 10 years, annual rains have shifted from April to July. Rains are starting later and finishing earlier, meaning shorter, more intense rainy seasons. This creates many difficulties. In 2019 and 2020 the rain was so intense as to cause flooding in Aweil, wiping out a significant amount of local harvest. Shorter seasons also mean that there is not enough time to plant two crops, which was once common. Both of these things mean less food, impacting people’s heath and ability to earn an income.

This project builds on research which shows that increasing the number of trees in an area can improve local rainfall. Our local partner, Christian Mercy International (CMI), will help plant trees is a variety of public institutions to improve rainfall. This will in turn improve food security, soil fertility, yields, and the living environment. Seedlings of mainly mango and orange trees will be provided to schools, health facilities, churches, marketplaces and payam headquarters, which are a type of local government facility.

Your support will help provide seedlings for planting, and maintain and sustain these trees to ensure they reach maturity. The impact of these trees may not be fully seen for years. Any shift in rainfall patterns or changes agricultural productivity in will not be noticeable for at least ten years. However, the planting of trees now will help ensure better rainfall into the future. It will improve the living environment, and help increase farming production for subsistence farmers. This project is providing for the future.

Give today, and bring real change for the future. Seedlings today can give increased rainfall, and better food security.

For more information on how trees can help rainfall, download the Environmental Risks Impacts and opportunities Assessment