Friday, March 16, 2012

Blog #8: Solar Energy Brings Food, Water, and Light to West Africa


In Kalale, Benin, the citizens had suffered without any fresh vegetables and crops which lead to malnutrition and sickness due to dry weather during six months.  Mamoudo Setamou, a professor of agronomy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, who is a native in Benin and heard about the result from his homeland.  Setamou contact Robert Freling, the executive director of Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), to improve Benin current state.  SELF successfully help two villages in Kalale, Dunkassa and Bessassi by using solar power and drip irrigation.  The first plan they completed was installing the solar drip irrigation system.  The device was design to pull the water from a reservoir, then travels through a couple of pipes, and targets the roots of the plant.  Freling said the drip irrigation is also assist by the energy of the sun. The project to save Benin was a success and it achieve by grow a ton of vegetables like eggplant, carrots, and tomatoes.  SELF will help to pay for the solar-drip system so it can continue working in Benin.
            From reading this article, I learn how technology will help a village from a dry season.  Also, it helps farmers to grow their crop and vegetables.  I like how SELF explain the solar drip irrigation works with the other villages in Benin.  This is a good strategy for West Africa to avoid the shortage of the food production.  This strategy is helpful for farmers but the drip irrigation is expensive to build and to process.  It is a difficult strategy to accomplish due to the price but having a mindset like SELF did, this will help many citizens to have a place to grow some crops and vegetables which they need to survive during the dry seasons.

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