Page 31 - Presbyterian Connection – Spring 2021

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SPRING 2021
Connection
PRESBYTERIAN WORLD SERVICE & DEVELOPMENT
PRESBYTERIAN
31
Lebanon Crisis: Six Months Later
Hagop and his sister, Anaheed, stand on their balcony overlooking the damaged port in Beirut. PHOTO CREDIT: MERATH-LEBANON
the floor in the debris for three days. Before the devastating explosions, Lebanon was already facing an eco- nomic crisis. COVID-19 only made the situation worse—many lost their jobs, making it difficult to access
food and health care.
In response, PWS&D, with part-
ners at Canadian Foodgrains Bank and ACT Alliance, provided vital food and other essential aid, including help with the clean-up efforts. As- sistance will continue for months as people get their lives back together.
Hagop and his sister were able to get the windows and doors of their apartment fixed. Their apart- ment building is being repaired. “The church has given us vouchers, which we used to buy food from the super- market. They were also so kind as to give us a new refrigerator and a new oven, since ours were not working anymore since the explosions. Some people from the church are also cooking for us every day and bring- ing us hot meals to eat.”
While there is more work to be done as the pair continue to rebuild their lives, Hagop reflects, “Still, we are thankful, because God protected us! Our faith is helping us a lot in this difficult time... When I struggle walking, I pray for God to carry me
Volunteers get ready to deliver hot meals to those affected by the blasts. PHOTO CREDIT: NORWEGIAN CHURCH AID/HÅVARD BJELLAND
By Stephanie Chunoo, PWS&D Communications
In early August 2020, multiple explo- sions rocked Beirut’s port, causing substantial damage to homes and health care facilities. It is estimated that the blast left 300,000 people homeless, including 80,000 children.
Ninety-year-old Hagop and his 80-year-old sister, Anaheed, still
clearly recall the moment the explo- sions occurred. The blast shook their entire apartment and threw Anaheed in the air, injuring her back, legs and head.
When the explosions hit, they rav- aged Hagop and Anaheed’s home, destroying their windows, doors, fur- niture and compromised the struc- ture. Fearing that their apartment might get robbed, the duo slept on
through some more steps. We pray we can walk normally again soon and not need assistance anymore.”
Thank You...
Thanks to the generosity of Presby- terians across Canada, $164,132 was raised to aid in the Lebanon relief effor ts. These funds allowed PWS&D to provide vouchers for families to purchase the food they need and vouchers for small busi- nesses to buy materials to start
rebuilding. Additionally, funds have assisted in the restoration of dam- aged homes and schools, and pro- vided water and sanitation kits for households, and supplied emer- gency school kits for students upon their return to school.
Your continuous support is helping many vulnerable families through an incredibly challenging time.
To learn more about PWS&D’s Lebanon response, visit WeRespond.ca/Beirut.
Andrew Mzimbe and Flora Botha farm their small plot of land using conserva- tion agriculture techniques, which help address some of the effects of climate change.
dressing climate adaption techniques is essential to achieve food security for millions of hungry people around the world.
While the farmers in Flora and An- drew’s community continue to face challenges as they strive for food security, the conservation agriculture techniques they have learned are helping them address the real climate concerns they face and grow more food to sustain their families.
To learn more about climate change and what you can do to help address it, check out Allyson Carr’s article on the For the Love of Creation faith- based climate initiative on p. 10.
Climate Change and Food Security
By Karen Bokma, PWS&D Communications
Our ability to feed ourselves depends on the natural environment. Farm- ers the world over rely on sufficient water, healthy soil, biodiversity and positive climatic conditions for their livelihoods.
But the global environment is increasingly under stress, which negatively impacts agricultural pro- ductivity and food security. Sustain- able agriculture practices, which can improve food production and farmer livelihoods, are needed to help farm- ers address the environmental chal- lenges they face.
Sustainable agriculture is espe- cially important for smallholder farm- ers—the Food and Agriculture Organ- ization (FAO) of the UN estimates that 90 percent of the world’s 570 million farms are small, often no more than two hectares of land. These farmers, with their mostly manual labour, play an essential role in feeding the world.
Andrew Mzimbe and Flora Botha are two such farmers. The married couple farm about two acres of land in northern Malawi. In recent years
they have experienced increasingly difficult weather events—unpredict- able rain resulting in both drought and floods—and watched the quality of their soil degrade over time.
In response, Andrew and Flora joined a conservation agriculture project suppor ted by PWS&D’s local church partner. Conservation agricul- ture—a technique to suppor t sustain- able farming—enables farmers to reduce vulnerability, adapt to climate change and improve food security.
Through the project, the couple has learned about the three key prin- ciples of conservation agriculture: minimal soil disturbance through reduced or no tillage; permanent soil cover, such as mulch; and diversified crop rotation or intercropping.
Conservation agriculture is knowl- edge intensive and requires extensive learning initially, but when done well, it is a boon to soil productivity, soil health, resource management and greenhouse gas reduction, particu- larly for smallholder farmers where alternatives are limited, according to the FAO. Some farmers see their production go up manyfold after in- tegrating conservation agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is essential to help address both climate change and food se- curity. PHOTO CREDIT: PAUL JEFFREY
techniques, at low or no cost.
The Synod of Livingstonia De- velopment Department, PWS&D’s partner in northern Malawi, provides ongoing training and consultation to the farmers who are part of the pro- ject. Flora and Andrew attend regular training, where they learn about or-
ganic fertilizers and intercropping. Since joining the project, the cou- ple has doubled the amount of land they are farming using conservation agriculture because they’ve seen how successful the results are. Compared to the areas of their con- ventional farm, they are harvesting much more and have seen notable
improvements in their soil quality. Flora has also been empowered through the gender training that is
part of the project to advocate for her views in how the couple farms. After attending a training, Flora knew that it would be important for the couple to rotate their crops more than they had in the past. After raising her con- cerns with Andrew and presenting the information from the training, the couple decided to rotate the crops, with successful results.
Sustainable agriculture practices, like conservation agriculture, are especially important for smallholder farmers, who are often the first to experience the negative effects of cli- mate change. Those who experience hunger on a regular basis are most at risk of increased food and nutri- tion insecurity due to environmental crises. Continued investment in ad-