Rain situation

We are now midway through July and the rains have not increased in frequency from June at all, in no way increased as they are supposed to. We’re having about one rain a week, sometimes more than a week between rains. The situation is not good and the villagers are absorbed in their anxieties. A few weeks ago everyone was asking “Where are the rains? What’s happening, what are we going to do?” There were still many many people who have not yet plowed or planted and are waiting for a good rain to be able to do it. It has only rained a few times since then, so maybe the lack of those incredulous questions now is the sign of a relinquishing and accepting of defeat on some measure. The lack of rains affect all aspects of life in communities that are based on farming. My work of tree planting has screeched to a halt and I find myself no farther along with intended projects than in beginning June. This is a bit bewildering as I had thought all would be in the ground by this point, and I’m not sure if it will all work out. Not only because we need to wait for the rain to plant, but because everything in life here is connected to farming, most especially economics. There is a group in neighboring Lainde Karewa who wants to plant one field of anacardium (cashew fruit) and on field of mangos. They are being helped by WWF who pays 75% the price of fruit trees for reforestation. They have the land, they have dug all the holes, and we are ready at any moment to plant the trees. However they don’t yet have the 25% of the money. They too are waiting for the rains because then they can find work to raise the money: ploughing or planting someone’s field for pay. So lack of rain means lack of resources for money. And so we still wait. I find myself immersed in the same anxieties, wondering if it will ever rain in time to get all the proposed trees planted, anxieties about wanting the trees to do well. If we are already in mid-July and only have one and a half good months of rain left, will the trees even take hold and be strong enough to survive the dry season? If they die, all that work and money for nothing. I hate that as a possibility for villagers, yet is always a possibility. And there are the anxieties about percentages of trees; WWF requires that at least 40% of all trees planted with their reforestation project be fruit trees and 60% or less “forest” species. I’m sure that this policy emerged well-intentioned from the desks somewhere, people thinking something along the lines of “we need to encourage people to plant fruit trees to improve their nutrition or income.” However on the ground it is really crippling, as many people want to plant forest species, to integrate agroforestry techniques into their farms. People want fruit trees, yes, but they are expensive. And the differences of one field of mangos (25 trees) and one field of cassia siamea for alley cropping (156 trees) is huge. It was difficult finding enough groups who wanted to plant orchards to begin with to balance out the wood plantations, but now all of a sudden I have many groups who originally proposed fields of fruit trees, who are now pulling out, and I’m getting really worried. If the numbers don’t balance out to 40/60 WWF will not pay for the trees and everyone will be hurt. So I’m trying to figure out how to handle that and hoping people will drop out of the sky who want to put some mangos or anacardiums or citrus I n the ground. And in the meantime sitting and waiting.