The activity helped 22 commercial farming families on five farms. An irrigation specialist, sponsored by USAID, first trained and then helped the farmers plan and implement the system. The specialist also trained USAID’s local partners and distributed start-up supplies like hoses, filters, valves, and drippers. Overall, the project has increased available water by two-to-three times the initial amounts.

Based on the drip irrigation technology that relies mainly on gravity, a conservative water supply, and clear pathways of delivery, Habib’s system is the largest-scale drip project in the area funded through USAID. Rather than pumping water from the well into the irrigation furrows and hoping for enough water to flood the orchard, the farmer now pumps directly into the holding tank.

The holding tank and diesel pumps were Habib’s contribution to the project in cost and labor. He and his sons re-dug and reinforced an old well to squeeze a few more meters from the water table — and the results have paid handsomely.

Habib’s 20-year-old son loads wooden crates full of green and red apples. Apricots, peaches, almonds, mulberry, and plums grow in different sections. The orchard mule is packed with two crates at a time and has made at least four trips in one hour to the family’s home.

“Without the system, this would all be dry,” explains Habib as he points to his orchard. “And we would have nothing,”

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