Food security is an important factor in one of the poorest countries in the world. KOLPING Timor Leste is also aware of this point. After all, those who use clever cultivation methods to protect their crops from the effects of climate change can feed their families and are prepared for the future.
Sustainability plays an important role here. The Kolping farmers learn how to harvest throughout the year, for example by building greenhouses from tree trunks and bamboo poles to protect their fruit and vegetables from heat, storms and heavy rain. It is also important that they produce their own organic fertiliser, which doesn’t cost anything and doubles or triples the harvest. The success is immediately visible. Kolping shows members which seeds are best suited to the soil in question. The further processing of the harvest also plays an important role so that the fruit and vegetables can be sold at a profit. For example, by fermenting soya, they can produce and sell a type of bread, which means additional income for the families.
As irrigation is also difficult, the farmers are learning resource-efficient irrigation techniques.
Kolping Timor Leste was able to train the first farmers in the dioceses of Baucau, Dili and Maliana, and further training will follow in the upcoming months.
