Water jericans are
commonly used in most rural and urban households for fetching and storing
water. This jericans are available in wide varieties in size, shape, durability
and portability. Most of the jericans range from 3 litres to 25 litres but with
externalities of half litre to 10,000 litres.
Most household
especially in rural areas use them to draw water either manually or using
animals of burden such as donkey, camels and oxen. Once this jericans are
broken and can no longer hold water they become hard to dispose because of
their non biodegradability. However this jericans can be reused to provided
vegetable at household levels with minimal resource requirement
Jericans
reuse process
Step
1
The broken jericans are
cut in convenient size depending on the size and nature of brokenness to
provide wide open from which different material will be filled. Few holes are
then made on the bottom end of the container to filter out excess water and
avoid water logging.
Step
2
The open jerican is
then filled with different columns of materials to facilitate the growth of the
crops. The columns include the bottom most layer which is filled with mixture
of ballast and sand. This column is followed by column of dry organic matter
such as dry leaves or grass. This form a barrier for crop roots system from
reaching the infertile bottom column
Step
3
The remaining part of
the open space of the jerican is filled with mixture of fertile topsoil and
manure leaving a small portion on top for mulching and irrigation. The ratio of
the top soil and manure depends on the fertility existing fertility level of
the soil. Once the manure and soil have been mixed, the crops are planted. The
spacing of the crops is determined by the crop variety being planted. Mulching
is then done to reduce water lose through evaporation
NB: To ensure that the
kitchen garden is protected from attacks by pests and diseases it is places on
elevated ground and free from vegetated areas.
Advantages
of jerican kitchen garden
1.
Provides a convenient disposal option
for the non biodegradable jericans which would otherwise provided environmental
pollution
2.
The jericans are easily available
because they are household items available in local market and affordable
3.
Minimal maintenance once the kitchen
garden has been established
4.
Optimises the use of household water,
the irrigation water is easily available from other household chores such as
laundry, washing utensils, bathing etc
Conclusion
With increasing effects
of Climate Change there is dire need of adoption to practices that enhance
production with minimal water requirement. Some innovations such as using waste
jericans to plant household vegetable and cut the cost of buying from market
need to promoted. Inades Formation Kenya has trained community groups and
members are reaping the benefits of such training. Sussane Kakae from Kaluluku
women group in Matinyani Kitui says she has been able to produce sufficient
vegetable for her household and local market. This article is intended to
provide information to increase resilience to climate change and maximise the
use of locally available materials
Article by
Andrew Nyamu
Project Coordinator
National Church Council of Kenya (NCCK)
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