The Power of One Photograph

When you think about amazing desert farming in Israel this picture of a greenhouse 3 or 4 times the size of a football pitch might be what comes to mind.

I call this picture "evidence of progress".

What is not visible is the years and years that went into making this photo a reality.

While I was doing my time in Israel, once a week we went to school in Sapir. It was in Sapir that I saw The Photo.

A black and white photo of Israelis working at farms. Importantly, the farmers seemed to be using a diesel pump to irrigate their crops.

Not the exact photo above but you get the point.

I also remember a story of one farmer who tried to “force” grapes to fruit off-season. He failed that first trial. In the the second attempt, he not only lost the new harvest he was seeking but also the harvest he would have normally had. He told us that story because in 2018, it was common practice to induce grapes to produce fruits off-season. The farmers were also the teachers so we got to hear about the many stories of loss during production especially in the early days of black and white photos.

Towards the last days of my 11 months, I went north to Ashdod and a farmer hosted me. Ashdod is as beautiful as its name. One evening, over a meal of delicious chapatis I had made, I said,

“You know how unpredictable farming is, you can plant expecting 20 kilos and only get 7 kilos”. This is something that has happened to me - weather, pests and bad habits are some of the reasons.

The Israeli farmer looked at me like I had suggested we eat something unpleasant.

He said,

“Here in Israel, if you want pink flowers, you get pink flowers – not blue, not red – pink”.

I am still embarrassed 4 years later.

To make a long story short, the reason Israeli farming is so good (and no amount of benchmarking trips will get us to that level is)

1. It is not a miracle. Thousands of farmers, dedicated to learning and improvement (and nothing else, not even social media likes) have been farming for over 100 years. That is at least 3 generations of farmers.
2. These farmers work with what they have. No Kamau, for example, would have thought, I need an irrigation system that saves me water. Why? God gave Kamau enough free water from the sky. But in the desert? A drip kit is a necessity!
3. Commitment to experimentation. In Arava, there are two research stations. Plus, each season farmers set aside portions of land to test new seeds. Both farmers and researchers work together. Information sharing is encouraged. And nothing is a failure.
4. Government and societal support given to farmers. The policies might have gotten less supportive today and farmers might complain more. However, I find that the Israeli government is doing a lot for its farmers. Case in point is giving visas to 100+ Kenyan youths every year to work in Israel farms due to a shortage of local people willing to do farm work.