Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

These last 18 months in Burma have been both full and fulfilling. Here at Solar Roots, we have initiated several new projects and have continued to give the solar trainings, which are the heart of our mission here. As our reputation continues to grow, we get invitations to give trainings in more remote and needy communities. In this report I will recount three trainings that I did in three very different places. North, South and West of Burma.

First I accompanied my friend and fellow organic farmer Seya Paul to Putao, Kachin State, in the very far north of Burma. This area is extremely isolated and people regularly complained to me about the lack of ordinary household items and the high cost of those that they could purchase. There is a road connection to the south, but it is incomplete in several sections and in rainy season it is impassable. The only reliable transportation is by airplane, at great cost. Seya Paul was visiting the Rawang ethnic communities there to explain the pitfalls of modern chemical agriculture and the dangers of giving up local traditions and knowledge for the dubious benefits of the new globalized economy. A message that is right up my street!

We would speak to community groups of 25 to 100 people with Seya Paul quoting from Vandana Shiva and myself giving examples of how agro-chemistry had wrought so many problems back the US. Our message was well received as international seed and fertilizer companies have already penetrated into the remotest corners of this isolated country. We heard that local farmers had forsaken their heirloom seeds for foreign hybrid seeds, which require more chemical inputs and although they produce one good harvest, they do not produce their own seeds that the farmer can plant year after year. New hybrid seeds must be purchased from the company. Tissue culture bananas have been introduced, with great emphasis on the benefits of higher yields, and ease of planting, but glaring omissions of the need to annually buy new starts from the company and of the fact that these clones have little resistance to local pests and disease. This information was received with a mixture of shock and a determination to preserve the old seeds and cleft to the tried and true farming methods that have sustained the community for centuries. After a week of such encounters we bade farewell to the far north, promising that I would return later to give full-on solar trainings. I will need to obtain permission from the Immigration Dept to actually go outside Putao and visit remote villages, but that is do-able and a small hurdle to overcome in helping the local people rediscover a sustainable lifestyle.

Next, I went to the opposite end of the country, the deep south of Thananthyiri State. This area is located way down the peninsula that Burma shares with Thailand, and although it is just opposite the sun-soaked playgrounds of affluent westerners in Thailand, the Burma side is isolated and relatively poor. I was based in the beautiful town of Myeik, which looks out onto dozens of small islands in a naturally protected bay. Coming from the cool Shan plateau to the baking humidity of Myeik was quite a shock to my system and I was surprised to hear that electricity costs three times the price in Pyin Oo Lwin. I needed Air Conditioning to sleep at night, but this is a luxury that few locals can afford. Their aspiration is to have a couple of oscillating fans that will make the indoor temperature bearable. In addition to the high cost, the electricity supply is intermittent. So my class was full of people who wanted to know how solar could help them reduce their electricity bill in the city and get them through the outages. Additionally, several participants were from islands where solar was the only source of power. My oft-repeated message was that they had forsake the ubiquitous car-starting battery and begin to use a proper solar deep cycle battery. Easy to say, but difficult to do! Deep cycle batteries are very difficult to find outside the 2 or 3 major cities in Burma. However, Myeik is fortunate, as it is located quite near Thailand, where deep cycle batteries are available – somebody just has to begin to import and market them. Easy to say, but difficult to do and not a task that Solar Roots can undertake. On the last day of the training I demonstrated how to make Biochar and how to “charge” it in a compost pile. This was all new information to the participants, but given the excess of biomass generated in this tropical area, it holds much promise.

Finally, I traveled up to Homelin near Nagaland – the far west of Burma, near the border with India. I flew because I just couldn’t face the 15 hours of bone shaking in the local minivan, especially as I had recently fallen off a roof onto my rear end, which was still quite tender! Beautifully located on a bend of the Chindwin River, Homelin is the last outpost of civilization before one reaches the Naga Hills, one of the most underserved and ignored areas of Burma. Like in Putao, I was told by Immigration that I could not leave the town to visit more remote villages. Hopefully on my next visit, I can obtain permission to travel further afield. The people are a mixture of Naga and the Kuki Chin tribe and although Homelin is a small, sleepy backwater, it’s the big city in these parts. Luckily for the residents, there is a barge service all the way from Mandalay, so manufactured products are available at reasonable cost – but how much can you really afford when you earn less than $2 a day? (The local daily wage for a laborer). My solar training was much appreciated, but we did have our communication issues, that made the transfer of information more difficult. In addition to a competent level in English, the translator must be able to understand most of the technical terms I am introducing and be able to explain them to the participants in their own language. This is not easy and some of my translators have difficulty mastering the task. An additional difficulty we faced was that most of the class were not comfortable doing mathematical calculations, which is an absolutely key skill when learning to work with solar. We soldiered on manfully, though quite a lot of time was lost and underlying frustration and embarrassment was evident. Most of the participants came from remote areas where even primary schools are not a given, so I applaud them for their tenacity in trying glean a minimum of knowledge that will help them get more out of their solar systems. I was heartily welcomed into this isolated community and I look forward to a return visit when I will be able to travel the remote villages themselves.

So, there it is, North, South and West of Burma! If you like our work, please support us with a donation through GlobalGiving.

Thank you,

Bruce

Note: Names have been changed as per GlobalGiving policy

Since we completed our new Training Center in July, we have had several opportunities to test it out and see if it lived up to our expectations. I’m delighted to say that the design has proved to be very practical and we have received many compliments on the comfort and beauty of our facility.

Fittingly, the first group that we hosted was our own Natural Growers Association. We usually have a meeting at least monthly and in August we had the opportunity to invite all our “organic” friends to join us and show them our new work- space. The Training/Workshop space is open and airy, which is fine on a hot day, but when the up-valley breeze gets a little too cold, I’m thinking that some curtains would be a good upgrade.

Next we had a group of 42 students from Karenni State, who were in Pyin Oo Lwin as part of a nationwide tour of sustainable farms and projects. I gave them a tour of my worm farm and Thida showed them her rice and mulching technique.

Then suddenly it was Diwalli – India’s Festival of Lights – and our Nepali neighbors came round to dance and celebrate. It’s been fun this year as we have gotten more integrated into the Nepali village where the Solar Roots Center is located. I had a ball dancing with my Nepali “Auntie”, who actually, is the same age as me.

Then we had a group of six students from the Lisu Sustainable Development Center, who stayed in our newly-available bedrooms – our first overnight guests! The next day they helped to harvest some worm castings and also plant garlic, using the self-same castings.

Finally, in November and December we held two Solar PV Trainings, which went off very smoothly. It was actually a time of reunion, as three of the students had attended a training that I had given back in 2013. It was gratifying to hear about their experiences during the intervening years.

Of course, in addition to the training activities up on the ground floor, we also have an ever-thriving worm farm located in the basement. But, I’ll safe those details for a future report!

If you like our work and find it worthy of your support, please consider making another donation. Thank you. Bruce and Thida