Eritrea's Fertile Agricultural Traditions Threatened By Climate Change

BARENTU, ERITREA - MAY 21: A field hand shifts a water hose that is pumping water from an underground source at a local farm on the edge of the city of Barentu on May 21, 2023 in the Gash Barka Region of Eritrea. Agricultural projects, especially those that are adjacent to seasonal rivers are often watered by wells and underground streams that are tapped by electric pumps. This farm on the Berantu river is employing that process. The agricultural infrastructure of the Gash Barka region currently provides enough fruit and produce to feed local populations and fill the local markets, but has the potential to provide valuable produce to the rest of the country and surrounding region as well. The production potential of the Gash Barka region has caused it to be considered the bread basket of Eritrea. In the case of this region ground level and underground water sources help to water the hectares of fertile-rich soil which by national policy are treated with natural fertilizers and pesticide options produced in Eritrea. However, climate change has affected the region over the past several years with an increasingly sporadic rainy season which in essence is now split into two periods of rain. Projects such as this are being undertaken to combat increasingly inconsistent water supplies due to increasingly irregular rainfall during the rainy season. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images)