Tag Archives: Thailand

New Classic Thai-Style Pumpkin Curry

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Looking for a Pumpkin Pie Alternative?

This unusual pumpkin pie recipe will be a favorite for the holiday seasonAutumn’s classic front-porch decoration is often sold short in the kitchen, doomed to a thousand versions of the same old (though delicious) custard-style pie. But pumpkin, high in fiber and antioxidants, low in calories, is capable of so much more. This year, send it to a new fate with this pumpkin pie alternative recipe. Matched with zesty red Thai curry and silky coconut milk, cubed pumpkin becomes the keystone of a vibrant, hearty dish, with just enough fire to remind you winter is coming.

Thai-Style Pumpkin Curry Recipe

  • 4 cups pie pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 14 ounces coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons (or less, to taste) Thai red curry paste
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind paste (or substitute 2 tablespoons brown sugar and juice of one lime)
  • 3 or 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • optional: asparagus or green beans, cut into one-inch pieces

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix together a few tablespoons of the coconut milk and the red curry paste, and stir over medium heat until well-blended. Add the rest of the coconut milk, chicken stock and tamarind, and bring to a simmer. Add pumpkin cubes and simmer for about 10 minutes, then add bell peppers and asparagus or beans if desired. Simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in cilantro and cut the heat. Let stand a few minutes before serving over rice.

Be sure to come back and tell us what you think of this pumpkin curry recipe in the comments.

Livestock Can Help End Hunger and Poverty

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Yesterday I wrote about how important measuring impact is to demonstrating Heifer’s success, as well as ensuring our projects are on track. Today, I want to share with you how Heifer’s work with livestock is managed in a way that cares for the animals without jeopardizing the well-being of our project families or their environment.

We’ve all witnessed the growing conversation about animals in agriculture, from their impact on the landscape to their appropriateness in a fast-changing world. Because livestock are at the very core of much of how Heifer works with families, these are issues we have thoroughly researched and have strong feelings for.

Here in the United States, in light of the drought that some of the country is still suffering, there’s the renewal of the livestock and feed vs. food debate. That’s been a topic in Heifer communities for years, so managing food needs for animals, family food needs and care for the environment has been critical for us to get right.

Livestock in Thailand

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Core to our work are appropriateness and application. In the United States, where we have easy access to fuel, mechanics and spare parts, mechanization makes sense. But that is not the case in most of Africa or Asia, where a water buffalo is a living tractor. Without the draft animal, there would be fewer crops, fewer acres plowed, fewer goods to eat or market.

So, we teach farmers to grow fodder for their animals that doesn’t compete with the human food chain, and to feed animals in place through zero-grazing pens. Impact on land is minimized, and the health of the animals is protected, even enhanced. Livestock can eat foodstuffs not fit for people, so there is rarely competition as we see here.

Livestock in Thailand

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

There also is the difference that for most of our participant families, animals are part of their culture, their lifeblood. As one of our Thai farmers told us, “If I die, my family will weep for me. If my water buffalo dies, my family will starve.” There is no feed vs. food debate there—they are interdependent and lifesaving.

Animals are an integral part of the value chain for much of the world as well. In Nepal, for example, the demand for goat meat significantly exceeds the country’s current production capacity. It exceeds even the supply when it is supplemented by exports from India and Bangladesh. So the key is to help Nepali farmers produce more and better goat meat, boosting supply and the market chain.

That is behind one of our programs in Nepal, to help 148,000 families—women-led—to improve productivity, and then to help them connect to markets for the milk and goat meat. Much of the work will be done through farmer-owned co-ops that will help participants increase farm production, reach markets, access financial services and create business opportunities.

Livestock in Nepal

Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee, courtesy of Heifer International.

The goal of the work is to empower these families, as well as “pass on” families to become self-sustaining and to build small businesses. The project will help these farmers help their countrymen and women by reducing the importation of goats from foreign sources by 30 percent and importation of milk by 10 percent, building their own economies as well as the country’s economy.

But as I noted Friday, economic improvement by itself is unsustainable, so at the same time we are helping these farmers improve their production, we are providing training in the Cornerstones so that as they are securing their financial future, they are building the community development framework to provide  “collective impact.”

Come back tomorrow to the Heifer Blog to learn how collective impact is integral to the way Heifer works around the world.

Jariya’s Determination: Through Good Times and Bad

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It is now school vacation, so Jariya Saerum’s children are staying home and helping her and her husband do some chores. The children also helped their grandparents with cassava harvesting. After harvesting cassava, her family is now planting corn, local vegetables and coffee. They are also preparing the ground for upland rice, which they are planning to grow during the May–June season.

The family’s recent farming production was good, so Jariya’s family made some profit, and they have enough to buy a new motorcycle. The new vehicle will make their lives easier when they travel. Rice production was also good, which should be enough for their family for the whole year. the banana crop is also yielding well, so they have enough to eat and share with others families (they sometimes trade their farming products with other families). Recently, they traded bananas for fermented fish — a Northeastern Thai food cooking ingredient.

The ducks received from the project are laying three to four eggs a day, so Jariya’s family has enough protein everyday. Their poultry is not yet hatched because the rainy season is approaching. But , they are expecting to have more ducklings after the rainy season.

During the past six months, Jariya has received various trainings both from Heifer and other organizations. Recently, she received climate adaptation training by Heifer Thailand, as well as training in disaster risk deduction, homestay management, handicraft from coconuts and being a  local tourist guide.

From learning to be local tour guide as their village is located near a prominent cave, Jariya learned basic English to communicate with foreign visitors. One of the foreign tourist visited the cave led by her and visited her family. This visitor was impressed with Jariya’s determination to improve her family’s living condition, so he provided some amount of scholarship for her children. Jariya was so impressed with his kindness, and she shared this story with project staff with a trembling voice.

Being a good role model for her children and always supportive, her children are studying hard. The recent school exam resulted in Sunisa Buajarn, her oldest daughter who is studying in grade 8, getting a 3.92 GPA. Her second-oldest son, Thanapon Buajarn ( studying in grade 2) got a 3.94 GPA (out of 4.00). Moreover, Thanapon participated in a pétanque competition (a game similar to bocce) at district level, winning the runner-up prize.

Unfortunately Satian Buajarn, Jariya’s husband, has been having health problems lately.  This is because he previously used chemicals when farming his own farm and working day labor on other farms. Jariya and Satian discussed his health issues with Heifer project staff, who talked to the family about substituting organics for the chemicals. Satian has agreed to make the change.

There was also a sad story that happened to Jariya’s family when she lost her youngest brother a few months ago from an accident.  Her brother helped temple construction, and while he was working a log fell on his head, causing him to lose consciousness. He was admitted at the local hospital for many nights, but he was not getting any better. He died peacefully about a week later. Jariya as well as her parents and other relatives were so sad for their great loss.

As time goes by, the family is getting better. Jariya’s children are growing up too, so the children are helping their grandparents sometimes to lessen their burden and to encourage them during their time of great loss.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Today’s post is the second in a series of  quarterly updates on the progress of Jariya Saerum and her family. You can read the first post about this family here.

Tiwah Subsawanya’s New Hope

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A small bamboo hut in the valley of Hin Lek Fai village is Tiwah Subsawanya’s house. Tiwah is 54 years old. She is married to Korla Subsawanya (49), and they have four children: two daughters and two sons. Her family lives at Hin Lek Fai Karen ethnic village, Doi Kaew sub-district, Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province.

Their house is made from bamboo and grass thatch with a simple cooking stove in the middle of the house. This is not for only cooking but also keeping them warm during the cold nights. Their house is not like the typical Karen families whose kitchen is built separately from the house. But for them, this is home.


Currently, there are three people living in the family home: Tiwah, her husband and her son. Their two daughters are married and moved out, and the youngest son is studying in Chomthong city. Their third son quit studying to support his family with farming and day laborer jobs.


The family’s diet is mostly wild and garden vegetables. They grow some vegetables and rarely eat meat because it is expensive. They earn their living from farming and daily labor. But, there is no daily job offered often, so each month they can generate about 500 Baht ($16.60) which is considered to be very low income.


“If there is a job available at a cabbage farm, we will go, but there are few jobs available lately,” Korla Subsawanya says.


In 2011, Tiwah joined the Capacity Building of Women and Youth to Develop Holistic and Sustainable Highland Agriculture System project. She received one sow and three piglets as well as a series of trainings. This project has assisted 76 Karen ethnic women and their families in rural areas of Doi Kaew Sub-district with livestock and kitchen gardens. The project has been implemented in two communities, namely Baan Huay Kanoon and Baan Hin Lek Fai. The project is focused on capacity building of women and youth, natural resources preservation, food security and organic farming.


Tiwah’s family is considered the poorest of these poor families, but with livestock, a kitchen garden and capacity enhancement activities she hopes that her family’s living condition will be improved in the near future.


Editor’s note: This post is the first from India in a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 

Jariya’s Dream for Self Sufficiency

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Front row, left to right: Thanapon, Jariya and Sunisa. Standing: Satian. 
by Heifer Thailand 

Jariya Saerum is 31 years old.  She is married to Satian Buajarn, and the couple has two children: one girl, Sunisa Buajarn (age 13; in 7th grade) and one boy, Thanapon Buajarn (age 8; in 2nd grade). Her family is living at Nongjan village, Chumpae district in Khon Kaen province in northeastern Thailand. She is a self-help group member of Heifer Thailand’s Community Capacity Enhancement for Sustainable Self-Reliance project.

Jariya’s family earns a living from farming corn and cassava. In the off season they do daily labor.   They also grow rice for their family as well as other vegetables and herbs. Her family received 14 ducks and 10 fruit tree saplings from Heifer Thailand.
 
Like other project participants, she received Values-Based Holistic Community Development, cornerstones, leadership, and financial management training in addition to training in basic animal care. This is in keeping with the Heifer International practice of training a community to not just care for animals, but to empower its members to better their lives and the lives of future generations.
 
This family’s diet is mainly home-grown, seasonal vegetables and wild products such as bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Before becoming project participants, they rarely consumed meat, and their source of protein was eggs, which were the cheapest they could effort. After becoming project participants, their nutrition has improved because the ducks lay eggs everyday, and they can save the money to buy meat and other necessities.
 
The two children of the family help their parents to do some home chores such as feeding ducks, cleaning house, tending fires for cooking, washing dishes and washing their own clothes.
 
In terms of their living conditions, their house was made from bamboo with a metal sheet roof. There is one bedroom for all family members. Their bathroom door was made from a plastic sheet, and is built separately from the house. The kitchen was built from bamboo and the roof was made from grass. There is no electricity in their village, but solar power; however, the solar system generates electricity for only a few hours so the children have to rush to do their homework as soon as they return from school, otherwise they have to use candle light.
 
The family’s house and their rice paddies are located in the area of a national park — which is the case for many other villagers in Nongjan village — so they don’t know how long they are allowed to live here. But Jariya hopes that with the new government, there will be new policies to distribute unused land for the poor to live. She also dreams that their children will have a good education to guarantee secure jobs. But deep down in her heart, she still wishes them to live their lives with the philosophy of sufficiency and economy, and to continue her sustainable agriculture plan.


Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 


Jariya cooks in her family’s kitchen.

Thanapon (age 8) feeds his family’s ducks.

Even Rotten Fish Can Be a Gift

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Original story by Kanyapan Chamchuen, intern for Heifer Thailand from Naresuan University. Photos by Kanyapan Chamchuen and Heifer Thailand staff.

Mr. Suraphol Takham, Heifer Thailand program
officer (second from left) and Kae Noy villagers
built a check-dam to store water for the dry season.
The sunset was almost gone, and the weather was getting cooler as we ascended to a higher altitude. It was hard to drive in the dark with no traffic lights, and we had to be careful not to hit the cows relaxing in the middle of the road. I learned that these animals love to lie on the asphalt road after dusk because it is nice and warm from the heat stored during the day. The program officer from Heifer Thailand explained that the cows live as a herd in the forest, eating wild grass, during the cool season. During the rainy season, when grass may be easily grown, they will live in a corral. 

Life is more laid-back in the rural area than in the city. Everything seems to be slow and relaxed. It was nice to open the car windows and feel the breeze, but the smell of rotten fish in the back of the truck interrupted us occasionally. When cars passed us on our journey, I found myself worrying about the safety of the cattle on the road. It even felt a bit like we were trespassing as we drove past them.

A community facilitator accepts
the gift of rotten fish to distribute
to Kae Noy villagers.
The purpose of our trip was to visit the self-help groups at Kae Noy community in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province, to follow up on the project’s progress and give them the rotten fish. We reached our destination quite late in the evening, and we stayed at Community Facilitator Sakdawut Jasae’s house. Jasae greeted us with a sincere smile. Before we could rest, we had to carry the rotten fish from the truck. “This is a special gift for the villagers,” said Program Officer Suraphol Takham. I was thinking, “What? This is stinky, rotten fish, so who would want to have it?!” Takham continued, “This is very good organic fertilizer, and the villagers will learn to use any leftovers from their cooking to make the compost for their farms. This will help them be safe by not using chemical fertilizers and will improve the quality of the soil.” Then it made sense. Rotten fish is good for farmers, as well as the environment.

Kae Noy villagers plant
trees during a
reforestation activity.
During our stay at Sakdawut’s house, he shared with us that few families did farming before, since most of the villagers migrating from Burma had no farmland. While in Burma, many villagers were involved with drug trafficking, while some sold forest products. The lack of water during the dry season also made farming a challenge. “When Heifer implemented the project here in late 2009, the trainings were on the values of one’s life, as well as other trainings to enhance our capacities, especially on animal management and environmental preservation. We also organized environmental preservation tasks regularly, such as reforestation and check-dam building to slow down water flow during rainy season and to store the water for the dry season,” said Sakdawut, with smiling eyes. 

Suraphol, the program officer, said that the life has gradually improved for the villagers since implementation of the Heifer project and they are no longer involved with drugs or illegal labor.

Joining this field trip has been a good learning experience for me. With results like friendship, happiness, cohesiveness and security, the success is immeasurable. I also realized the benefit of rotten fish. I hope that, after I graduate from the university, I will have a chance to do something good for our people and society.

Monsoon Floods Can’t Break Thai Village’s Spirit of Sharing

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Every year, monsoon floods create more damage in one of Heifer Thailand’s targeted project villages, Pha Sam Yod. The village is settled in a valley with a stream running through it.


One late night in mid-October, while all villagers of Pha Sam Yod were sleeping deeply, a voice from the loudspeakers announced that a massive flood was rapidly approaching the village. Residents rushed to gather their belongings, move their livestock to higher ground and save their own lives. They weren’t able to save everything before the village and road became submerged by water.


Two Self-Help Group (SHG) members, Bubpha Phupewnak and Nares Mulkate, each received one sow and two piglets from the Heifer project. Luckily, with help from fellow villagers, they were able to save their livestock from the massive floods. Since their families live close to each other, they put their pigs in one small pen that was away from high water.

In addition to being a challenging situation for humans, the flooding was no picnic for the animals. Sharing one small pen was uncomfortable, causing the animals to fight with each other, and Bubpha’s sow died. Losing her belongings and beloved animal made Bupha very sad, but neighbors and Heifer Thailand staff comforted her and plan to help her find a new sow.


Before the flood, other SHG members and villagers lost their chickens from a pandemic disease. Unaffected families willingly gave chickens from their healthy flocks to their neighbors who lost poultry.

The Pha Nok Kao people have to cope with natural disasters, but their compassion for each other is visibly increasing. Also, the disasters have provided lessons to be better prepared for the future and minimize their losses.

In Thailand, a Heifer Family Goes from Day Labor to Self-Sufficiency

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Story and photo by: Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention,
Heifer Thailand Project Partner

Mrs. Matha Chaichawanakorn, 39, lives in Pa Yang Lahu ethnic village in Mae Fah Luang district, Chiang Rai province, Thailand. She lives with her husband, Mr. David Chaichawanakorn, and two children. One of their sons died as a teenager.

In the past, the family farmed and raised livestock, but their animals were unhealthy and the yield low. They also worked as day laborers for a small wage of 20–30 Baht, or $.70-$1, per day, which was barely enough to meet their needs.

In 1987, when a private organization promoted coffee plantations in the area, they adapted their farm to grow coffee. Although selling coffee beans generated a decent income, the family spent most of their earnings on food and other necessities.

In 2009, Heifer Thailand and Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention collaborated to implement the Improving Quality of Life and Integrated Holistic Development Project in Pa Yang village. Matha decided to join.

As project participants, Matha and other Self-Help Group (SHG) members received a series of trainings on topics such as Values-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD), Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, animal management, pig feed formulation, and gender training. She received three piglets and applied her new livestock management knowledge so well that she generated a significant income from her three pigs.

In addition to improving her family’s living conditions, becoming a project participant also boosted Matha’s self-confidence. She was once shy and unable to speak in front of a group, but now she is comfortable speaking in public.

Along with livestock activities and capacity building, the SHG formed a savings group and elected Matha bookkeeper.

Her family grows a kitchen garden, which reduces the family’s food expenses. They no longer rely on the mobile grocery shop. With a smile and determination, she shared, “I feel good about myself, that I’ve become more confident and can share my knowledge with others. I also share pig raising knowledge with my husband so he can help me look after the animals. Moreover, I feel happier because my family has a secure fund for the future.”

Want to help more families in Thailand like the Chaichawanakorns move out of poverty and into self-reliance? Contribute to our Empowering Marginalized Communities Project and help fund our work with ethnic minority groups in the mountains of northern and western Thailand.

Mangroves & Oysters Mean Hope for Thailand

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Project participants hold representative oysters at today’s Passing on the Gift ceremony in Phuket, Thailand

Late last night – while most of us in this hemisphere were sleeping – a delegation from Heifer’s US headquarters attended a Passing on the Gift ceremony in Baan Klang village in Phuket, Thailand. It was already Wednesday there, and the event was well attended with five groups of 25 villagers sharing the offspring of their plants and animals – in this case mangrove trees and oysters – with another five groups of 25.
The Passing on the Gift ceremony is the embodiment of the ever-expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance that’s created when our project participants are given the tools to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty. This project is focused on rehabilitating areas hit by the 2004 tsunami that devastated thousands of families in Thailand’s southern provinces and in neighboring Asian countries. Heifer Thailand made grants to local government offices and NGO partners to provide families with livestock, mangrove trees, fishing equipment and training to help them rebuild their incomes and move closer to self-sufficiency.

Noel Mace, our Asia and South Pacific program officer, was there to witness the ceremony. He says it was remarkable to see not only recipients being transformed into donors, but disparate groups coming together as they passed on their “love and values.” 
“It really stood out that these inclusive groups of Buddhists, Muslims and Christians showed that community development and environmental protection takes everyone working together.”
Floating beds for raising oysters in Thailand 

How Heifer Projects Are Promoting a Healthy Environment

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On April 18, Worldwatch Institute’s blog, Nourishing the Planet, published a list of 15 ways agriculture can “promote a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.” In honor of Earth Day 2011, we would like to explore these 15 ways and how Heifer’s projects around the world are addressing these issues. We’ll do this in three separate posts, matching five Heifer projects with the corresponding Nourishing the Planet concepts.


1. Guaranteeing the Right to Food
The goals of the National More Organic for Everyone (MORE) Project are to increase organic producers’ supply, improve access to high-quality organic food by underserved communities in Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas City, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin and identify opportunities to strengthen the linkages between organic producers and communities in food desert areas. This project is helping 60 farmers initiate or make the transition to organic production while providing organic food to 600 food-insecure families.
In the words of a MORE Project participant in Georgia:
My name is Alfred, 64 and a half years young. And having lost my job, this is the best thing that could have ever happened to me, preparing myself to become an organic backyard gardener. The experiences and classes I am having I would have never gotten from books alone. Specifically when working hand-in-hand with the volunteer farmers, I am learning to do various things in different ways and learning to adapt them to my specific needs and requirements.

Since I started the project, I finished building several raised and standard beds, which are planted, harvested and producing already. I’ve improved my methods of seeding, learned the proper way to compost and learned the principles of crop rotation, planning and companion planting. I’ve also started building a walk-in hoop-house. And if everything works out okay, I’m planning to sell at local farmers markets soon.



2. Harnessing the Nutritional and Economic Potential of Vegetables.

Heifer’s Empowering Marginalized Communities in Northern Thailand Project assists 1,170 minority families in nine poor communities. Families receive sows, piglets, fruit saplings, crop seeds and vegetable seeds. In this project, kitchen gardens are one of the activities that help villagers reduce daily food expenses.
Mr. Alu and Mrs. Muba Yaesaw are participants of the project. Before, the family made their living from selling wild products at Wednesday and Saturday markets. But after becoming project participants, they began growing a kitchen garden for home consumption and sale. They grow both native and wild vegetables. Their family’s nutrition has improved from the more diverse diet. In addition to selling at the market two days a week, they sell their vegetables from a mobile shop within the village and nearby villages and at special events. Mr. Alu said that after growing their own vegetables, they did not have to buy vegetables for more than a year. They also shared vegetables with their neighbors and guests who came to their village.

3. Reducing Food Waste

To diversify the income streams of families benefiting from the gift of livestock, Heifer Sierra Leone entered into a partnership in 2010 with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). This partnership has resulted in the distribution of high-yielding cassava varieties to supplement project families’ agricultural inputs, diet and income. Cassava, also called yuca or manoic, is a woody shrub native to South America. Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates for meals in the world. However, one of the challenges of cassava production is its relatively short post-harvest storage capacity. To preserve this staple food year-round in areas where there is no refrigeration, it is often processed into garri, a kind of cereal that keeps for long period. It is sometimes turned into fried chips and eaten as a snack. An additional benefit of cassava is that the peels are good for feeding animals, and the leaves are made into a nutritious stew.
The Tongea Women Farmers in Kailahun district are one of the groups that has benefitted from Heifer’s partnership with IITA. Along with various trainings they received from Heifer, the group also received cassava cuttings, which they planted in a group garden. Because their cassava production was so successful, IITA contributed further to the project by having two cassava-processing centers built. These facilities have become a resource for the women who engage in homemade garri processing and other cassava products. Garri and other foods processed from cassava sell at higher market value than the cassava plant itself, and the women are now learning that by adding value to their farm products, they are able to generate real income to improve their livelihoods and those of their family members.
4. Feeding Cities.
The population of El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia, largely consists of families who have migrated from the Bolivian highlands. As part of the rural-to-urban migration process, these families often exchange their healthy, traditional diets of Andean crops for por quality, highly processed and carbohydrate-rich foods, resulting in the high rates of both malnutrition and obesity among the urban poor. Heifer’s Restoring the Consumption of Native Foods in El Alto, La Paz Project promotes food security in eight peri-urban communities in El Alto. Heifer works to improve the eating habits of school children and their families through advocacy with local decision-makers, strengthening of the network of social control of the School Boards, and community awareness-raising as a strategy to recover and consume the vast diversity of healthy traditional Andean products.
5. Getting More Crop per Drop.
Small farmers in the Piura region of Peru live in poverty. Approximately 35,000 families live in this territory, and their livelihoods are vitally dependent on the region’s ecosystem. They are affected by El Nino floods, which deteriorate roads and isolate communities. They are equally affected by subsequent drought years, which come as regularly as El Nino and bring with them forest fires. The Building a Sustainable Way of Life Project is turning the threat of El Nino into a major opportunity for families living in the dry forest. During the yet years, the project replants trees, bushes and pastures; builds grain storage sheds and improves housing conditions to protect against heavy rains. Communal wells are being improved, and equipment is provided to ensure the availability and quality of water in yet years and dry.