In the village of Bala in Eastern Ghouta, Rural Damascus, 50-year-old Hayat starts her day as the sun rises, tending to the small plot of land beside her home. For Hayat, this land represents far more than just soil and crops; it is the foundation of her family’s livelihood. As a mother of eight children and a caregiver to her husband, who is unable to work due to a disability, she has long depended on her farm to sustain them.
One morning, after watering her crops, Hayat overheard a group of neighboring farmers talking about a new initiative: a project designed to promote sustainable agricultural practices in response to climate change and the scarcity of resources. The project, called the “Eco Farmers” initiative, immediately captured her attention.
Feeling that this program was exactly what she needed, Hayat quickly registered, eager to be selected as one of the farmers. A short time later, she received the call she had hoped for: she had been chosen to participate. With excitement, she began attending training sessions on regenerative agriculture. The topics ranged from companion cropping to organic plant extracts, composting, intensive planting basins, and even vermiculture. Every lesson was a new adventure, with practical applications that could be directly implemented in her own garden.
“It felt like I was learning the basics all over again,” Hayat recalled. “Each session was like discovering something new and important. We were able to immediately apply what we learned in our own fields.”
Hayat was one of 100 farmers in Rural Damascus selected to be part of the regenerative farming project, which was implemented with support from the Government of Japan. The initiative focuses on equipping farmers with the tools and knowledge to adapt to climate change, promote sustainability, and optimize the use of limited natural resources.
Not only did Hayat absorb the knowledge, but she also brought it back home. Her daughter, a university student studying agricultural engineering, had been working on a project to raise vermi-compost worms but was struggling to succeed. After receiving hands-on training in worm farming, Hayat was eager to put her newfound knowledge to use. She and her daughter worked together to revive the project, and soon, they had a thriving colony of nearly 100 healthy worms, producing their first batch of organic vermi-tea.
“Our experiment finally worked,” Hayat said, smiling. “The vermi-tea was incredibly effective. It felt like magic.”
In addition to the success with vermiculture, Hayat adopted the practice of intensive planting basins. This technique yielded impressive results, and Hayat discovered that the weeds, once seen as a nuisance, could be turned into valuable compost material. She also learned how to recycle agricultural waste, transforming what would have been burned into useful organic inputs for her farm.
Word of Hayat’s success spread quickly among her neighbors, and soon they were seeking her help. Hayat and her daughter began visiting their farms, offering guidance and support in applying the sustainable farming practices they had learned. Hayat’s farm became a model for others in the community, demonstrating how small changes could lead to big improvements.
With the additional knowledge and resources, Hayat was even able to purchase a small agricultural tiller, making the physically demanding task of ploughing her land much easier. Her story stands as a powerful example of how empowering individuals, particularly women, with sustainable solutions can create far-reaching change. By nurturing the land with knowledge and care, Hayat and others like her are cultivating not only crops but also resilience, dignity, and hope for a brighter future.
