Drums on Farms, East Timor
Bidoon Salva Aihaan

Helping to reduce hunger amongst rural families by giving access to better food storage

“we say there are three seasons in Timor Leste:
the wet season the dry season and the
hungry season... we’d like to eliminate the
hungry season...”
Drums on Farms coordinator Rob Williams

the problem

The majority of East Timorese people (85%) are subsistence farmers. The usual farm size is about one hectare, a size limit set by the absence of mechanised farming. A key crop is corn (maize), which is eaten twice a day. Corn is generally grown only once during the wet season, November to March, so the grain must be stored for 12 months from one harvest to the next.
Because the farm size is small and yields are low (average 1.5t/ha), most families do not harvest enough corn to eat from one harvest to the next. To make matters worse, because of the way the corn is stored, about 30% of the harvest is eaten by weevils and rats.

a simple solution

Research with farmers in East Timor has shown that by storing shelled corn in sealed, airtight containers, it can be kept for two years or more. Weevils cannot live or reproduce without oxygen. When weevil-infested corn is stored in an airtight container, the oxygen content drops, the level of CO2 increases, and the weevils suffocate. The corn will still be viable as seed for the next crop.

Drums are airtight
Second-hand 44-gallon (200 litre) fuel drums are perfect for storing grain, if the bungs are intact. Any weevils in the corn stored in a closed drum will die within 7-10 days. Opening the drums once every 3 weeks or so to remove some corn to eat will not allow weevils to re-infest the remaining corn.

Drums are available
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) provide subsidised air transport across East Timor, using an eight seat aircraft based in Dili. MAF import Avgas in 44-gallon drums and expect to dispose of about 100 second-hand fuel drums per annum. Other industries also sell used 44-gallon grease and oil drums.

Drums are cheap
Drums on Farms East Timor can purchase, clean and distribute drums to farmers in rural areas for about US$40 per drum (farmers contribute for the drums to be delivered to their farm).

One drum makes a big difference
Five reasons why recycling drums for farmers can help combat the hungry season.
1. Each drum can store 180kg of corn
2. That’s enough food to keep a farming family eating corn for 60 days
3. Without good storage, 30% of that grain would be lost to weevils and rats
4. Having good on-farm storage means farmers can plant for a high yield and keep the surplus
5. Farmers know they can keep a surplus and won’t lose precious grain to weevils and rats.

1 DRUM = 20 extra days of food per year for an East Timorese farming family.