But the project succeeded and Cot Darat's farmers allowed Tearfund to run a pilot project on a section of their land to determine whether chilli production, a finicky crop to cultivate with a specific pH balance, could also succeed. Drainage systems were dug and lime helped raise the pH level.
Ahmad has helped to train other farmers in the making and use of organic fertilizer and pesticides. This is just one example of helping people to 'build back better'. Environmental awareness and reducing the risk of disasters is key for communities where so many livelihoods are dependent on natural resources.
The initial chilli harvest using organic methods produced an abundant crop convincing farmers to apply the technique to their reclaimed land.
Some recovery experts were quick to advise them to find new land elsewhere but Ahmad adds, "our job was to rehabilitate agriculture and the meaning of the word 'rehabilitate' means to put back what was once there in good condition not 'find something new elsewhere'."
In addition the programme has provided business training and savings management to help re-establish livelihoods faster if disaster should hit again.
Tearfund has also been working with schools in Aceh training teachers and headmasters in 167 schools that are implementing a risk reduction curriculum.
Children are among the most vulnerable in disasters, but they also present powerful catalysts for education now rooted in their generation. Trauma counselling and education have also been a key focus of the recovery programmes.
Tearfund's partner agencies in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand have built some 3,600 permanent houses - after first providing high-quality intermediate shelters. In all of Tearfund's housing projects, local people have been involved in the design of their new homes.
People are back to work. Livelihood programmes have helped some 150 fishing communities get back at sea, thanks to new boats and nets - and a further 865 small businesses have been re-established. 3100 people in Somalia are benefiting from wells and clean water sources.
Three years on there is clearly work still to do across the whole affected region. The recovery process was always going to take years, not months - and the emotional scars of this disaster linger long after the homes are built and land reclaimed.
Tearfund is among many other agencies that whilst acknowledging the tough challenges, have significant progress to show for the scale of this unprecedented relief and recovery effort.
The public response to the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami became the UK's biggest ever disaster appeal. £27 million has now been spent or allocated to Tearfund relief and recovery programmes. Tearfund is sincerely grateful for the massive public support.
