Dry Season (4th Season)

Jun 7

Introduction

Welcome to the story of the first planting season of 2023. This season (January 2023-May 2023) was a busy one. Edmond and Mohamed found: 6 plots of land totaling 1.25 acres in early January. This was right on time to plant, as the dry season had just begun, and the swamp was saturated with groundwater. The owner of the land knew about Growing the Grassroots (GTGR) and appreciated their efforts. As a result, GTGR was given one extra plot of land to be leased for free, totaling the available land to 1.50 acres for the season. Immediately the season was off to a strong start. 32 women helped us plant in the swamps. That was the largest attendance GTGR had seen. This meant the 18 women who had just graduated from class the week before had positive things to say about the education obtained at the GTGR classes.

Throughout the season, many lessons were taught, and many exciting events occurred. This document will highlight some of the more special events which took place in the beginning half of 2023.

Incorporating Maize Into the Rice

Midway through the season, the diets fed to the women changed. No longer was Edmond strictly preparing traditional plates of rice and cassava leaf. He was now incorporating maize into the rice, a 50-50 rice/maize mixture which the women really enjoyed. That plate wasn’t made every day so we wouldn’t shock the women with a totally new diet, but instead, a meal rotation was offered. About three traditional meals are served for every maize-filled meal.

The purpose of incorporating additives into the meal was to create more complete proteins for the women to ingest. This will make their diets more nutritious and give them more energy throughout the day. It’s also important to make changes slowly in a setting like a village in Africa. Too much change will throw them off. It will be confusing and discourage them from trying it. Changing one ingredient at a time is easier to stomach. It also allows Edmond to spend time explaining how and why each additive is being used, and how it benefits their bodies. This way the women can do it for their families at home and teach them the same process and information. A slow method of change ensures these teachings aren’t forced, but are organic and stick with the students. Although only maize has been tried so far, many more additives will be used; starting with peanuts.

There are 11 amino acids that must be present to create a complete protein. All 11 amino acids don’t need to be consumed in the same meal, but rather on the same day. White rice is deficient in the amino acid lysine. Therefore, without a complementing food group, white rice itself can not create a complete protein. Unfortunately, maize is also deficient in lysine and tryptophan, so another food group is needed. Luckily, food legumes are very rich in lysine and tryptophan such as beans (cowpeas, brown beans), and peanuts. Next season, rainy season 2023, a seed bank of peanuts will be available from this season's harvest, so substituting maize for peanuts will be easy and enjoyable for the women.

The Women Educate Eachother

Perhaps the greatest attribute Edmond brings to this organization is his patience and ability to instill confidence in his students. As he describes it, Edmond prefers to allow the women to teach each other the lessons. He only explains something once, and then the women volunteer to act out the methods or demonstrate the methods to their fellow classmates. Those who volunteer to help Edmond explain lessons or act them out get huge praises and applause from the entire class. It’s the most beautiful way to not only teach agriculture to those who need it most but also to encourage communication skills, teach their peers, and celebrate the small victories along the way.

In addition to all the information the women learned about growing 5 types of crops in the swamps, the women learned some really cool concepts in class with Edmond this season. They learned how to dig a compost pit and what ingredients to add for healthy compost, how to improvise in the absence of spray guns and watering cans, how to use glyphosate to kill weeds, and how to apply manure in the absence of fertilizer, to name a few. Edmond really surprised the board members of GTGR with the improvised spray gun lesson he prepared for the women. He used an old soap dispenser to create miniature mixtures of insect killer to spray on certain crops. The women had never seen anything like that, so they had never tried applying anything to crops. Only big farmers can afford spray guns as they cost upwards of $50 USD. This really changed their perceptions of what’s possible as a farmer in Sierra Leone.

A New Woman Named Kadiatu Was Onboarded

The most exciting event in the Dry Season of 2023 was absolutely the day Kadiatu was hired full-time as a staff member of GTGR. Edmond had been informing the women for months that he was secretly grading them on several factors: their attendance, participation, energy levels, and ability to communicate with their peers. Although Edmond’s wife and aunt were in the group, Kadiatu was the one to be hired full-time. The women were shocked by this because they assumed family members would be hired at first. After the first wave of shock settled, the women gained a new respect and understanding of the way GTGR operates. This is a fair system, and now they know it. Only hard work was earning anyone a job.

As GTGR moves into future seasons and their trainee numbers grow, more women will be hired to account for the workload. They all know this now and work hard with the intention of getting a job.

A New Structure to the FBO Program Implemented

As the demand for GTGR education and the number of women involved increased over the past season, it became clear to the board members that a more formal structure for these classes is needed. The program since established is one the board believes is sustainable for GTGR and the women. It does not require much out-of-pocket cost for GTGR and gives the women tangible assets they own and use forever.

The goal of the agricultural program is to recruit, train, and retain the students.

Recruit village women through word-of-mouth recommendations by their friends and family
Train the village women with formally prepared lesson plans and practical teaching
Retain the graduates of the year-long class by providing them with land they can pay off over time at 0% interest and by providing them with continued education and support

A large part of the new system for educating women involves discussions around microfinance. The women have never opened bank accounts, saved money, or invested money. This needs to be addressed if they are going to graduate and succeed on their own. The plan is to sell each graduating class a plot of land, which they can all share and grow food on together. In order to complete this transaction successfully, they need to know how to save and budget money. Providing the graduates with land is important in encouraging traditional agriculture and not “slash and burn” agriculture which degrades soil quality immensely. In order to incentivize the women to adopt conventional agriculture practices, a communal water pump will be imported from Nigeria for them to share and use on the land.

All of this will happen as soon as GTGR raises the funds to buy plots of land for the women to cultivate (ideally, at the beginning of 2024).

4th Season Harvest

The harvest from this dry season provided several learning opportunities and data points to take into consideration for future planting seasons. All in all, the season was successful. Edmond becomes more refined and informational with each new opportunity to teach students.

Below are the Excel sheets Edmond used to calculate the inputs and outputs of this season. Starting with peanuts, Edmond and the women planted 14 kg, and yielded 172 kg. The peanuts were planted on approximately 0.66 acres of land. That calculates out to 260 kg per acre. Local yields are 225-250 kg per acre. The yield obtained was marginally greater than local yields. That is nice, however, GTGR has data supporting its ability to yield as much as 800 kg per acre. This season something was different. It was the first time attempting to plant peanuts in the swamps during the dry season. Edmond reported there were issues with the land, and some areas were affected with excessive groundwater and oversaturation. This seems to be one factor affecting yields, as Edmond typically yields significantly higher on the high grounds during the rainy season. As a result, GTGR will focus much less time and land on planting peanuts if they are to plant in the swamps during the dry season again.

The maize yields, however, were marvelous. Edmond and the women only planted 5 kg of maize and harvested 434 kg on just 0.34 acres of land. That equals 1,276 kg per acre. Local yields are measured in tonnes per hectare, and the average yield floats around 1-2 tonnes per hectare. By converting 1,276 kg to tonnes, and acres to hectares, it can be noted that Edmond and the women yielded 3.47 tonnes per hectare. That averages out to over DOUBLE the local average yields. It’s important to note the heightened yields in maize versus groundnuts when planting in the swamps during the dry season. This must be recorded and studied further. If a study can be done to show there are yield variations based on the time of year and location of planting, it will surely help millions of locals.