Our Land in Tikonko

Abstract

We purchased 2-acres of land in Tikonko, which is in the Bo District of Sierra Leone. The purpose of buying this land is agricultural development. We bought this land in early June of 2022 for 70 million Leones, which is the equivalent of $5800 USD. Growing the Grassroots is happy to give a big shout-out to Rural Power and Light for providing us with the funds to claim this land as ours. Without them, this wouldn't have been possible. We bought the land for two reasons: location within the Bo District and soil quality. By the end of 2022, this land will be prepared for the planting season, and ready for the first class of farm-based organization (FBO) women to attend our agriculture program. Once we know our methods are effective and well-received by these local FBO women, we will host free educational courses for the entire surrounding community. 

Aerial shot of where our land is (to the left of the farm currently on the map).

Cost of Two Acres of Land in Africa

Two acres of land in the United States does not sound like a large piece of land, however, in Western Africa where there is a lack of machinery, two acres is significant. In early June of 2022, we purchased this land for 70 million Leones which you can see in the picture above. That sounds like an overwhelming price, but after the exchange rate that came out to $5800 USD. 

Land Ownership Arguments Arise

Purchasing this land was not easy. You can have all the money in the world, but finding the correct documentation and land owner is a tedious process. For instance, when we tried to purchase this land, one family was very gracious and wanted to sell it to us for a fair price. They were excited for development to come to their town, and we decided to move forward with them. During the site survey, however, we stood on the border of our soon-to-be land when another family came toward us on bicycles. Within minutes, we had two families arguing back and forth about who owned the land. 

The site survey team clearing a line in the bush around the perimeter of our land.

What Is a Paramount Chief?

At this point, we took a step back and brought this issue to the Paramount Chief, who has the authority to ensure this land would be sold to us by the official land owners. To give a rough comparison, a Paramount Chief has the same power as a Governor. There are 16 districts in Sierra Leone, and therefore, 16 Paramount Chiefs. Likewise, in America, there are 50 states and 50 governors. To relate this back to our land ordeal, it is of paramount importance to get the Paramount Chief's signature on our deed to this land before anything can be considered official.

The Paramount Chief of Tikonko handing out the trophy to the winners of the soccer tournament that Calvin organized in 2021.

With this issue in mind, any decisions made on this land were postponed until a discussion took place in the courthouse with the Paramount Chief and both families present. During this meeting, and in general, the Paramount Chief acts as the judge, the jury, and the executioner. In other words, whatever he says is considered law. One family won this case, and we immediately proceeded to purchase the land from them and get the Paramount Chief's signature.

The community in the court house in Tikonko.

Rural Power and Light Donation Makes This Possible

As mentioned before, Rural Power and Light provided us with the funds to purchase this land. Not just that, but they donated a total of $10,000 USD as startup capital for Growing the Grassroots. $5,800 USD went towards purchasing the land, and the remaining $4,200 USD towards clearing the land, hiring laborers, designing the website, and paying salaries to our in-country staff for the rest of 2022.

Rural Power and Light is a local solar company in Provo, Utah. This company is known for quality over quantity of work and is held in high regard in the community. The CEOs of Rural Power and Light, Ben Wright and Billy Kinsey, are very philanthropic individuals. When they heard about our business model, we asked them for $8,800 USD and they came back with $10,000 USD. That alone says more than words in describing who Rural Power and Light is.

Ben Wright holding a check for Growing the Grassroots startup funds.

First Reason We Chose This Land

When the citizens of Tikonko heard that Growing the Grassroots was coming for agricultural development, three separate families offered their land for us to potentially purchase. We chose the land at the junction of Tikonko for two important reasons. 

The first is the location. However, before the location is explained, here is some helpful backstory to help you understand our decision. 

Difference Between Cities, Towns, and Villages

There are three types of environments where people live in Sierra Leone: cities, towns, and villages. Freetown and Bo are the only two cities in Sierra Leone. 

The cities are the most developed, for lack of a better word, because they have the most opportunity for employment, access to education, and hold the highest population. To give some perspective to what having the "most opportunity for employment" out of the three living environments looks like, only 20% of Bo is currently employed. 

Towns, like Tikonko, are a step down from a city in terms of economic opportunities. In towns, there are likely no two-story buildings, education is limited, electricity is scarce, and access to food is very low. There might be a couple of schools in the town, but the number of students greatly outweighs the number of teachers, which leads to poor educational environments. In terms of electricity, Tikonko is the first town in Sierra Leone to get electricity, but even then it is unreliable. Unlike cities, there is no easy access to markets and restaurants in towns. There could be one restaurant in a town, but that is quite literally someone's front yard. After breakfast time, this restaurant will stop serving food, so for the rest of the day, you are on your own. 

Villages are the most disconnected from the rest of civilization. The biggest reason these villages are so disconnected is because of their remote location and the lack of safe transportation routes to them. There are no roads connecting villages to the rest of society. There is typically a dirt path, impossible to travel on by car or truck, and highly dangerous to travel on via motorbike. For example, if a bridge needs to be constructed along this path, it is typically done with large round logs. Motorbikes need to carefully center their weight on this log when riding across which is not an easy task. As a result, villages have no electricity, no cell phone or radio towers, extremely limited access to healthcare, and virtually no access to education past the 4th grade. 

For example, if you click here and read about the school that we are building in Segbeun Tarbema, that will give you a good understanding of how villages work and specifically why education is limited. 

Reason One: Location

Now that you have a good understanding of what cities, towns, and villages are, let's dive into why we chose the town called Tikonko. Tikonko is 7 miles south of Bo, which is the second-largest city in Sierra Leone. Since Tikonko is the first town with electricity, its population is growing at a faster rate than other towns in Sierra Leone. With that being said, this is the perfect place to start our first farm because we can reach every type of population there. The villagers are close enough to walk and the city dwellers are able to hop on a motorbike. 

Aerial video of the Tikonko Junction.

Second Reason We Chose This Land

The second reason we chose this land is the rich quality of the soil. Traditional methods of agriculture contain slash-and-burn techniques. This entails burning the jungle once a year in order to grow crops on that land. This technique has a couple of short-term benefits but is coupled with long-term repercussions that aren't always obvious. 

Benefits of the Slash-And-Burn Method

• The first benefit is that burning the bush releases high amounts of nitrogen into the soil. This nitrogen is easily absorbed by the seedlings. 

• Additionally, when you burn the bush and plant around the burnt stumps, that requires a lot less effort in the short term than it would be to clear the land, remove the stumps, and make a permanent farm. 

Disadvantages of the Slash-And-Burn Method

• The first downside is that burning the bush every year greatly lowers plant diversity. This encourages the overgrowth of invasive species. Specifically, in Sierra Leone, the fast-growing, invasive tree, known by the locals as "ask Shaka", drops very acidic leaves. In turn, this lowers the pH of the soil year by year. 

• The second repercussion is that plants do not have enough time to create large, healthy root systems. Therefore, when the land is cleared there is not as much organic matter left in the soil from the decomposing root systems. If you allow a healthy jungle to grow for many years, it will create deep and intricate root systems, whereas if you only allow a jungle to grow for one year, those root systems will not be as deep and spread out. As a result, less organic matter will be left in the soil as the plant matter decomposes. Organic matter is very important for agriculture because the more you have, the healthier the soil will be. 

• The final downside is that the pH level of the soil decreases. When you burn this plant material, the ash that is created does two things: it adds nitrogen to the soil, but also makes the soil more acidic.

Alie Kamara, the head professor of the agricultural department at Njala University in Sierra Leone, told Calvin that of 1200 soil samples taken nationwide, the pH ranges were between 3.2 and 4.7. This is a result of both burning the bush, and the acidic, invasive tree species that take over. Most crops prefer pH levels to be 6.0 to 7.0. The pH in the USA is ~6.5. Growing crops in soil of 6.5 pH will allow near-optimal growth potential for a plant. Growing the same seed in a soil pH of 4.0 might only allow that same plant to achieve half that height. 

The 2-acre plot of land that we purchased in the Tikonko junction is still bushland. Clearing of the land will begin when we finish building a school in Sebeun Tarbema. Clearing the land will be led by our friend Adam from church. Adam is a contractor and the leader of the youth group at the New Apostolic Church in Tikonko. Calvin met Adam during his time in Tikonko because they attended church every week and formed a close bond. Adam even named his child Kolama, which is Calvin’s Mende name.

We haven’t begun clearing the land, but on September 7th, 2022, we installed cement pillars at the four corners of our land. This marks the perimeter of our land and will be used in the future to build a fence between the pillars.