RHCI’s Farm: 3rd Season
RHCI-Leased Land and FBO Women’s Land
Harvest from the dry season took place in late August 2022, on RHCI’s farm. For more details about that season as well as the yields of maize and groundnut which were obtained, read about the dry season in 2022 here.
Where Is the Agriculture Program Going?
In September 2022, Growing the Grassroots signed a contract with the RHCI to lease their 3-acre farm from them for a period of two years. At that point, the contract is up for negotiation. What GTGR is hoping to achieve with this agreement is to continue developing their agriculture education program before raising the necessary funds to clear the 2-acre parcel of land they purchased in May of 2022.
Clearing the “bush”, or jungle, requires many able-bodied laborers, dangerous tools, large fires, and hard work in the sun for a couple of weeks. That type of project costs roughly $1,500 USD but the market varies almost daily given the current inflation in Sierra Leone.
In terms of advancing their agriculture education program, GTGR is investing high amounts of time and energy into their in-country staff to ensure they are supported and have the resources needed to perform their jobs at a high level. In turn, Edmond and Mohamed are able to educate the 24 women we have continued to support from last season. These 24 women will run through this entire season with Edmond from planting to post-harvest handling to ensure they know the proper procedures and steps to successfully grow maize, groundnuts, and cucumbers individually.
Mohamed at the RHCI-leased land showing season three progress.
The FBO Women Become the Teachers
After this season is complete, Edmond will evaluate all 24 women and decide which ones have proven themselves by investing their energy and time into improving their practices, and who is able and competent to move up and become full-time educators working for Growing the Grassroots. At this point, the women will be running classes for the entire community to come and learn from, multiple times a week. Since these women are local, they will likely be family members, friends, or neighbors of the exact audience they are teaching.
This is the primary difference between Growing the Grassroots and most other international non-profits. They don’t assume the needs of the community, they let the community tell them what they need.
The FBO Women Started Their Own Farm
In order to further support the women this season, GTGR encouraged them to create a second farm in the community. It is one acre in size, and very close to the RHCI-leased land. GTGR did this to ensure there is enough crop for future seed multiplication and abundant crop to give the women for their families. On this parcel of land, GTGR provided them with the seed, fertilizer, and labor necessities to develop their farm.
FBO women planting on their own one-acre farm.
Agreement Details
As agreed upon by all parties, including the Rural Health Care Initiative, Growing the Grassroots, and the Tikonko Women’s FBO, the yields from these two farms will be distributed as such:
RHCI-leased land:
GTGR is to provide RHCI with 26kg of improved groundnut variety and 25% of all crop yield value during the duration of the first year lease. If the yield is less than an 800.000 Le valuation, GTGR will pay the difference between the value of yield to reach 800.000 le value.
During the second year, GTGR provided RHCI with 30% of all crop yield value during the duration of the second-year lease. If the yield is less than a 950.000 Le valuation, GTGR will pay the difference between the value of yield to reach 950.000 le value.
GTGR to store 25% of crop yield for future seed multiplication and storage
The women take home the remaining ~46%
Women’s one-acre land:
In order to receive the fertilizer and tools from GTGR, the women were required to give them a 1.000.000 Leone loan ($100 USD).
At the end of the season, if they provide GTGR with 25% of the crop yield for future seed multiplication (and reimbursement for the value of fertilizer), GTGR will return their 1.000.000 Leones.
If the agreement is completed by both parties, GTGR will continue to support these women to have farm projects seasonally where the same conditions will apply.
The Future of the FBO Program
In the future, we will have a different structure to the Farm-Based Organization (FBO) program. This is slightly a lackluster program, as we are focusing our energy more on creating a standardized education program, and since this is the only FBO we are working with, we are giving them our undivided attention every day.
To create a sustainable FBO program in the future, to ensure GTGR can work with hundreds of FBOs at a time, it needs to be more cost-effective for them. Specifically, buying tools and extra seeds for the women this year is something GTGR did just to get them on their feet. GTGR will eventually transition into a program where, depending on the cost of materials and inputs that GTGR provides for the FBO, at the end of the season that FBO will be reimbursing GTGR with crops to add up to the total value of inputs that were provided for them. This way, GTGR can expand its reach to further communities, and teach more people than ever the modern forms of agriculture supported by Norman Borlaug.
