The first step is a live fence. They are called wigo in Swahili (hedge). Now is the time to weave them into a dense impenetrable fence. They should become so dense that even the neighbor’s chicken are kept out!
Seeds were planted in seedbags only in March. Progress has been fast. Now the seedlings are almost waist height.
Forest Gardens are diverse agroforestry systems with annual food crops, perennial food crops, fruit trees, trees for firewood, trees for timber, fodder for animals, and vegetables (roots, leaves and fruity ones). One acre is plenty when things grow in multiple stories from ground level to tall trees.
Papayas were the first fruit trees to be planted and are also growing nicely! They were planted into a row. The variety selected was Malkia F1 (hybrid seed) that will start yielding fruits about 8 months after planting. Farmers were taught to use recycled bottles to direct water to the roots (not in the picture).
Right now (September) farmers are guided to form Village Community Banking (VICOBA) groups that will allow them to save and take loans. One selects a regular installment that one is able to put aside into this savings account. The amount of the loan can be three times the size of one’s saving. But the purpose of the loan needs to be well justified to the rest of the members.
Eighteen shallow wells (7-10 meters) have been hand-dug for those group members who did not have a water source at their homestead. This activity has been extremely popular! 😉
Three project facilitators took part in an Organic agriculture course at Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania in June, and, among other things, learned many different ways to make organic pesticides to combat harmful insects, and to make plant boosters to add fertility in the soil. When they came back from the course, they taught all these methods to farmers.
Congratulations to all these farmers whose efforts are already showing real success!
And thank you to those tireless facilitators who have put hours and hours into guiding the farmer groups. And thank you to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and all Finnish tax payers for making this possible.