In late 2022, 30 families in six villages formed the inaugural class of Growing Family Prosperity, COFA’s grassroots agriculture program. A year later, 25 more families in five villages were recruited. The material investment—seeds, tools, fertilizer, goats, and chickens—took place in the first year, but Mohamed Sesay, the program manager, and the extension workers continued to provide guidance and track productivity in the second and third years. We’re using that experience to provide an even better start for the upcoming class of 2025.
Three significant components were added this past year to families in the first 11 villages (and all three will be included from the start for new families):
- Composting to replace commercial fertilizer
- Processing fresh cassava into “garie” to increase market value
- Establishing savings and loan schemes in each village—to be legally registered in June 2025
The Class of 2025
In October, 25 families in 5 new villages will join GFP, benefitting from the experience and success of the families and COFA team to date. They will immediately begin composting, have access to cassava processing in year one, and their savings and loan scheme will be established. Seeds for their first planting will be purchased from current GFP families. The first-year cost is about $2,000 per family.
Composting
Mile 91 widows ready for compost training
Each village received training, after which each family created their own compost site. The compost will replace some or all of the commercial fertilizer purchased in the first years. It’s also more environmentally friendly and makes use of waste materials.
Finished digging and starting to layer materials
Applying finished compost on a bed ready for planting
Cassava Processing
Cassava, a starchy root, is one of the staple foods in Sierra Leone, but it is not used in its raw state. It looks beautiful in the field, but the roots contain varying amounts of cyanide, which must be removed by processing before it’s fit to eat.
Ya-Marie Sesay in her cassava field
The basic process involves peeling and washing the roots and then grinding them into small pieces in a slurry, which is where the machine comes in. The small village-level machines purchased by COFA are perfect for the job. The resulting product—“garie”—must be dried and bagged before it’s ready for sale, bringing greater returns than selling fresh cassava root.
We are providing one machine per village, which is sufficient to process the GFP production and some cassava grown by other village farmers. The operators, selected by Mohamed and the COFA team, charge a small fee per kilogram of raw cassava, and thereby have gained a livelihood.
Delivery of cassava processor to Sint Kalangba community
Sint Kalanga GFP farmers with processed garie ready for sale
Village Savings and Loan Schemes
The groundwork has been laid to establish savings and loan schemes in each of the original 11 villages, with the official launches next month, in June. Each village has chosen five GFP members to run its organization. Families will contribute to a communal pool of money that will earn interest through micro-lending within the community. Karim, COFA’s lead in Sierra Leone, has had four years of microfinancing experience with “ReSeed,” an organization he started with “seed money” from COFA, and which has grown with other donations. And Mohamed has had direct experience with village savings and loan programs in his previous work, so it’s in good hands. I’ll be reporting on this development once it’s up and running.
Goats—the Gifts that Keep on Giving
The goats we supplied last year and the year before have continued to breed!
