“OneVillage Partners training enhanced my ability to improve agricultural productivity”
Story told by Baindu Amara, volunteer-leader from Magbema
Transcribed and translated by Philemon Vandi McSenesie and Vivian Moigua, OneVillage Partners staff
Baindu Amara, a 40-old farmer lives in Magbema, a community situated in Eastern Sierra Leone with more than 900 inhabitants. Agriculture, especially upland and swampland rice farming, is the main economic activity of the people of Magbema. This is Baindu's story.
For many years, agricultural activities had not been productive among the people of Magbema, including Baindu. Baindu had too many crops and little knowledge of the farming calendar. She never thought to plant crops in a specific farming season to contribute to productive farming. Baindu struggled to save enough money to expand the size of her farm. She did not participate in any farming groups and was unable to estimate how many bushels of rice she grew. She never had a seed bank for the next planting season. “Tomorrow may be fine for itself,” Baindu stated. Baindu did not reap many benefits from her farm, and she mismanaged the little produce she got from the farm work. To support her family, Baindu had to work for other people and obtained loans with high interest from other community members.
OneVillage Partners collaborated with the community of Magbema in 2018, providing training and sensitization of long-term needs to leaders and the community. Baindu was motivated and wanted to join the Community Action program. Once she was chosen to be a volunteer-leader, Baindu attended training on best agricultural practices, such as planning, savings, budgeting, using a farming calendar, and many more steps for productive farming. At first, it was difficult for Baindu to understand the agricultural calendar, but she persevered and learned the importance of appropriate cultivation seasons. To increase farmers' revenue, Baindu and the other volunteer-leaders assisted the community in choosing community stores and dry floors as their top priorities for their development projects.
Baindu applied what she learned by starting a home garden to [sell her crops to] help her make an income. She also began planning and budgeting for more effective and more sustainable farming. Baindu later joined two local farming groups to boost her agricultural activities and help her cultivate more acres.
Baindu Amara’s knowledge of farming work and her income continues to improve day by day. Her knowledge of different types of seasonal calendars, planning, budgeting, and her concentration on a single agricultural activity at a time continue to improve. Last year, she cultivated three bushels of swamp rice and harvested 17 bags of husk seed rice. She adequately controls her produce after every harvest and saves for the next planting season. Baindu joined a savings group and earned 800 Leones ($37.20 USD) to boost her farming work and family goals, such as her children’s education. Baindu even hired laborers to support her agricultural work. “I was able to pay 550 Leones ($25.58 USD) for the planting of five acres of a palm oil plantation,” Baindu proudly shared.
Baindu is no longer financially dependent on her husband for things like clothing, she no longer takes risky loans, she can buy seeds to cultivate, and she can provide food for her family. Today, Baindu is admired by her neighbors for her remarkable improvement in agricultural activities.
