Site Visits

Recently, I spent some time visiting various forest garden sites in Senegal with Curtis McCoy, Program Manager for Trees for the Future.  It was an opportunity for me to visit with Senegalese participant farmers from different regions of the country.  Many of these forest gardens are a bit more mature, as they have been working with Trees for the Future for a number of years already.

A typical forest garden in its first year.

Each site is unique, yet they all conform to an agroforestry model.  That is, trees are planted in the same area as the vegetable crops.  This benefits the farmer in several ways.  First, the trees reliably provide fruit (mangoes, soursoup, desert apple, oranges, lime, papaya, and banana) under low maintenance conditions.  Second, trees greatly improve soil fertility and structure as they recycle nutrients from deeper soil depths.  Lastly, the trees provide shelter for the more delicate vegetables.  It gets hot here in Africa (115 degrees F during April and May), and often the wind blows in from the Sahara desert to the north.   Dappled shade is extremely welcoming in gardens growing tender lettuce and tomatoes.

Farmers have generally embraced the techniques promoted by Trees for the Future, though it will take some time and repetition to get most farmers to see the efficacy of certain permaculture techniques.  In many gardens, the soil is really poor and compacted. Getting vegetables to grow and to produce something is the first step.  Step two is to maximize production.

Training session with the lead technicians with Trees for the Future.

 

In addition, those who choose to grow vegetables during the peak of hot season (March through June) have another difficulty to overcome: insects!  It is not only the animals who go on their annual weight loss plan, the insects do as well.  When you create an oasis of green in the vastness of leafless trees and dead weeds, you are inviting trouble for yourself.  Dry season gardening creates challenges that I am still trying to find effective solutions for.  It is disheartening to spend weeks growing and watering cabbages, only to see them get eaten alive by caterpillars.  In other cases, the plants will still produce fruit, but not as prolifically as when the insect pressure is negligible.

An example of insect damage to the African vegetable Jaxatu.

Human nature invites us to take shortcuts, no matter what country you live in.  However, as I have said before, the earth knows what it needs, and the more completely you understand this dictate, the more prosperous you will become.   I am not under the illusion that every participant will create a textbook model forest garden.  The adjustment process will vary from participant to participant, but eventually, those with a sincere interest and passion for agriculture will get it.  And what they worked so hard to achieve, they will fiercely protect from destruction.

Fiercely protecting the environment. 

Now that is something that will save Africa!