As I’ve written about on my blog before, I help oversee a
pretty large (for Peace Corps standards) seed extension program in my
community. There are farmers who are
involved in the program in all 23 villages that make up the Communauté Rural de Kayemor. Last year there were about 100 farmers in the
program, and this year there’s even more.
I tried to start a village relay system last year where a farmer in each
village would be the “relay” between me and the other farmers in his/her
village, but it didn’t really get off the ground. So this year, I invited Peace Corps’
agriculture technical trainer, Youssoupha Boye, to lead a training in Kayemor
for all the selected relays to get move this system from a good idea to
something actually being put into practice.
The ultimate goal of this system is to not simply have a network of
farmers who gather data on the seed extension program in their respective
villages (though that is very important!) but to build up the capacity of these
farmers and others involved so this seed extension program can be sustainable
and potentially expand into other crops and/or evolve to include a farmer
cooperative that buys and sells seed and other things like fertilizer. Below is an outline that Youssoupha and I
used during the training we held in July, and after that is a
summary/evaluation that I wrote up for my boss regarding the training. (FYI “keppar” is the word in Wolof used in my
area for “relay”, and “Ndeye Diaw” is me, my Senegalese name.)
Since the training, I have gotten out and visited a lot of
the relays and their farmers, though due to time constraints (because I’ve
already started doing some of the responsibilities I’ll have once I move to
Dakar) I have not been able to visit everyone.
The relays that I’ve visited have been all over the board – a couple of
them have been collecting all the correct data and doing everything else I
asked of them, some of them have collected the basic data (like who has seed in
their village, what type of seed and seeding dates), and others have more or
less done nothing (for various reasons).
I will work with the PCV who is replacing me in Kayemor (in just over a
month!) to organize a training in November or early December to gather all the
data and then evaluate how the program went this year and how we can work to
improve things. So stay tuned to learn
more. J
Improved Seed Extension
Relay Training Outline
Kaymor,
July 25, 2011
Greetings and introductions
Reminder to everyone: please turn off
your phones or put them on vibrate only; if you have to take a call, please
step outside
Reason for training:
-
Peace
Corps has an improved seed extension program that every agriculture PCV
participates in.
-
There
has been a PCV extending improved seed in the Communauté Rural de Kaymor for 6
years now. The program started out with
about 10 farmers and, 6 years later, has expanded to over 160 farmers. Ndeye Diaw managed the program last year, but
it is now too large for one person (Ndeye Diaw) to manage. So a village relay system is being started,
which will put the management of the seed extension program in the hands of
several different people.
-
Peñc
Mi has a “keppar” system for its activities, so these “keppars” have been
selected to act as the relays for the seed extension program.
-
We
are having this training to train the “keppars” and other members of Peñc Mi so
they will be able to effectively and efficiently take over the management of
the improved seed extension program that Ndeye Diaw has been managing.
Summary of schedule:
-
Review
the improved seed extension program
-
Explain
the village relay system
-
Explain
improved field crop management techniques
-
Explain
data collection specifics
-
Explain
seed production, saving and storage
-
Next
steps, closing remarks and evaluation
Review of the improved seed extension
program
-
What
is the importance of improved varieties versus traditional varieties?
-
ISRA
(Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole) has been doing research on field
crops for almost 80 years in order to develop improved varieties for Senegal
-
ISRA/Peace
Corps extends 5 different types of seed and several different varieties (some
of which are not included here because they are not appropriate for our region
in Senegal):
§
Millet
– Souna 3
§
Sorghum
– CE 180-33 and CE 145-66
§
Corn
– Early Thai, Synthetic C, Swan
§
Beans
– Melakh and Yacine
§
Rice
– IRAT 10 and Nerika
-
Program
is a type of loan program: 2 kg of seed are given to each participating farmer
at the beginning of the rainy season, and then each farmer is expected to
return 4 kg of seed after harvest, unless the farmer has no harvest due to
germination problems, severe pest problems, or other similar problems. This way the program can grow larger every
year – i.e., with each passing year, the number of farmers in the program will
grow so that eventually every farmer in the area will be planting improved
varieties. Farmers in the program are
encouraged to keep seed for themselves so they can continue to plant the
improved variety year after year; they are also encouraged to try a new variety
of seed each successive year in the program, so that after several years in the
program they could be planting only improved varieties of all 5 different types
of field crops.
-
This
is the 6th year the ISRA/Peace Corps improved seed extension program
has been in the Communauté Rural de Kaymor; there are now over 160 farmers in
the program
-
There
is specific data that ISRA needs from each farmer in order to continually
improve the varieties that they develop; the PCVs usually collect this data,
but because there are so many farmers now, the “keppars” will now be collecting
this data
Improved
field crop management techniques
-
Field
preparation techniques (ex. manure application, tilling timing)
-
Planting
techniques (ex. seed spacing, timing)
-
Chemical
fertilizer use (ex. NPK versus urea, quantities, timing)
-
Weeding
techniques (ex. timing, frequency)
-
Integrated
pest management (ex. organic versus chemical)
-
Seed
gathering and storage techniques (ex. seed for food versus seed for planting,
organic storage versus chemical storage)
The
village relay system
-
As
mentioned, there are so many farmers in the program now that Ndeye Diaw cannot
manage the program by herself; she needs help from individuals in every village
-
You
are all part of Peñc Mi’s “keppar” system so you are motivated and dedicated to
agricultural development. For this
reason you have been selected to be the village relays for the seed extension
program. This responsibility will take
some time and effort – not a lot – but some.
Obviously you have a choice if you want to be a relay or not; is there
anyone who does not want to be a relay?
I will ask again after I tell you what your responsibilities will be.
-
As
with the Peñc Mi “keppar” system, all 23 villages in the Communauté Rural de
Kaymor will have 1 relay except for the 3 larger villages, which will have 2
relays. Each relay will be responsible
for the farmers in his/her village who are part of the seed extension program;
there will not be more than 10 farmers per relay.
-
Here
are your responsibilities as a relay, should you accept the position:
§
Answer
any questions your farmers might have regarding the program, crop maintenance,
seed storage, etc.
§
Encourage
farmers to use improved field crop management techniques, such as applying
manure and fertilizer, thinning, etc.
§
Act
as a relay between Ndeye Diaw and your farmers – Ndeye will contact you if she
wants to share information with your farmers; you should contact her regularly
to share with her how things are going for your farmers and if they have had
any problems or questions; if you have any questions that you needed
immediately, beep her and she will call you back as soon as she can – here is
her cell phone number: 77.330.48.63
§
Collect
the necessary data and share that data with Ndeye Diaw and others as necessary
in a timely fashion
§
Attend
the results and evaluation meeting at the end of the rainy season; during that
meeting everyone will share their results from the rainy season and we will
evaluate how the program is going and make any necessary changes
-
Who
can tell me what one of the responsibilities of a relay is? [when
one is given, ask:] What is another responsibility? [etc.]
-
Is
there anyone that does not want to be a relay?
Data collection
-
This
system of seed extension is a way of testing out new seed varieties to see how
they will perform throughout Senegal with various soils, climates and farming
practices. Thus, there is certain
information that needs to be collected and recorded for ISRA for them to be
able to know how well these seed varieties are performing and for them to,
therefore, continue to develop new and better varieties.
-
Each
relay will get a data collection record sheet to use when collecting data. [Pass out sheets]
-
If you
don’t understand the French, that’s ok.
You can rewrite it in Wolof, or memorize each column, and if you forget,
you can always ask someone else who can read.
-
Here
is the data you need to collect for each farmer:
§
Farmer
§
Village
§
Crop
§
Variety
§
Amount
of Seed (kg)
§
Previous
Crop in Field
§
Seeding
Date
§
Spacing
Between
§
Rows
(cm)
§
#
Plants per Meter per Row
§
Thinned?
(Yes/No)
§
1st
Weeding Date
§ 2nd
Weeding Date
§ Soil
Amendments (Manure, NPK, Urea)
§ Date(s)
Applied
§ Disease/Pest
Problems
§ Chemical
Controls
§ Chemical
Application Date(s)
§ Harvest
Date
§ Yield
of 2mx2m (kg)
§ Yield
(kg/ha)
§ Farmer
Commentary and Feed Back
§ Your
Notes and Commentary
-
The
hardest part will probably be getting accurate yield estimates from the 2x2 m
plots. Because this may be difficult, if
you have more than 2 farmers growing the same variety, you can choose 2 of them
and have a 2x2 m plot in each of those 2 farmers only. If you have 2 farmers with, for example,
Melakh, and 2 farmers with Yacine, please mark out 2x2 m plots in all of the
fields since, though Melakh and Yacine are both beans, they are different
varieties, so we want yield estimates from both of them. If you don’t do a 2x2 m plot but can get a
yield estimate from the farmer, please do that.
-
[Go out to a field and practice
collecting data]
-
Ndeye
Diaw will go out and visit all of you periodically throughout the rainy season
to see how things are going. Please
visit her at her house when you’re in Kayemor on louma days or for anything
else.
Seed production, saving and storage
-
This
program wouldn’t work if we didn’t save seed from year to year.
-
There
are certain things you should do to make sure you save the best seed for
planting. [Explain the methods for collecting the best seed for planting and then
how to properly store this seed.] You
should share this information with your farmers.
-
It
will be your responsibility to gather the 4 kg of seed that each farmer needs
to give as their payment for being in the program.
-
The
Communauté Rural de Kaymor has a seed storage facility, so we will save the
seed there. The seed needs to be
properly labeled with the name of the farmer, type of crop, the name of the
variety, the year it was grown and the date it was stored in the seed storage
facility.
Next steps, closing remarks and training
evaluation
-
Thank
you all for coming and for participating so well.
-
What
is the first thing you all need to do when you get back to your villages? [Answer:
introduce themselves to their farmers, explain their role/responsibility, and
begin collecting data]
-
How
did the training go? Was there anything
that you don’t think worked well? How
could we change it to make it better in the future?
-
Ndeye
Diaw will be visiting you all within the next few weeks, but be patient because
she has to visit 23 villages! Again,
always feel free to beep her and she’ll call you back, and/or stop by her hut
when you’re in Kaymor.
-
Ndeye
Diaw will inform you all when the end of the year results and evaluation
meeting is.
-
Thank
you all again!
Seed
Extension Village Relay Training
Kaymor,
July 25, 2011
Summary
On Monday, July
25, 2011, PCV Danielle Stoermer hosted a training in Kaymor to train the group
of farmers who are village relays in the Peñc Mi organization in how to be
relays for the ISRA/Peace Corps Senegal improved seed extension program that
has been present in the Communauté Rural de Kaymor for 6 years. The program has grown to include over 160
farmers, which is too large for Danielle to manage herself, so she decided a
more decentralized system of village relays would be better. She organized the training with Peñc Mi, a
locally-run development organization that has been present in the Communauté
Rural de Kaymor for over 10 years, because they had a preexisting system of
village relays, where each relay is called a “keppar”. All of the relays, as well as the members of
the Peñc Mi bureau and its animateurs, were invited to participate in the
training. [See Appendix I for a complete
list of participants.] Peace Corps
Agricultural Technical Trainer Youssoupha Boye came down to Kaymor and assisted
with the training. Youssoupha started
the training by explaining the reasons for the training. Then he explained the ISRA/Peace Corps seed
extension program since some of the relays were not familiar with the details
of the program. Next he explained the
relay system: what it is, why it’s being started, how it’s being implemented,
and what the responsibilities of the relays are. Data collection was discussed after the relay
system was clear: why data collection is important, what specific data needs to
be collected and how it should be collected.
The data collection record sheets were written in French, but time was
spent during the training translating the document into Wolof or Arabic for
those relays who are not literate in French.
In order to ensure that the relays clearly understood how to collect the
data, a brief field trip was taken out to a nearby field in order to practice
collecting all the necessary data.
During this practical session, the relays were trained in how to use
simple tools to measure and collect data, such as using the distance between
the tip of one’s index finger and thumb (which is generally 20 cm) to measure
the distance between plants between rows and within rows and using 2 long strides
to mark off the 2x2 meter plots. Time
was also spent discussing seed production, saving and storage, since this is
such an integral part of the seed extension program. Youssoupha closed the training by giving a
brief summary of what was discussed, asking for feedback from the relays
regarding how the training was conducted, and explaining to them the next steps
they need to take to get the program fully underway. [See Appendix II for a couple of pictures
from the training and Appendix III for a detailed outline of the order of and
the material covered during the training.]
Evaluation
From the
perspective of both the trainers and the trainees, the training was a
success. At the end of the training,
Youssoupha asked the relays for feedback regarding the training, and they all
commented on how beneficial it was – how the village relay system is a really
good idea and the training was a very effective way to get it started. Several people commented that the data
collection sheets are particularly important and beneficial for this work, so
they were glad that they had been developed and handed out during the
training. The hands-on data collection
part of the training was also particularly effective because, by teaching the
farmers how to measure distances with specific parts of their bodies, it
eliminated the need for them to have measuring tools other than themselves; it
also allowed the farmers to see how little time it takes to collect the data,
thereby providing them with the confidence that they will be able to be
successful relays and collect the necessary data.
While the
training was a success overall, there were a few changes that could be made for
any future trainings similar to this.
The training occurred at the end of July, after nearly all the seed in
the program had been dispersed and after many of the farmers had planted
already. In this new system, the relays
are expected to train their farmers in improved agricultural techniques
(especially ones recommended for the improved varieties), but they hadn’t been
trained before some of their farmers planted.
This meant that some of the farmers (who were new to the program) were
not trained in how to plant their improved varieties of seed. So it might beneficial to have this training
earlier in the year, like in late May.
While this would allow all farmers adequate time to be trained in
improved techniques, it would make the practical data collection field session
during the training difficult if not impossible since no field crops would be
growing. A nearby garden could be used
for that session if it had field crops in it.
Due to
circumstances out of the control of the PCV and Tech Trainer, they did not
arrive in Kaymor until almost 11am, so the training started quite late. Most of the relays had been waiting around
for a couple hours and were therefore quite discouraged by how late the
training ended up starting. This also
messed up the schedule, such that the practical data collection field session
occurred just after lunch, during the heat of the day. It also meant that the training didn’t end
until about 4:30pm, so many farmers had little or no time to rest before they
went out to their fields to do some evening work. While everyone agreed that the data
collection sheets are essential for this relay system to work effectively, more
space should have been left at the top of each column for the relays to
translate the column heading into Wolof or Arabic. Leaving space for the relays to translate the
headings themselves is better than translating them ahead of time because there
is no consistent spelling of words in Wolof and because some of the relays are
only literate in Arabic. Some of the
relays are not literate at all; this created problems in terms of motivating
and convincing those relays that they would be able to collect the data. Those relays were told to find a literate
individual in their village to help them with the data collection; while they
agreed that this would definitely be possible, it would be easier if in all
future situations all the relays were literate in either French or Wolof. Few relays brought pens, so they also had to
share pens when they were translating the column headings, which added extra
time; therefore, extra pens should be brought to any future trainings. Relays also mentioned that notebooks should
have been provided for them so they could have been able to take notes during
the training; this will be particularly relevant in future trainings if all the
relays are literate in French or Wolof.
Because of time
constraints, the practical data collection field session was used primarily to
explain how to collect the necessary data, with little elaboration into
improved field crop management techniques; however, this is an ideal time in
which to review improved agricultural techniques as well as the recommended
techniques for the improved varieties of seed.
Another activity that could be included during this session if time
allows in future trainings, is to have one or more relays do a practice data
collection interview with a farmer regarding his/her field. This will be another way to further empower
the relays to feel confident in their ability to succeed as a relay and it will
provide an opportunity for corrections to be made if relays make mistakes or
still don’t quite fully understand the data that should be collected or how it
should be collected.
To take on the issue of girls’ education in Senegal, Peace Corps Volunteers have organized the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship program. At each participating school (over 40 this year!), three girls are chosen out of nine candidates based on a combination of need and academic promise. Each candidate receives help (about $10) paying their inscription fees for the next school year, and each winner receives an additional $30 to buy school supplies. While this is a tiny amount of money by American standards, for the poorest Senegalese families this goes a long way. While I don't have any pictures of the candidates in Kaymor (because my external hard drive is broken), this is a picture of the Kaolack girls camp participants, which is another educational (and fun!) opportunity many of these girls get to participate in.
In coordination with Peace Corps Senegal and the US Embassy, the major national TV station in Senegal, RTS, recently finished a documentary on Peace Corps Senegal, called "Etre Utile" which means "Being Useful".
we arrive, etc.
times in Kaymor and other villages and towns by people that said they saw me on TV.
documentary aired on national television, the Ambassador hosted a preview party. 