Crops for Jojoima
self-sufficiency for the people
When you heal hunger in one part of the world, you heal hunger everywhere in the world.
Summary
Welcome to the Crops for Jojoima fundraising campaign where you will
see exactly what your contributions pay for in rehabilitating this
plantation and reviving
a community.
Three years of hardship caused by virus and war have left many of the less fortunate in a constant state of extreme hunger that causes malnutrition and wasting for the small African community of Jojoima in Sierra Leone.
In the face of this devastation, one family has a solution. To rehabilitate their 16-acre cash crops plantation of cocoa, coffee, oil palm and citrus that fell to disrepair over the course of that time period. Additionally, they will turn the Inland Valley Swamp into a rice field, which is a food staple of the people.
The Saffagbokoh family isn't looking for a hand-out; they're looking for a leg-up to bring their plantation back into full production and self-sustainability.
This single campaign is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to invest in the rebuilding of an infrastructure that will support this and future generations, as well as neighbouring farms.
The rehabilitation project itself will take one year and requires a modest sum of $1500CA to create a model that other farm owners can then replicate throughout the village and chiefdom.
Thank you for your support and compassion, because healing hunger in one part of the world heals it everywhere in the world.
The Hunger Problem
Without a sustainable food source, hunger, wasting, malnutrition and impoverished living conditions are how the less fortunate exist in the small village of 3,000 people in Jojoima (92 miles east of Bo), Sierra Leone, Africa creating a significant gap between the few rich businessmen and the poor. This is the kind of place where there is no homeless shelter or soup kitchen, as no such thing exists for these small communities in Sub Saharan Africa.
The Sustainable Solution
The Saffagbokoh family own a 16-acre
plantation of cash crops with cocoa, coffee, oil palm and citrus
that they have developed over 15 years with a comprehensive
understanding of environmental stewardship. This single farm can
support future generations as well as infuse the village and further
into the cheifdom with work opportunities, plus better food, health
and education to all citizens.
With agriculture being the main industry of the area, Jojoiba Farm is a self-sustaining enterprise at peak operating conditions and offsets much of the suffering when in full production. Together, this extended family has both the skills and the drive for creating sustainable agriculture with appropriate modern and climate-sensitive technologies.
And, by having their own fair distribution systems in place to sustain the whole of the community they want make sure that nobody will ever suffer from hunger in their community again. One of the most common ways to alleviate hunger in these areas is by utilizing the method of Food for Work, which will support the many youths of the village and give them purpose, as well as teach them farming skills.
The Objective Barrier
The plantation is in desperate need of rehabilitation for their crops to support even the family let alone their fellow citizens, as three years of COVID, the Ukraine war and death have heavily impacted the lifeblood of this entire community. When big name charities turned their focus from water, sanitation and education to address the COVID crisis in the region it left this small community to fend for itself. Then, when there was a chance to start over the Ukraine war caused prices to explode beyond financial means for many of these smaller communities like Jojoima. This left the plantation in a dire neglected state where some crops died, many are overgrown with weeds, a lot of clustering occurred and the yield has dropped to its lowest point in ten years.
Heroic Financial Support
You can assist this noble cause by investing a few dollars to rehabilitate the farm and bring it back to full production and beyond, which will revitalize the whole village, as well as become a model for others in neighbouring communities to follow. Further, the coming rainy season will allow for the cultivation of an Inland Valley Swamp (IVS) for swamp rice farming that is a food staple in this part of the world.
Together we can alleviate the suffering caused by hunger at the root in this most raw form: ground zero. We are in fact creating a new synergy of compassion and self-sustainability at ground zero that will renew a faith in human resourcefulness to overcome hardship no matter what shape it takes. By giving this family a leg up just as you would a good neighbour, they can get to work quickly to remove the overgrown weeds and deadwood, prune clustered crops, replant dead crops, clear the swamp and dig canals.
Rewards For Supporters
When you add your generous contribution you will be supporting the Saffagbokoh family of Jojoima who are the doers and leaders in raising the entire country above the stigma of poverty.
- You will get constant progress reports and updated photos throughout the initial phases of the year-long Jojoima Rehabilitation Project as we work closely with the family members within their respective positions as a team.
- You will gain a clear understanding on how this type of charitable support goes directly to the people in its entirety rather than passed through a dozen hands until there is but a pittance left for the ones who desperately need it.
- You will meet some of the most hardworking people in the world who value their family, cherish their homeland and strive to see children laugh and play, as well as see the community's spirit revived.
You may be surprised of how happy it makes you feel to be a part of this intelligent and inspiring campaign, and that is reward in itself.
Highlights
See all activity5
Jojoima Farm/Plantation
Location
Jojoima in the Malema Chiefdom in the Kailahun District, Eastern Sierra Leone is a completely rural community of about 3,000 people located within the Gola Forest regions 92 miles East of the country's second largest city of Bo.
- Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/3XsZKm4WN1tPKPay7
- Open Street Map: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/2924526529
Rehabilitation
- Remove overgrown weeds
- Prune clustered crops
- Replant dead crops: Cocoa, Coffee Citrus and Oil palm
- Establish independent crop nurseries for oil palm, bananas, plantains, oranges, yams, etc
Expansion
- Inter-cropping with pea trees, groundnuts, yams, bananas and plantains
- Value-added enterprises for the production of peanut butter, palm oil and fruit juice
- Use the Inland Valley Swamps (IVS) areas in the cocoa and coffee plots to create a new rice field
- Nurse all pea, citrus, cocoa and coffee seedlings on bonds created after digging the central and peripheral canals in the IVS
Team
Diane Babcock, Nanaimo, BC Canada
- project consultant, business owner, life coach, humanitarian, crowdfunding coordinator, contributor
Gaspard Ngevao, Bo, Sierra Leone, Africa
- project manager, human rights advocate, NGO correspondent, budget controller
Smart Lansana, Bo, Sierra Leone, Africa
- technical advisor on climate sensitive agricultural best practices for farmers on the farm and in the Jojoima community who provides monthly farm-based demonstrations on plots of land
On-site full-time labour: Amara Siyieh, Amara Ngevao, Victoria Ngevao, Hajah Mariama Ngevao
- land clearing, farm huts construction, security fence construction, prune oil palm trees, cut unwanted tree covers, replant seedlings to replace dead crops, food preparation
Family members attending educational institutions will join the farm work during holidays
Community contributions
- The Jojoima community authorities have been approached and agreed to provide an additional 5 acres for the cultivation of additional crops or to diversify the food crops on the farm.
- The community youths are willing to volunteer on provision of voluntary labor when requested and food for work is provided.
Environmental stewardship
- Green manures with no chemicals, no fertilizers, no pesticides, no tilling, no burning
- Climate-sensitive technologies to prune the farm crops, particularly the oil palm plants
- Appropriate climate-sensitive local tools to construct a secured farm hut and storage facility
Expanding the model
From the proceeds of the farm activities, the family will support, on a revolving cash loan basis two other families per year in the Jojoima community to rehabilitate their own farms and economic situations.
Endorsements
-
Wisteria
Community Association, Nanaimo, BC Canada
- On a mission for the relief of poverty by providing much needed food, friendship and necessities to the homeless in Nanaimo through their Stone Soup kitchen outreach.
Socioeconomics
People
- Population of 3,136 people. Nearly 39.3% of the population are under the age of 15.
- While English is the official language Creole or Krio is the common language spoken by everyone in Sierra Leone.
- The majority (about 90%) of the population follows Islam with the rest follows mainly Christianity.
- A patriarchal society with high gender inequalities, resulting in women and girls having less power in regard to access to economic development resources, information, education, property, decision making and even their freedom. This results in domestic and sexual violence against women, the trafficking of women, early marriages and childbirth and pregnancies.
Industry
- Agriculture is the main occupation for the majority of the people and almost 95% are employed in this sector
- Malema chiefdom has the largest cultivable land areas in the Kailahun District with tremendous mineral and forest resources.
- Unfortunate is that unequal access and inefficient natural resources management leave thousands of the inhabitants, particularly women and girls, grossly poor and malnourished.
Country
- Sierra Leone is part of Sub Saharan Africa (below the Sahara Desert)
- According to the WFP, the people disproportionately suffered from poor food intake due to the food insecurity situation in Sierra Leone, which deteriorated in Jojoima and other communities of the Kailahun District in 2022.
This is the activity report for the first phase of this one-year project that is being covered in this campaign.
Phase 1 (Quarter 1)
May 21, 2023 - August 31, 2023
Cultivate a rice crop in the Inland Valley Swamp as advised by the agriculturist in the community because of the timetable of agriculture
Preliminary
- gather tools on hand: rope, bush sticks
- organize team duties
- consult with community agriculturist
Purchases
- 6 traditional hoes
- 6 Khodali hoes
- 10 slashers
- 10 machetes
- 2 shovels
- 2 spades
- 2 rakes
- 1 pruning saw
- 1 wheel barrow
- 5 hole diggers
- 5 digging forks
- 16 dibbers
- food for workers
Activity
- Gather and address the workers as to the approach and purpose of the first step
- Submit expense report
Measuring Progress
At the beginning of the action in May 2023 and at the end of the implementation of the project activities in June 2024, the following indicators of progress will be assessed by the Jojoima community leaders together with the members of the SaffaGbokoh household.The project activities will be reviewed on a monthly basis and reports shared with family members. This will be coordinated by Gaspard, the Head of the SaffaGbokoh family.
Starting from zero the rise in these scores will be the progress indicators:
Number of targeted household members having:
- sustained access to Improved food intake
- sustained access to improved accommodation facilities
- a personal savings bank account
- access to effective healthcare services and facilities, when sick.
- access to required effective educational services and facilities.
Percentage of people in Jojoijma having:
- access to locally-grown food products, at affordable costs.
- access to value-added products sold at comparatively lower costs in the community market
- access to and utilize the services at the demonstration site for education on climate-sensitive agricultural practices and technologies.
- restored their economic as well as political independence and self-reliance.
Percentage of project households with
- multiple sources of family income
Phase 1 (Quarter 2)
September 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023
Phase 1 (Quarter 3)
December 1, 2023 - February 29, 2024
Phase 1 (Quarter 4)
March 1, 2024 - May 31, 2024
