Browerville — "The cassava we are eating today is from that small garden you see over there," said Hayford Quaye, a 50-year-old father of four. His cassava garden was planted just behind a large makeshift house in Browerville, a community on the outskirts of Liberia's capital, Monrovia. We spoke as 15 or more joyful looking children gathered around a teenage girl who dished out cooked cassava from a large pot onto their plates.
Quaye left his home in the southeastern county of Maryland and settled in Monrovia during Liberia's civil war. He and his family live with another large group of people who were displaced by the fighting. "I am serious," he emphasized, seeing I was surprised at the number of people living with him. "We are about 100 persons living in this house." He said they were from different counties, squatting in the 10-bedroom unfinished building and could not go back home because life in their rural communities is difficult. "The road is not good and the hard time is too much in the bush," he said. I watched as the children had lunch. They seemed to like the cassava. It's usually boiled and a little pepper sauce added.
The garden around Quaye's house has a variety of crops, including cassava and potatoes. The women set basket traps in the nearby swamp to catch fish. "We get a lot of fish during the raining season," one of the teenage girls said. "That's what we cook."
Growing up here, I remember backyard gardens were common in many parts of Monrovia, especially the suburbs. There were plots of land with all sorts of crops, especially traditional vegetables such as bitter bulbs, onions and peppers. But people also planted rice, Liberia's staple. Potato greens that make a delicious local sauce were cut out of backyard gardens and almost never bought from markets. My brothers and I had one of these gardens.
Many persons had quite large farms further inland. Liberians were told to feed themselves and not depend on rice imported from mainly Asian countries. Even government officials and civil servants took time out to do some farming. We spent a few school breaks on the farms of relatives in northern Lofa County, planting and harvesting rice. The county used to be the country's breadbasket because of its large rainforest and great agriculture potential. But all the zest for cultivating the soil virtually disappeared with the outbreak of war in 1989 - even the backyard potato greens gardens that checkered many parts of urban Monrovia can no longer be seen.
"Now everything we plant in our garden is what feed us and send the children to school," Quaye said as he took me through his garden. The large plat is planted mainly with cassava, but it does not produce enough to feed Quaye's family and send the children to school. "We get 100 Liberian dollars (under U.S.$2) a day. We are really suffering here my son," Quaye said. He became emotional but the children were not bothered. Having had their lunch, they were cheerful throughout the tour of the garden, running around and eager to see pictures I was taking. "Don't break my cassava sticks oh. Y'all don't want to eat again," Quaye quipped as he held a child who had stumbled.
Quaye said he would like to plant more crops but there was no more space. He stressed that if they had a larger area and the right tools they could earn about 1,000 Liberian dollars (U.S.$14) a day. "But we can't plant anything in the swamp," he said.
Many persons displaced by the war who now live in Monrovia are engaged in agricultural activities to earn money because of high unemployment. But seemingly, cultivation has not reached its pre-war level. The new government is trying to revive the sector by encouraging Liberians "to go back to the soil."
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's urban gardening project at the heart of her Monrovia residence is seen by many as a symbolic gesture to encourage not just urban gardening, but large-scale agriculture.
At a recent news conference, the country's agriculture minister, Florence Chenoweth, disclosed that Liberia's budgetary allotment for agriculture still falls below an African Union requirement. But she said the government was making strides aimed at improving the sector.
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Great article! May I recommend the following insightful documentaries about beneficial agricultural practices. Please note these are free to download. a) Be Organic Vegan to Save the Planet P3/8 - May 9, 2009 Lome, Togo b) Growing food with no soil. Source: http://suprememastertelevision.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=sos_video&wr_id=8 8&goto_url=&url=link2_0#v Blessings and Success to the Noble People of Liberia, FPE
INDEPENDENT FARMERS UNION IDEA
I'm an entrepreneurial sort of person and I got an idea along those lines that I believe many of us who are grassroots thinkers have been overlooking.
So here goes my idea :
a) We have all kinds of Farmers and Farms that are struggling to make a profit. I believe that they are struggling because they are farming under a kind of Third World system that advantages the persons who convert what farmers produce.
b) In most Third World countries , the First & Second World countries will only build enough infrastructure to allow shipment of RAW MATERIALS from their source(s) to the modes of shipping transportation used to transport the RAW MATERIALS to those First & Second World countries that will turn the RAW MATERIALS into processed goods.
* For example - They will build a railroad line of tracks from some Third World country's gold and diamond mines ( e.g. Zaire ) to the Giant Ships docked and waiting to carry them to processors and sellers such as De Beers, Coca-Cola , Cadbury's etc..
c) What kinds of RAW MATERIALS do Farmers produce and/or have access to :
* Gold - Rice , Cocoa ,Mangos, etc
d) Major Problems stopping small farmers from taking advantage of the possibility of turning your products into a profitable business : LACK OF TIME
e) Solution - My Idea : Form an Independent Union Of Farmers . Having a Coop is great, but its only a way of further enriching the processors of our RAW MATERIALS.
* How would this work ?
1) Each Region would represent a chapter of this Independent Farmers Union
2) Generally speaking, each farmer would retain all of their rights ; just as they had before they joined the Independent Farmers Union .
3) The Independent Farmers Union would be finance collectively by individual members paying dues.
4) These dues which would be used to set-up business ventures in each Independent Farmers Union's Region.
Some Examples Of Businesses That could be set up
* Chicken Processing Plant, and restaurants that would sell the chickens could be supplied right their in each Independent Farmers Union's Region.
* Produce Markets
* Dairies
* Ice Cream Parlors (using fresh milk)
* Fast Food and/or Restaurants - featuring meat from various farm animals
* Supermarkets
* Chocolate Processors instead of giving your cocoa to companies like Cadburys. What do companies like DeBeers, Coca Cola,Cadburys and others have that entitles them to get rich off of our Natural wealth ? NOTHING.. We empower them by our economic laziness !!!
5) The Independent Farmers Union's would need persons with expertise in areas concerning the setting up and running of these businesses on behalf of the Independent Farmers Union's.
WE ARE MAKING HUNDREDS WHILE GIVING AWAY BILLIONS TO OUR ECONOMIC SLAVE MASTERS !!!
THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE CAN'T TAKE CONTROL OF OUR OWN COUNTRY !
- FEED YOURSELVES SUGGESTION -
NEIGHBORHOOD COOP GREENHOUSES
ANOTHER SUGGESTION IS FOR THOSE LIVING IN THE CITY TO POOL
THEIR RESOURCES TOGETHER AND MAKE NEIGHBORHOOD COOP
GREENHOUSES . HERE YOU CAN GROW SOME KIND OF FOODS AND NOT
BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GROCERY STORES.
HERES SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT BLACK AFRICANS HAVE DONE :
BLACK AFRICAN INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS
The type of Invention is capitalized (e.g. TRAFFIC SIGNAL, MOTOR, etc..)
We Black Africans Can Be Self-Sufficient . Here are some major Black Africans who have had an impact on the world With their initiative These are INVENTORS .
This Listing includes The Inventors Name, Their Invention and in some cases the date the invention was recognized and the inventions U.S. patent number.
* Sarah Boone - IRONING BOARD - April 26, 1892
* John A. Burr - LAWN MOWER
* Marie V. Brittan Brown - HOME SECURITY SYSTEM - Dec 2, 1969
* Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER
* George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE
* George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS PAINT STAINS ETC
* John Clark - TRACK ATHLETE TRAINER
* W.A. Dietz - SHOE
* Joseph Dickinson - PLAYER PIANO - ARM FOR RECORD PLAYER
* P.B. Downing - POSTAL LETTER BOX
* Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM
* T. Elkins - TOILET (COMMODE)
* Robert Flemming Jr. - GUITAR
* Cathleen McCoy Garrett SIREN - HORN LIGHT INDICATOR
* George F. Grant - GOLF TEE
* J. Gregory - MOTOR
* Joanna Hardin - KEYBOARD STAND - Feb 23, 1993
* Michael Harney - LANTERN
* Solomon Harper - THERMO(HEATED) HAIR CURLERS
* Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM
* B.F. Jackson - GAS BURNER
* H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE
* Ruane Jeter - DIGITAL TOASTER - April 14, 1987
* Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME
* John A. Johnson - WRENCH
* Lonnie Johnson - SUPER SOAKER WATERGUN
* P. Johnson - EYE PROTECTOR (GOGGLES)
* W. Johnson - EGG BEATER
* Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS AIR CONDITIONER
* Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS
* John H. Jordan - CLOTHES DRESSER
* Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (TAMPONS) - May 15, 1956
* Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (WATERPROOF) - April 14, 1959
* Mary B. Kenner - BATHROOM TISSUE HOLDER - Nov 19, 1982
* Mary B. Kenner - BACKWASHER ( BATHTUB OR SHOWER MOUNTED) - July 29,1987
* Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP
* W.A. Lavalette - PRINTING PRESS
* F.W. Leslie - ENVELOPE SEAL
* Maurice W. Lee PRESSURE COOKER
* A.L. Lewis - WINDOW CLEANER
* John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER
* Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER
* Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR
* Jan E. Matzeliger - SHOE LASTING MACHINE
* W.A. Martin - LOCK
* Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal
* Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898
* Alice H. Parker - HEATING FURNACE - Dec 23, 1919
* J.F. Pickering - AIR SHIP (BLIMP)
* Purdy & Sadgwar - FOLDING CHAIR
* W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN
* L.P. Ray - DUST PAN
* W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY
* Walter Sammons - PRESSING COMB
* G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER
* Dewey Sanderson - URINALYSIS MACHINE
* Ralph Sanderson - HYDRAULIC SHOCK ABSORBER
* S.R. Scottron - CURTAIN ROD
* Adolph Shamms - MULTI -STAGE ROCKET
* .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER
* Richard B. Spikes - AUTOMATIC GEAR SHIFT
* J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR
* T.W. Stewart - MOP
* Maxine Snowden - RAIN HAT - 1983
* Theora Stephens - PRESSING & CURLING IRON
* Rufus J. Weaver - STAIR -CLIMBING WHEELCHAIR
* Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER
* J.B. Winters - FIRE ESCAPE LADDER
* Granville T. Woods - Telephone System Apparatus Oct 11, 1887 Patent # 371, 241
* Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster
* Granville T. Woods - Auto Air Brake - June 10, 1902 - Patent # 701, 98
* Granville T. Woods - Telegraph Transmission Devices - Dec 2, 1884 Patents # - 308, 816 (7)
* Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum *
* Address : P.O. Box 76128 - Los Angeles , Calif. (90076)
* Phone (310) 859-4602)
* Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa
* Major Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Okofo
The Swine Flu Vaccination Hoax - Explained URL [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbFxV_C8Yw4 ]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[ www.libradio.net ]
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx]
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Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
Right On! All over the world, rich nations and poor, we are all going to be doing some of that. Locally grown food from small plots everywhere. Rainwater harvesting to help support it. Urban and rural opportunities abound. Incorporate gardening in your schools, and run your school lunch programs off the produce the children learn by growing. Most of Africa could confront itself with food surpluses. If you're prepared for them, that's OK. The problem of food surpluses is more pleasant than the problem of shortages. Store them away for bad times, and when they exhaust their shelf life, make them into biofuel. Plans for small gardens abound on the internet: e.g. "square meter garden"; "container gardens".
Love your enthusiasm Steve... But these folks need to somehow get out of the urban areas and make there way back home; for their health and the health of the nation.
That is right, people need to get out of Monrovia and go back home. Things are not so bad in rural Liberia as they were three years ago. Secondly, the excuse of bad roads has always been problem in Liberia. However, people sill survived before the war on them. our people just need to understand, that Living in Northern, Northwestern, Southeastern or wherever region of Liberia, will only improve when they decide, it is time to go back home.
I am from Lofa, and I am telling you, the Southeast of Liberia has far better rich soil then Lofa, or any other part of Liberia. If the family that this news was taken of, will just go back, and make a garden about the size of their Browerville Garden; they will have three times the amount of produce they are harvesting. And will infact,they will have more available land. Also, they could sell their produce to regular marketers plowing the highways to Monrovia.
I live in the States but, I tell you, I love rural Liberia and I am concern while people will choose to stay in such a tight, dirty, and crowded environment when some of the most beautiful Lands on the face of the Earth are just, one hundred to four hundred miles away.