It is a busy day for Marieh Wea and her son. Ignoring the scorching sun, they knead balls of white clay dug from a swamp in Caldwell and transported to their home in Topoe Village, along the Japan Freeway, outside of Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
This clay is the raw material for "putter"--the edible clay many people in Liberia depend on as a local food, which is mostly consumed for appetite satisfaction, particularly among pregnant women.
As a widow, Wea says this is her only source of income. Profit made from sales supports her six children's feeding and her own well-being. She and her son toil for hours under the scorching sun or rain, molding the mud into smooth rounds and lining them up on outdoor racks to dry.
"This job is hard," she says. "I am too old for this." After molding the raw clay, it is allowed to dry in the sun and later placed on outdoor dryers with wood set ablaze to dry. Once dry, the balls become hard, and they are typically consumed by breaking off a small piece to either swallow it whole or chew on it. "The fire's heat is the worst of it, but nothing to do," she cried out.
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Producing small or large balls of putty requires no machinery or electricity, but a great deal of energy for digging and extracting the mud to mix with water to form a paste. It is believed to have various health benefits, such as improving digestion, treating diarrhea, and reducing inflammation. However, there is little scientific evidence to support these claims, and consumption can also have adverse effects on health, such as lead poisoning.
But the high consumption rate among women, especially those who are pregnant for anti-nausea or therapeutic treatment, is what keeps attracting Wea to the trade.
The mother of six recalls a time when the "putter" was much more affordable, priced at just 15 Liberian dollars, when she started. However, Monrovia's population has increased, and the number of citizens stretched across communities means lands are diminishing, leaving them to struggle for areas to get their mud.
Moreover, the country's long experience of war, displacing people, has caused many to come here during the war; others have come since then as Liberia's population has exploded. As climate change makes subsistence farming harder, experts warn these communities might grow even larger.
According to her, the process of acquiring the raw clay has become increasingly expensive and difficult due to population growth and urbanization in Monrovia. Since the clay is located on private land, she must now buy the rights to a specific "spot" in the swamp, sometimes paying as much as 5,000 Liberian dollars. The work is labor-intensive, requiring two full days of digging and hiring workers to transport the heavy mud by vehicle to her village.
This has caused the price of a single piece of putter to jump from 15 to 25 Liberian dollars. Because the swamps are on private land, she must now pay up to 5,000 Liberian dollars just to "buy the spot." The process takes days: two days of digging, followed by paying for a vehicle to transport the heavy, wet mud from the swamp to her workspace.
There has been a shift in Liberia's weather pattern, like what is happening around the world, causing Wea and her peers to struggle during the rainy season and beyond. The rainy season is traditionally the hardest time for production; the current unpredictable rainfall is ruining the clay. "This time, the rain can spoil it," Wea explains, noting that the moisture prevents the clay from setting. Under normal sunny conditions, the clay dries in about three days--or even just one day if the heat is intense--but the recent rains have extended that process to a week or more, stalling her only source of income.
The physical demand of the work has left Wea with lasting health issues. The process involves beating the clay with a mortar and pestle before hand-rolling it into balls. After over 20 years of sitting under the scorching sun, she now suffers from "rheumatism" (rheumatism) and back pain from the constant bending and rolling. Additionally, the smoke from the drying process has severely affected her vision. "The only thing I experience too much is my eyes," she says, describing the constant irritation from the smoke.
This is Wea's wholesale price and, with a network of buyers, her only worry is having enough putter available. The retail price, according to her, is not fixed, but a single smaller piece of chalk is 30 Liberian dollars.
While there is no data on how many tons of putters are produced every year, the trade is lucrative for those involved, as there are lots of consumers.
Wea, whose experience spans nearly a decade, only worries about the amount of work that goes into producing putters and the unsanitary conditions in which the chalk is made.
"Nowadays, the price has gone up. Because of the money we spent to produce the putter."
For over 20 years, this work has battered her body. The process requires "beating" the clay with a mortar and pestle before hand-rolling it. Causing pains in her joints and chronic back pain are constant companions from decades of sitting in the scorching sun, and using her hands in the cold mud to knead. But the most severe damage is to her vision. The smoke from the drying fire--a necessary part of the curing process--stings her eyes daily. "The only thing I experience too much is my eyes," she says.
Despite her age and the "too heavy" nature of the work, she manages a small distribution network. She packs the dried clay into pans and bags--50 pieces to a bag--shipping them as far as Fiamah and Matadi in Monrovia, or selling bulk loads to traders from Nimba county for 2,500 Liberian dollars.
She dreams of switching to selling charcoal, but for now, the white mud of Buchanan remains her only lifeline.
The practice of eating putter is also thought to be provoked by some nutritional needs, but its etiology is obscure. The mineralogical and chemical compositions of the geophagic chalk may vary from one region to another, but culturally, it is a practice that has been observed in many parts of the world, including Africa, South America, and Asia.
In some cultures, it is believed to have medicinal properties and is used to treat various health conditions, such as stomach ailments, diarrhea, and anemia. In other cultures, it is a form of cultural expression or a way to connect with the earth.
Consumption of the geophagic chalk, which is rarely, if ever, recommended, is prevalent among women, especially those who are pregnant. Some nutritionists admit the habit of eating clay may have some real health benefits.
"It is possible that the binding effect of clay would cause it to absorb toxins," said Dr. David L. Katz, a nutrition expert at the Yale School of Medicine and a medical contributor for ABC News.
Clay's ability to absorb plant toxins is well documented. Jared Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and author of "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies," has written on clays that are especially good at binding with plant toxins.
Diamond notes that many traditional cultures cook food like potatoes, acorns, and bread in clay as a way of protecting against the toxic alkaloids and tannic acids that would otherwise make these foods inedible.
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However, the health impacts of geophagic chalk remain controversial and inconclusive, as some studies show health benefits and harmful effects, and
The geophagic chalk, according to BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, has long been used for treating gastroenteritis, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, but there exist negative health consequences as the ingestion of soil can lead to exposure to toxins, such as lead, arsenic, and mercury.
Helminth infection that leads to anemia due to blood loss from the intestine can result from geophagy, BMC said in a research report.
It added that a cohort study involving 108 pregnant women conducted in the Ashanti region of Ghana reported 54.9% with anemic cases and 17.6% with helminth infections, of which geophagy, among other factors, was said to be a predisposing factor.
The risk associated with the ingestion of contaminated soil depends on the element of interest, how much is consumed (dose), how often (frequency), and the bioavailability, the study shows.
While putters' consumption remains high in Liberia, as a result of health beliefs and cultural beliefs, some users are becoming worried about the health impact, considering that the manufacturing process is unsanitary.
This was what happened in 2024, when photos emerged on Facebook showing the unsanitary conditions in which putter is made.
The images went viral with some users vowing to stop consuming the geophagic chalk. But what is certain is that putters are here to stay and will remain a lucrative business.
It is a practice that has been in existence for centuries, and the belief among women that it is good medicine for anti-nausea means the mud would keep giving Wea and other women money as long as they lived.
