A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart
I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.
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THE GOLD MEDALIST OF KWENENG
The rains in the Kweneng District of southern Botswana start in November. Until then farmers’ fields are pretty much barren. But when the rains come, farmers start to sow. I came to the farm of Mrs Rebaone Seabelo to see her innovation for making biochar. As we walked to her compound I asked if she…
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THE MELON JUICE MAKER OF MOLEPOLOLE
I met a remarkable woman turning cooling melons into something extraordinary. Her juice is a symbol of innovation, resilience, and local pride. Watching her grow her business with traditional crops and modern know-how left me hopeful for what small-scale farmers can achieve, even in the face of climate change.
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SMILES FROM THE POOREST OF THE POOR
I travelled to four countries in West Africa … four which are listed among the 20 ‘poorest’ nations in the world by various economic indicies. I have travelled to many ‘poor’ countries in my life but never this poor. I saw major cities that had not been electrified. I saw towns without mains water or…
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RISE AND SHINE WITH COWPEA FLOUR
The members of the Rise and Shine multipurpose cooperative in a village near Buchanan, Liberia have been growing cowpeas for as long as they can remember. They eat the peas and the greens and may also use it to feed their livestock. But they have never used cowpeas as a substitute for wheat flour. Most wheat…
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IRON-TOLERANT RICE FOR LIBERIA
There are two types of rice. I’m not talking of basmati and jasmine and brown rice. There are two species of rice. The one most of us eat is Asian rice. The other is African rice. They’re both rice, but quite different genetically. In West Africa they plant both, but the African is the local.…
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MULTIPLYING COWPEA SEEDS IN LIBERIA
You may not think you know what cowpeas are but by another name they may sound familiar. It’s thought the slave ships that departed from West Africa for three centuries carried not only slaves but also cowpea seeds. Some say the slaves brought that which is dearest to them and hid cowpea seeds in their…
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PLANTING RICE IN STRAIGHT ROWS IN SIERRA LEONE
Most farmers in Sierra Leone plant their rice by broadcasting seed randomly into a paddy. They can plant a paddy pretty quickly that way, but they aren’t rewarded with great yields. Scientists at the Rokupt Research Centre have taught members of a cooperative near Kambia how to plant in straight lines. They first grow out…
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BIOCHAR FOR TOGO
The soils around the village of Atti-Apedokoe in Togo no longer produce yields like they used to. They’ve become degraded and are gradually becoming more saline. But the villagers generate lots of organic waste. So, the Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture taught the locals how to make biochar.…
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CROSSING THE GAMBIA
The Gambia is pretty much The Gambia. Or rather the country known as The Gambia pretty much is comprised of The Gambia River and 20 klicks or so on either bank. The Gambia is the smallest country of mainland Africa and is surrounded on three sides by Senegal. The two main highways on the north…
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