I often imagine the life of a
subsistence farmer in Senegal or other developing countries to be one of the
most exhausting. Not only does it require an extreme amount of work performed
solely by hand (no heavy machinery here) but it also depends entirely upon the
rains delivered by Allah. I just want to take a moment and describe the process
of farming here in Senegal, keeping in mind that during only a three-month
period, these families MUST cultivate enough to eat from for the entire year.
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| The seeding season begins: horizons dotted with machine seeders |
Farming work begins even before the
rains, around May and into early June. Traditionally, and something we have
been fighting consistently here as Peace Corps Volunteers, farmers hand rake
and clean up all of last years crops residues or weeds into small piles. Bushes
or trees are hacked down as well and the piles are left to dry in the sun. Once
dried, they are burned, continuously depleting the soils, ruining its
structure, and killing beneficial organisms. Fields must be
clean, according to all farmers here, though clean does
not lead to healthy soils.
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| One example of a machine seeder. |
The rains usually start slowly in
the end of June or early July (this is specific to my region and often differs
in other regions of Senegal by a few weeks). As the rains become more consistent,
the rush begins. All crops that are planted here in Senegal have at least a
three-month maturation period and there is never a guarantee that rains will
last for that long (there have been years where they fall short, and there are
no large scale irrigation systems to supplement). Thus, once the rains start
and the soil is wet enough, the race is on to seed all crops (peanuts, millet,
corn, beans and rice) as quickly as possible. Usually, seeding will begin in
early to mid July. (Note: Farmers always want to seed a lot, though it is a
careful balance between seeding too much and not being able to care for the
fields with little man power or seeding too little and not having enough for
your family to eat.) Every year I have found that one morning I simply wake up
after a large rain to a horizon dotted with small seeding machines pulled by
two cows, a donkey or a horse, making consistent lines traversing the slope of
a field. These animals quickly become exhausted. They have gone the entire dry
season eating old, dried up weeds with little nutrients. People in Senegal
often grow peanuts not only for the nut, but also for the hay and save it
throughout the dry season to supplement these weeds. Supply, however, dries up
quickly. With little legitimate food in their bellies, these animals now must
pull a machine each morning and evening for hours. They quickly become
emaciated.
After a few weeks, the seeding
period is over and the nervous wait for germination begins. If rains are
inconsistent, problems can easily arise. This year for example, we had very
little rain at this time. Plants would often germinate and die from lack of
water and extreme sunshine. Those that survived were subjected to an array of
pests (with little rain, natural weeds failed to survive in the bush and thus a
large population of pests—primarily grasshoppers—turned to the delicious crops
in the fields). Farmers were forced to reseed and reseed, sometimes up to three
times. You also have to imagine, that with little weeds germinating, there is
still close to nothing for these farm animals to eat and yet they are
continuously required to pull machinery and seed the fields.
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| The fields post seeding. |
In August, rains start to become
frequent (every couple of days), plants that will germinate have already done
so and the weeding period begins. Farmers weed between lines with a plow pulled
yet again by two cows, one horse or one donkey. This eliminates the weeds
between crop lines but not within them. Now, entire families head out to the
fields, bent over long lines of crops to weed in between each plant (before,
work requiring machines is performed entirely by men or boys). If your family
is large (maybe 10 individuals or more), your lucky, as you can take a team out
to the 2-3 acre field and hand weed it in about 4-5 days (I have little
knowledge of farming in the states, though I imagine it would take someone 4-5
days to weed hundreds of acres). Families will work every morning and afternoon
to do so and the women must still continue to take care of the house—cooking,
washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning, pulling water, taking care of the
kids etc. etc. Hence why, in rural areas such as this, there is little
incentive for family planning, the more help the better.
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Weeding season begins, machine weeding between lines.
(two cows, one horse or a one donkey) |
The weeding period will usually
last until the end of August, once over, it is a waiting game for crops to
ripen. As they ripen, families go out in teams once again to bring in the
goods. Beans are the first ripen and become a much-needed source of nutrients
to diminishing food supplies. Then corn, which is usually eaten as a burnt
treat. They will then continue on to harvest rice, millet and peanuts. A
portion might be sold to buy other forms of food or to improve the house (as it
now suffers from exposure to lots of water), while a larger portion will be
saved for food and seed for the following year.
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| Another weeding example. |
After reading about all this work
performed in the fields for farmers to simply get enough food for the following
year there is still more to think about… All the funds and food derived from
last season is on its last legs during the exact time when farmers need it
most. Imagine, working morning and night and not getting enough to eat, or not
eating anything of value. This is the life of a subsistence farmer in Senegal.
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| Another weeding example (horse). |
