June ‘26 Updates
June was a big month for many of our farmers! Our livestock pilot finished at the end of May with the Tabaski holiday (Eid al-Adha) and our tree nurseries began taking off.
Let’s start with the livestock. This year, we partnered with 4 farmers (Alpha D, Alieu J, Bakary S, and Ousman F), giving them the start-up capital for 2 rams and 1 ewe each. By the time they sold their rams in May, all 4 ewes had gotten pregnant, with one even giving birth. While one farmer had trouble selling both of his rams, 7 of the 8 were sold, and each farmer repaid at least some of their grant. In fact, the three farmers that didn’t encounter difficulties all repaid roughly the full amount! These encouraging results give us the confidence that future livestock cohorts will be even more successful.
Alpha’s second ram, ewe, and baby sheep. By including the ewe as a component of our livestock project, we ensure that farmers have long-term production potential.
A hungry ram! Many farmers use groundnut chaff, or the dried peanut plant, as feed for their sheep.
Alieu bathing his rams before selling them. This is an essential biweekly practice to keep sheep healthy.
Meanwhile, our 6 tree nurseries, run by Alpha D, Alieu J, Bakary S, Saikouba S, Almamy F, and Tounkang J, began showing signs of life. While all are at different stages of growth, the dwarf papaya variety we provided to our farmers have sprouted at a rate of ~75%. In addition, Alpha reported having planted 25 seedlings for himself already, while Bakary, Saikouba, Almamy, and Tounkang all reported growing mango and cashew in addition to the papaya. In total, we expect these projects to result in over 1,000 planted trees as well as a bit of income for our farmers!
Saikouba, Bakary, Almamy, Tounkang, and two friends (from left to right) put together their individual tree nurseries in the village’s community garden to both reduce their workload and inspire other youth to do the same types of activities.
Alpha’s papaya nursery. He aims to sell over 100. Wish him luck!