Seeds of success in rural Senegal

Meet 76-year-old Mor Mbengue – a Senegalese farmer who’s not afraid to try out new farming techniques…

Jokalante interviewing calpi producer Mor Mbengue

Above: We speak to Mor Mbengue at his home in Louga, Senegal

Mor Mbengue has been involved in one of our seed trials projects in rural north-western Senegal. Through the project, he has been experimenting with different seed varieties and fertilisers. Mor has enjoyed doing these experiments himself – he has found it useful to get hands-on experience rather than just attending workshops or training sessions about farming methods.

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Some of Mor’s produce

 

Over the past year, Mor has bought less chemical fertiliser and used more organic fertiliser (e.g. manure), which has saved him money. He is very happy about this and has shared his good results with others in his community so that they too can learn from his trial, improve their yields and save money.

Calpi bean farners, Mor and Andalam Mbengue listening to Jokalante radio program
Mor and his son, Andalam, listening to Jokalante’s radio programme

 

Mor is also an avid listener of our partner Jokalante’s radio broadcasts, which he finds incredibly useful – especially when they talk about best practices for farming and growing seeds. As a smart, voice-based platform, Jokalante overcomes the challenges of illiteracy by broadcasting information in local languages.

“I now have a child going to school because of the [extra] income I earned last year,” says Mor. “I used to ask people to help with the school fees. Now I don’t ask anybody. Everything was better last year.”

 

Find out more about our work in Senegal here.