Two-Months Progress Report on our Zai Experimental Community Farm
by Usman Abubakar (N’Djamena Humanist Mutual Aid, Chad)
Precisely 23rd of January we paid in full for the purchase of 1 acre (6 plots) of land at $500 which had been previously cultivated until it had become infertile and barren. In the first week in February, we cut all the dried grass that were shafts from the previously cultivated and harvested crops on the farm and we then left it to dry.
Next we dug a large hole and tried to make local manure that will be observed for three weeks on the land. This will serve as a micro-testing for the project yet to come.
For the making of the manure we:
Dug a pit of 4 ft and 4 ft wide by 2 ft deep.
Laid the underground of the pit with organic material from grasses we got from the farm.
Added compost from poultry bird feces to form another layer.
Added two gallons of water
Added another layer of organic waste and then covered it with soil.
We were suppose to add red earthworm so they can do aeration. But it is incredibly hard to find red earthworms now as it is the hard harsh dry season in Chad.
We will constantly added water to the pits and supervise them for three weeks. If they turn out fine we will replicate our action. We will also start making Zai pits in late March in preparation for the rainy season that will bring water.
The soil is currently very tacky and hard to dig and we cannot afford to bring water here to serve a whole acre. But early April will bring rain and we can harvest the water then by channeling it with paths throughout the land.
We are looking forward to April when we can dig many Zai pits and plant varieties of crops. There will be another progress report in June.
We thank all donors and HuMAN for getting us the land and helping us get to this stage. We are extremely grateful.
