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Farmers’ Club Project - Oio

Farmers’ Club in Oio, Guinea Bissau Description and

Evaluation of the Project

Guinea Bissau

UFF Ulandshjælp fra Folk til FolkHumana People to People


Table of contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................... 3Guinea Bissau....................................................................................................................4Agriculture....................................................................................................................5Basic Elements in a Farmers’ Club project.....................................................................5Evaluation of Farmers’ Club in Oio...................................................................................7Objective #1 Wealth, Food Security and Well-being.....................................................9

The Extended Families involved in the Farmers’ Club program....................................9Basic Sanitation............................................................................................................10Food Security...............................................................................................................11Cultivated Area.............................................................................................................13Crops...........................................................................................................................13Reasons for low Production..........................................................................................13Trade..........................................................................................................................15Animal production.......................................................................................................15Diet...............................................................................................................................15

Objective #2 To stay Organized and Productive............................................................16Income.....................................................................................................................16Expenses......................................................................................................................16Additional Expenses for Agricultural Production........................................................17Comparison of Revenues.............................................................................................17

Conclusions.....................................................................................................................18Objective #1.................................................................................................................18Objective #2.................................................................................................................19

Recommendations..........................................................................................................20Other Activities and Achievements.................................................................................22Final Conclusion..............................................................................................................23

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IntroductionProject Farmers’ Club Oio is a model for organizing peasants in Guinea Bissau with the purpose of increasing their productivity, prosperity and health. The farmers receive training, learn from each other, share resources and cooperate on the buying and selling of their products to obtain the best prices. The project comprises 600 farmers organized in 12 clubs. In addition to improving the conditions for the participating farmers, the project reinforces the organization of farmers in the project area on the longer term. The clubs are structured to be vi-able with a club committee, which is trained in management, administration and economics.

The project collaborates with other local organizations and thereby contributes to their improvement. The project tests, develops and adapts the concept of Farmers’ Club. The experiences from the project will be put at disposal for all interested NGO ́s in the country, the relevant government bodies and international organi-sations acting in the country in the area of agriculture, food security and local development in general. The Ministry of Education can use the experiences from the project as a basis to spread the concept of Farmers’ Club nationwide.

The project Farmers’ Club in Oio, has been financed through funding from the Danish Project Fund with a grant of €128.153. The project has been carried out by the local partner organisation ADPP Guinea Bissau in cooperation with Ulandshjælp fra Folk til Folk in Denmark. The Project Fund is a special funding mechanism for Danish CSOs, which supports projects and partnerships with local CSOs in developing countries.

The Project Fund is financed by The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and administered by PATC (The Proj-ect Advise & Training Centre).

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This report on the results of the Farmers’ Club project is partially based on the external evaluation carried out by: Garcia Bacar Embaló (Masters degree in Economy Agrária and Rural Sociology) and Leonildo Alves Cardoso (Doctorate in Vegetable Production – Agriculture)

A monitoring visit at the project was made by Donna Mayer from PATC in Denmark in November 2009.


Guinea BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese: República da Guiné-Bissau), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the North, and Guinea to the South and East, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west.It covers 36,125 km2 (nearly 14,000 sq. mi) with an estimated population of 1,600,000.Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire. Parts of this king-dom persisted until the 18th century, while other parts were part of the Portuguese Empire since the 16th cen-tury. In the 19th century it became the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea. Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognized in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country’s name to prevent confusion with the Republic of Guinea.Only 14% of the population speaks the official language, Portuguese. The majority of the population (44%) speaks Criol, a Portuguese-based creole language, and the remainder speak native African languages. The main religions are African traditional religions and Islam, and there is a Christian (mostly Catholic) minority.

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AgricultureAt the time of independence in 1975 Guinea Bissau was among the absolute poorest countries in the world and it still is. The armed conflict of 1998 and political instability have adversely impacted on the county’s capacity to break out of poverty. The agricultural sector decreased the cultivated land from 29.000 ha in 1994 to 11.000 ha in 2004; as well as a reduction in rural incomes. From there the economy was distorted. Instead of bringing the land back into production again, men in the productive age went abroad to find work and send money back to the families, who then lived from imported food. This has contributed to a “sit-and-wait” habit, as well as an unrestricted import policy situation. The result was that imported food was often cheaper than the locally produced food, and import commerce being more lucrative than production.Another unsustainable habit is that some families consume in excess, when there is abundance, leading to food insecurity in some months of the year. An attitude change is needed together with skills in planning and production capacities and added with technological inputs.Guinea Bissau is facing serious agricultural constraints such as poor access to agricultural inputs and equip-ment; inadequate marketing and storage systems; and a lack of training facilities and educators. However, Guinea Bissau has a high potential to develop its agricultural sector through supporting its small-scale farmers who contribute 90% of the total crop production. Pursuing an effective strategy that will mobilize, train and organize farmers can significantly improve produc-tivity and contribute to economic growth and increased food security.Guinea Bissau has fertile land and an adequate annual rainfall to support both the small scale and commercial farming sectors. It is also rich in human potential that can be organized and trained to play an important role in lifting the country out of poverty. Training of farmers plays a crucial role in reducing poverty in Guinea Bissau.

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Basic elements in a Farmers’ Club project1 - Organization and Mobilization:1.1 Presentation of the program to community leaders and communities1.2 Expression in writing by the community that they want to participate, that they have understood the de-mands and are ready to comply1.3 Registration of members and organization into groups of 50 members in each club, at least 50% being women1.4 Each group of 50 farmers elect 5 people to form a leadership committee, of which women should be at least 50% 1.5 Drafting of a club constitution, including defining membership fee, and signed by all members of the con-stitution1.6 One project leader/farm instructor responsible for the program in 4 - 5 clubs and living in the area

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2 - Infrastructure and Equipment: 2.1 Installation of common Horticulture Garden and common Demonstration Field registered as belonging to the club.2.2 Supply of agricultural production material, improved agro horticultural seeds and short cycled animals2.3 Constructions of borehole and mounting of pump and irrigation system 2.4 Supply/construction of devices to reduce workload outside the production of the women, e.g. construction of fire wood saving stoves or equipment for rice shelling2.5 Establish marketing facility on the local market2.6 Equipping the clubs with animal traction, to the extent of fields and production facilities in the marketing of products like home field for the market2.7 A bicycle and a cellular phone for each club

3 - Training and Events:3.1 Monthly club meetings with organizational and club management on the agenda3.2 Weekly training sessions with members on training on modern agricultural techniques (conservation till-age, production of organic compost, crop rotation, inter cropping crops, the soil covered with straw, and other


methods of preventing soil erosion), family economy planning, crop planning, business planning etc.3.3 Actions and events with agricultural topics (field days, seminars, quarterly meeting, exhibition of agricul-tural products, exchanges, planting of trees)3.4 Training in processing and conservation of produce3.5 Train farmers with health issues (malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, Cholera, clean water)3.6 Action and events on topics of health (sanitation, construction of latrines, awareness campaign on diseases, organization and implementation of community health lecture).3.7 Train committees in club management3.8 Literacy especially for women

4 - Partnership and Cooperation: 4.1 Regular meetings with the public and private sector based in the region or project intervention. Meetings with NGOs, CBO and promotion of regular meetings with community leaders. Accomplishments of training seminars to public and private institutions in the area of project intervention.

Evaluation of Farmers’ Club in OioADPP is concluding the 2 1/2 year long Farmers’ Club program in Guinea Bissau. ADPP is looking forward to mobilizing more funding to expand the program to others areas of the country and to support more farmers. ADPP also wants to measure the sustainability and cost-feasibility of the already implemented program. The survey was specially scheduled to provide guidelines for decision-making in regards to up-scaling and replication of the good results, good practices and the lessons learnt.

Target Groups and Participants Oio Region is one of the 8 Regions in Guinea Bissau, the Region being the primary administrative unit in the country, each governed by a Governor. The Oio Region covers an area of 6.335 m2 and has an estimated population of 189.000 people. The Project was implemented in the Bissorã Sector, which is one of the ad-ministrative subdivisions in Oio Region. There are five Sectors in Oio Region, Bissorã being the biggest with approximately 58.000 people, as it is where the Regional capital is situated.

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b) The Families of the FarmersThe families of the farmers will benefit from many different aspects of the program. They will experience better food security due to more production & better conservation. They will also experience improved health and better access to clean water.c) Farmers’ Club CommitteesThe local farmers participation in choice of activities is secured through the structures and organization of the Farmers’ Club and the farmers’ participation as driving force in the Club.After the Club with 50 members has been established, the Club members elect a Club Committee with five members that will administer the Club and be in the forefront with the assistance of the employed extension worker to organise the implementation of the program activities. They organise the monthly general meeting with the Club members, at which new ideas are introduced and results and difficulties are discussed and solved and any other important business is addressed. The chairman together with the Extension Worker decides the agenda of the meeting, that takes into account the Farmers’ Club Program and current needs of the Club. To se-cure that all the Club members contribute, the members participation is registered. Two Committee members visit those who are absent from the meetings for three consecutive times to find out their difficulties. Solutions will be discussed and assistance is provided to ensure regular and continued attendance.

The Primary Target Group is 600 farmers1. 600 farmers, men and women2. 600 families that are part of the farm-ers household3. The farmers club committees

a) The 600 FarmersThe 600 farmers were small subsistent farmers who decided to join the farmers club after the introduction meetings in the local community.

The Conditions to Join were: The farmer must be in possession of a piece of land, which she/he cultivates for her/his living. The farmer must agree to par-ticipate in the monthly meetings and that her/his land can be used for field visits. The farmer must agree to participate in the work on the model fields and model gardens as organized by the committee, including the work to make a well and install a pump. The farmer must be also open for new experiments.A group of 50 farmers in a local area will form a Farmers’ Club. If more than 50 persons in an area want to join, a club is established by the 50 who cultivate conveniently close to each other, and the remaining will be part of the next club.


The secondary target group is all the people in the project area reached directly through the projects activi-ties.The secondary target group can be defined as those, who benefit from the trade-off of the activities and the im-provements created by the project, such as animators & technicians from organisations, who work in the area and will learn new experiences by working with the program; local businessmen doing trading and transport; other people in the area not working with agriculture, but connected to it, such as local mechanics, carpenters and other handicrafts and service men.People in general will benefit from the increased knowledge and practices in health and hygiene.The overall objective is to support people in rural areas of Guinea Bissau to break out of poverty by employ-ing their own human resources and the huge agriculture potential available in the country.

Objective #1 Wealth, Food Security and Well-being

The Extended Families Involved in the Farmers’ Club Program.The average number of family members were 14 people. The average age of the head of the family was 39 years. The average age of children in the family was 9 years. Many of the children participated in the produc-tion. Only a few were elderly, 60 or more years. Most people were in the productive age between 18 and 59 years. 32 % were children between 5 and 18 years. 19 % were children under 5 years. Most of the heads of the families, 69 %, were illiterate.60 % of the children did attend school. For many not attending school, there were no room for the child in the school. 30 % could not go to school for lack of money. 19% had too long distance to school, while 2% were working instead of going to school.

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At the beginning of the project some of the houses gave a dirty and disorganized look. At the end of the project, only 2% of the hous-es and the immediate surroundings could be characterized as dirty and disorganized. At the beginning of the project about half of the families participated in cooperations and other social activities. At the end of the project nearly all of the families, 92%, participated in various cooperative activities. This is an indication of increased awareness of the benefits of working in a team. Basic Sanitation A substantial change in the use of water took place during the proj-ect. The number of wells that are protected against contamination increased from 6% of the wells to 40 % of the wells, a substantial increase. Wells that were semi protected i.e. partially protected, decreased from 94 % of the wells to 54% of the wells. This means that many of the wells that were partially protected were upgraded to fully pro-tected wells. There were also a decrease in the distance to the wells from the houses. Households with less than 500 m to the nearest well increased from 83% of the households to 93% of the households. Households with more than 500 m to the nearest well but less than 1 km decreased from 17% to 2% of the households. Similarly there were also changes in water treatment. In spite of in-creased protection of many of the wells, the percentage of house-holds that always treated water rose from 58% to 85%. The number of households that sometimes treated the water decreased from 38% to 15%. Households that never treated the water represented only 4% at the beginning of the project. At the end of the project all fami-lies treated the water either by boiling or filtering the water. This is the result of an increased awareness of possible contamination by bacteria or parasites, and the risk for acquiring diseases caused by this contamination.At the beginning of the project none of the families had access to improved latrines. Most of the families used traditional latrines. As many as 31% had to do without any form for latrine. This miser-able situation changed drastically during the project. 54% got ac-cess to improved, protected or semi-protected latrines against 0% before, and only 2% continued without latrine. The percentage of families who had to do with traditional latrines was reduced from 69 to 44%.This contamination awareness also showed up in the frequency of washing hands after visiting the toilet. Almost 60% washed their hands with soap and ash after toilet-visit. The percentage not wash-ing hands was reduced from 44 to 4%. The rest rinsed their hands after toilet-visit. Some people could not wash hands because of

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During the project, the physical surroundings close to the houses of the farmers improved. Trees around the house were planted so that the percentage of houses with trees close by increased from 71% to 98 %. In the beginning of the project, only one family out of four used firewood saving stoves. At the end of the project nearly all were using this type of stoves.

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Food securityBefore the project started it was estimated, on the basis of food production and consumption, that the food security for the families was somewhere between 5 and 7 months. During the project, because of new inputs, the food production increased substantially. The estimated food security for the families after the project was estimated to double to 10 to 12 months. 75% of the families could afford cereals for a whole year. This practi-cally ended the period of absence of food among the small farmers!This increase was mainly due to two production increase factors: (1) Increase of the crop production in the rainy season through diversification of the crops (producing more different crops) and using improved produc-tion techniques, and (2) production of vegetables with irrigation during the dry season. This method practi-cally did not exist before.In the final evaluation it showed that 83% of the families ate 3 meals a day.

lack of water. At the beginning of the project it was 40%, and at the end of the project this percentage was reduced to 19%. Washing hands before meals was not common at the beginning of the project. At the end of the project 21% used running water from a small handheld bucket using soap and ash. 10% were using running water from a small handheld bucket and 60% were using a common bucket.The knowledge about how HIV infection spreads increased substantially during the project. People who were aware of how infection spreads increased from 17% to 92%. Knowledge about how HIV spreads is the first important step in the fight against HIV/AIDS.There was a reduction in the numbers of family members who had contracted malaria from 44% to 19%. There was a reduction of children who attracted diarrhea from 19% to 10%. This reduction did not show up among grown-ups. The number of children vaccinated increased from 75% to 88% of the children. The numbers of families who are sleeping under mosquito nests increased from 79% to 85%. This is only a slight increase, however the most significant increase showed up in the quality of the nets. The percentage of nets considered of good quality increased from 15% to 71%.


The period for food production also increased. While only 27% of the families worked with food production for 10 - 12 months, at the evaluation of the project 75% worked with food production for the whole year. At the start of the project many of the farmers had low production on their land. The reasons for low produc-tion were mainly lack of labour, but also lack of fertilizers, as well as too little or too much rain.During the project the number of small farms between 2 and 5 ha decreased from 65% of the farms to 52%. Food security is based mainly on adequate production, however, good food storage is also important. At the beginning of the project only 21% of the families had adequate food storage. At the end of the project this percentage was increased to 60%. To increase food security it is of importance to reduce production loss. Farmers loosing between 30 and 50% of their crops was reduced from 42 to 6%. Initially 29% of the farmers lost more than 50% of their crops. This number was reduced during the project to 2%. The causes of production loss did not change much. The main cause was initially plague and diseases as it was at the end of the project. Animals were also of great concern. They were the cause of 40% of the production loss at the end of the project while at the beginning they were the cause of 45% of the loss. This is not a great change. The real change is hidden in the numbers, because the overall loss of crops was greatly reduced during the project period. There also has been observed major concerns with regards to the conservation of the soil. Almost all the com-munity practiced the rotation system. Initially the rotation system was utilized by 77% of the farmers. This percentage increased to 98% at the end of the project.


Cultivated AreaDuring the project there was observed a significant increase of productive farmland. Initially there were 2912,5 ha farmland with crops. At the end of the project this had increased to 4054,6 ha. This is an increase of 39% of cultivated area. This increase also helped the individual families. Initially only 16% had more than 5 ha under cultivation. During the project this percentage increased to 27%. CropsA great part of the food production is rice. Rice occupies 20% of the cultivated area. 98% of the families are involved in the production of rice. Rice is considered a very important part of the diet. Another very important crop is black-maize which is grown on 68% of farmed area and produced by 68% of the families in the project. Other important crops are beans, manioc, peanuts and maize. Probably the most important of the cash crops are cashew nuts. Cashew nuts are grown by 98% of the fami-lies.The Farmers’ Club project also revealed that a major obstacle in production of crops is the lack of labour. In general the farmers had neither tractors or other farming machines nor working animals. This situation can be resolved by introducing animals suited for traction or carrying, e.g. mules and donkeys. Reasons for Low Production. There are several reasons given for low production. Lack of land does not seem to be one of them. Only 6% of the farmers gave the reason that they lacked land. Initially 18% of the farmers indicated poor land as one of the reasons for low production. One of the aims of the Project was improvement of soil. At the end of the project, only 8% of the farmers gave poor land as the

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.At the beginning of the project nobody indicated lack of mechanics as a reason for low production. At the end of the project, after they had seen the efficiency of tractors with suitable farm machinery, 6% of the farmers indicated lack of mechanics as a reason for low production.

Seasons cannot be controlled. At the end of the project 14% of the farmers indicated lack of rain or too much rain as a reason for low production. Initially none of the farmers gave this reason for low production. We must assume that the weather did not change significantly during the period of the project. We can assume that the farmers have learned about artificial irrigation as well as the importance of proper drainage during heavy rain during the project. Therefore they could see that irrigation as well as drainage, depending on the type of field could improve the yield

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reason for low production. The reason for this reduction of poor land is the soil improvement program. It obvi-ously helped some of the farmers to increase their productionThe most significant reason for low production is lack of labor. Initially 62% of the farmers gave this reason for poor production. At the end of the project only 44% gave this reason for poor production. The reason for this improvement could be more effective farming methods and/or acquisition of a working animal.Other reasons could be that workload on women for fetching firewood has been eased due to the firewood sav-ing stoves, and some traditions about men’s work and women’s work have been changed, so that they share more production tasks. Also fewer health-reduced days with illness has increased the productive days.Initially no farmers gave lack of fertilizer as a reason for low production. At the end of the project 19% gave lack of fertilizer as a reason for low production. It could be that during the Project, the farmers had learned about the importance of fertilizers - a knowledge they did not have at the beginning. Therefore they initially did not indicate lack fertilizer as a possible reason for low production.


TradeMost of the cashew nuts grown are traded. Most of the cereals grown, maize, rice and black-maize, are utilized by the families. Most of the manioc and peanuts are sold. Approximately 50% of the horticulture production during the dry season is sold; the rest is consumed. This is to a large extend a new production. It contributed both to increased income and food security as well as nutritional diversification.The sale of the products added to the food security of the families. The money earned from the sale of the crops gave the families the possibility of buying food. Animal ProductionThere is a considerable animal production among the farmers in the Farmers’ Clubs. Buying animals is often used as a way to invest / save the surplus from the crop production instead of putting into the banks (as there is no such in Bissorã); so the increase in animals is also an indirect proof of increased cash surplus. During the project the number of animals increased substantially. Based on the number of animals owned by 48 farmers, the number of cows increased from 55 in the baseline study, to 157 at the end of the project. The number of goats increased from 68 to 200 animals. Goats are very good animals. They are hardy, eat almost everything, give good milk and excellent meat for consumption. The number of sheep increased from 64 to 96. The num-ber of pigs increased from 38 to 137. The number of donkeys increased from 7 to 27. This means that many of the farmers during the project got the means for acquiring a working animal. All the families in the project raised chickens. Initially there were 581 chickens. During the project this number almost doubled to 1047 chickens. This means eggs and meat for the families, plus income when eggs and chickens are sold.DietThe diet in general for the farmers and their families was clearly diversified, although nearly 70% of the fami-lies ate fish and rice every day. Almost a third of the families ate green leaves on a daily basis. None of the families ate vegetables daily. Even if they did not eat many vegetables, they ate many other types of food from

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IncomeMost of the income for the families comes from sales of the farm produce mainly cashew nuts and from the horticultural production. The other things produced contributed only a little to the income of the families. The extra produce was mostly consumed by the families and had as such very little influence on the cash-flow.ExpensesThe main expenses for the families are food, health and treatment of illnesses and education for the children. The major expense is the food. The expenses for food is larger than the expenses for health and education, clothing and transport put together.

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Objective # 2 To stay Organized and Productive

plants. 20% used vegetable oil on a daily basis. 20 % ate black maize. 9% ate peanuts and 11% ate manioc on a daily basis. 5% ate sweet potatoes on a daily basis. The production and consumption of vegetables has contributed significantly to the nutrition diversification.None of the families ate meat every day, however, 23% of the families ate chicken every day. This means that most of the families had an adequate input of proteins from fish or chicken. Only 9% of the families ate eggs on a daily basis. In 25% of the families, fruit was consumed on a daily basis. 16% of the families drank tea/coffee on a daily basis, while only 2% of the families drank milk daily.


Additional Expenses for Agricultural Production. The additional expenses for agricultural additives and equipment for the use in production, was compared to other expenses. It showed that a small extra expense in suitable investment in the production paid off. By a small-investment in good seeds, in fertilizers and pesticides as well as the use of agricultural machinery, the yield would increase significantly. By increasing the production of the farmers, income will increase and hence a diversifying of diet and an in-creased food security would be possible. Cost of labor was not a significant expense in farm production, as most labor was done by family members.

Comparison of RevenuesBy comparing the data related to the revenues before the beginning of the project with the 2011 final evalu-ation, a substantial increase of average income was observed. On the average the increase of income was 120%. It was also noticed that the families invested much more in food, health and education compared to what they did at the beginning of the project. On the average the families invested 77% more in these areas at the end of the project, compared to the beginning. There was also an increase of expenses related to agricultural production of 54% on the average.

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This means that an increase of the horticultural produce among the farmers will have a positive impact on the economy of the families, even if the produce is not sold and therefore does not show up in the family economy.The food diversification and increase in food security, use of mosquito nets, hand washing, latrines etc. has made an significant contribution to the reduction in expenses for health and treatment of illnesses. Therefore the increase in food expenses can also be seen as an indirect increase in health expenses.


Income There was a general increase of income compared to the initial evaluation. The increased income made pos-sible increased investments in education, health and food production. There was an increment of cultivated areas, compared to the baseline study, shifting from 2.912,2 to 4.054,0 ha. Food Security There was an increase of number of daily meals, moving from 2 meals daily to 3 meals a day, alongside the diversification of diet. There equally was an increase of food security from 5-7 months in the baseline study to 11-12 months in the final evaluation.Major Health CareThere was a massive community sensitization with regards to HIV/AIDS awareness and the utilization of the mosquito bed-nets of good quality and treated with insecticide.Preservation of the EnvironmentAt the en of the project most of the families utilized a firewood-save stove, whereas in the beginning of the project there were only 25% using these stoves. Many of the families also planted trees around the houses.

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Considering the outlined objectives for the implementation of the Farmers’ Club project in the region of Oio, in the sector of Bissorã, there has been observed the following impacts:

Conclusions

Objective #1 Wealth, Food Security and Well-being

The most significant increase in expenses compared to the beginning of the project was found with regards to farm machinery. On the average the farmers invested 190% more on farm- and agricultural equipment at the end of the project, compared to what they invested at the beginning of the project.


Major SustainabilityAll the farmers are enrolled and com-mitted to Farmers’ Association. This facilitates major engagement and coor-dination of the actions that aims towards the sustainability of the associates, cre-ating favorable conditions for the in-crement of production, income, health, education. The women who didn’t have power of decision in the past now have important roles in decision-making. They have also received training in the importance of the partnership, have ac-quired basic notion of economy, plan-ning, division of resources, production and commercialization.

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Objective # 2 To stay orga-

nized and productive

Examples of Results of the Farmers’ Club Self-organising and InitiativeIn the village of Canwale a school was constructed with two class-rooms, a kindergarten, a kitchen and a well. This was provided by Development Instructors (volunteers) from Spain. The community contributed with labor and local material for the construction and will pay the teacher, as it is a community school. In the village of Maque, by the initiative of members of Farmers’ Club, there have been constructed a school with three class-rooms and two wells for horticulture land.In Canico and N’dendem villages, there have been constructed a school with two class-rooms and wells for horticulture. In the village of Canghe there have been constructed a well for horticulture.

The Project “Farmers’ Club”. This project should be a model for all small-farmers at the national level. The project worked out very well with the small-scale farmers who took part. They were able to increase production, income, health, education and food security.

Test and ReplicabilityThe project has demonstrated its national replicability: Two additional Farmers’ Clubs based projects were approved during the Pilot Project period. One of these started in 2010; the other started in November 2011. A newly approved Farmers’ Club project in the Province of Empada in Guinea Bissau will start by the end of November 2011 and involve 2000 farmers.

Basic SanitationThe practice for collecting drinking wa-ter from the protected wells increased from 6% to 44% and the practice for the utilization of latrines raised from 69% to 98% compared to the baseline study.

Enrollment of children in school There has been noticed a increased participation of children in the schools regardless of sex.


Recommendations

Absenteeism of Children in SchoolThe absenteeism is still high due to lack of schools or too long distance to the school. The absenteeism has been reduced due to better economy in the families, however, many families made large expenses on clothes and traveling, rather than investing the money in the education of their children. This matter requires more attention and consideration among ADPP staff. IlliteracyThere was a high rate of illiteracy among young people as well as among adults, especially among women. This fact deserve particular attention because many young girls have demonstrated a strong interest in learning to read and write, which will be of significant help in most aspects of life.

Animal Traction. The utilization of animal traction will reduce the hardship caused by the lack of labor. This was seen as the most important hindrance for increasing cultivated areas for agricultural production. The introduction of working ani-mals like e.g. donkeys would enable many farmers to increase the farmed land and hence increase the income and food security. This matter requires more attention. CompostThe utilization of compost should be upgrad-ed. Not all families own a place for compost. Even for those who own a place for compost, serious limitations about how to prepare the compost have been noticed.TradeIt seems to be important to educate the farm-ers not to trade cashew nuts with rice direct-ly. In the long run it is best to avoid barter. The cashew nut traders have a tendency to exploit the situation, where the farmers have no more rice at the end of the season, which coincides with the cashew nut harvest. Some-times the farmers have to borrow rice to get something to eat. When paying back in ca-shew nuts, they might end up paying double price for the rice. It is therefor recommended to sell the surplus from the cashew nut har-vest, getting money and buying what is most needed.

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Several local entities and organisations as e.g. FAO, Ministry of Agriculture, Spanish Cooperation and SNV (Netherlands Development Organization) have visited the project and expressed their recognition of the ca-pacity of the concept and have used it as vehicle for smaller interventions of theirs, as e.g. FAO for distribution of seeds and equipment.


CerealsIt is of importance for many farmers to increase the production of cereals, to avoid the direct trade of cashew nuts with rice.Production and Storing of Seeds Technical training about production techniques and storing of the seeds is seen as important, because almost all cereals seeds are derived by the farmer’s production from the previous year. This fact should deserve spe-cial attention. It is importnat to demonstrate for the farmers that a good production and harvest starts from good seeds. HoneyWhen introducing new activities for example honey extraction, a modern, professional orientation towards the production is needed. Raising of AnimalsIt is seen as important to improve the animal raising system, mainly of goats and pigs, because the system in-use for these families is very rustic and without minimum comfort and hygiene for the animals. Lack of adequate conditions contributes negatively in reproduction and development of the animals.Veterinary ServicesIt is seen as needed to inform about veterinary services and about diseases and causes of animal mortality. Persuasion is needed for taking the due precautions. ExpansionThe experiences from the project are in general very positive. We recommend the expansion of the project to other farmers and its on-going implementation in many areas.Sustainability We recommend the project to ensure the sustainability of organizational techniques and production among the farmers, with regards to education, literacy and sensitization in order for the farmers to be able to take over and improve their livelihood after the project has ended.

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Other Activities and Achievements

Conservation of Vegetables and FruitsFrom each club five members have been trained in the art of conservation of vegetables and fruits. This conservation reduc-es the loss of the farm produce. Due to increased supply the farmers are facing more intense competition on the market. Af-ter the training the farmers are more flexible in selling, as they can keep their products for a longer period and be able to sell them later.

GenderThe project has had a positive influence on the gender equality issue. Normally there is a strict division of the field work, so that men do the rice production while the women do the horticulture, cashew collection and col-lection of other useful products found in the nature, beside that they also have all the domestic work.The project changed these habits so that now there is much more sharing of work, especially in the horticulture

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The families involved in the Farmers’ Clubs were subsistence farmers. The average family size was 14 people, in which the majority were in the productive age. The Farmers’ Club Project was able to organize the people, associating them to organizational and productive techniques adequate to rural production. This has provided a substantial improvement to the assessed indicators such as production, food security, health and the economy of the families and a general improvement in the living conditions of all the family members.The project was a substantial success and can serve as a model for similar projects in other provinces. The situation of the farmers participating in the project improved significantly. Projects like these can bring the people out of the vicious circle of poverty by bringing awareness of relatively simple means for improving the situation in daily life with regards to organization, production, health and education.

Final Conclusion

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November 2011 : This booklet has been made by Ulandshjælp fra Folk til Folk in Denmark in cooperation with ADPP Guinea Bissau.

production. This has shown to be an important cash earner and contributor to the food security in the dry season. The project trained women in the construction of wells and production and maintenance of the water pumps, an area which before was complete men ́s work.The establishment of clubs and club committees with majority women has promoted the women’s participa-tion in public discussion and decision making.


The driving force in Farmers Club in Guinea Bissau is the farmers.We encourage partners, who can provide the financing of development projects

to contribute with funds to the farmers quest to increase food production

More information about Farmers’ Club in Guinea Bissau can be obtained from :

ADPP Guiné-BissauBairro Cupelum de BaixoEntrada de DjabiC.P. 420, BissauGuinea [email protected]@humana.orgphone: +245 6853323 / +245 5936064www.adpp-gb.org

Ulandshjælp fra Folk til Folk

Humana People to PeopleNdr. Strandvej 95 A

3150 HellebækDenmark

[email protected],[email protected]

phone: + 45 23344298 /+ 45 23656730

www.uff.dkUFF

farmers%20club%20gb%20 %20modelbeskrivelse web

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