CHANGING THE SHAPE OF PAPAYAS

Part of CEFA's middle name is all about experimentation or testing out new varieties for improving yield, taste, or other desired characteristics. The quality of the local varieties of papaya here are less than appealing to me, as many are not very sweet nor do they have a good flavor. So, over the years, I have imported new varieties that I picked up while visiting ECHO in Florida, during my furlough years in the States. I have tried all the Hawaiian Solos and several of the Thai Reds – they are all really good – but for some reason they do not seem to stay alive for more than a few years! Consuming papayas is common here, but CEFA wants to distribute trees to small farmers that are more appealing and more nutritious. Then came the latest in papaya discoveries as one of our workers came with a Papaya fruit from her tree. After tasting it, it was really sweet and had a fabulous flavor. And what is even more amazing is the hole or cavity in the middle is the smallest I have ever seen! I went with her to see the tree and it was several years old and full of fruit. I asked where she got the seed and she said she got it from one of my Thai Reds. So, apparently, this is a cross between a local variety and the Thai Red where it ended up taking on the best traits from both types – good flavor, sweet, lasts years, and grows well here. Thank you ECHO and thanks to God for finally making a papaya that I like and hopefully others will enjoy it enough so that they will plant them around their homes to provide good food for their families for years to come! 

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Bridging the gap

Last year, CEFA needed to connect the field crops/fruit tree area with the large animal grazing area with a bridge that a small pick-up or large truck could go over. I learned from a bridge specialist in the States, Tom Lawson from Oklahoma, that you could build a complete bridge without using cement. The materials we used were basically chain-link fence, local rocks, a truck frame, and thick lumber from our nearby sawmill. It only took two weeks to construct and it is holding out well. So, this year, after establishing almost 80 acres of a reforestation project from Watershed Foundation (New Mexico), we needed another bridge to connect that area with the field crops/fruit trees area. This one took more than twice as long to construct due to the heavy granite boulders that are prevalent in the stream. But this week, it was finished and tested with a very large truck. No longer do the trucks have to travel several miles to get to the reforestation area – now it is only a matter of a few hundred feet! This will save CEFA fuel, wear and tear on the vehicles, and time.  Thank you Watershed Foundation for your partnership with CEFA!

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CEFA's contract employees

There's a lot of work that gets done around the farm by temporary workers, like weeding, planting, roadwork, and palm oil processing.  CEFA has a base, though, of employees with contracts, who keep the village visits going and maintain the background work (bookkeeping and nursery care, for example) and who run the place.  They recently had a meeting getting them up to date on overall finances and to encourage them each to develop their own farms and microenterprises, ie, put in to practice what they are teaching to villagers. We are thankful for each one of these workers, for the effort invested and the resultant blessings.

--   Roy & Aleta Danforth  Covenant missionaries to the Central African Republic  cell phones: Aleta 011 237 67529 5071 or 011 236 7744 8621   Roy 011 237 66171 7808 or 011 236 7754 9176  email: roy-aleta.danforth@covchurch.org  blog:  http://blogs.covchurch.org/danforth/

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Composting

Saturday was seminar day at CEFA.  Roy & staff welcomed 3 local co-operatives, 2 of which are newly formed this year, to hear teaching on composting. Slashing and burning to clear and prepare fields for planting is the law of the land here, so encouraging composting is a subject often taught but not often put into practice.  Composting takes alot more work, but the higher yields and continued productivity on land that would grow useless with burning have convinced some that replenishing the soil with weeds and vegetation is the way to go.

--   Roy & Aleta Danforth  Covenant missionaries to the Central African Republic  cell phones: Aleta 011 237 67529 5071 or 011 236 7744 8621   Roy 011 237 66171 7808 or 011 236 7754 9176  email: roy-aleta.danforth@covchurch.org  blog:  http://blogs.covchurch.org/danforth/

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New leafy green to eat

A CEFA co-op's cowpea fields in the village of Nangoko became the testing ground for a new tasty, yet healthy idea for reducing malnutrition in CAR! One of the members of the Nangoko co-op, was weeding her almost mature cowpea field and she noticed how shiny and green the leaves looked and thought they would be good for cooking and eating. She asked CEFA's village supervisor, Nadege, and she said why not give them a try! So, selected leaves were picked, cooked, then pounded and served to not just malnourished kids, but also adults. And it was a huge success for all that partook - and it never been tried before in our area! Other members of the co-op are doing it and now Nangoko has a new supply of nutritious food for curing malnutrition in a very tasty way!

--   Roy & Aleta Danforth  Covenant missionaries to the Central African Republic  cell phones: Aleta 011 237 67529 5071 or 011 236 7744 8621   Roy 011 237 66171 7808 or 011 236 7754 9176  email: roy-aleta.danforth@covchurch.org  blog:  http://blogs.covchurch.org/danforth/

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Peanut planting - second season

I'm not sure that all the peanuts get to the right place when the person planting doesn't really see too well, but what is the right place in an African peanut garden??  Anywhere you drop the nuts and cover them by scooting dirt over them with your foot.  No such thing as rows and perfect spacing.   Often there'll be tree stumps and maybe huge termite mounds in the fields and the crops are just randomly planted.   I was chatting with Nadege, a CEFA village agent, and she has been running trials in co-op farms.  She'll plant a plot of peanuts with good spacing and rows so they can be easily weeded, right next to the villagers plot of peanuts, which are planted willy-nilly and aren't weeded.  Guess what happens?  Nadege's peanuts produce more, and the villagers see it right there in front of them.

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Getting oil palms out to the village co-ops

Whether the village is across the river or closer by, the CEFA team gets out to the co-ops.  Recently palm trees were delivered to various villages, some of which are on main roads, but others required some creativity, like barerooting the trees and carrying them in a sack on the back of a motorcycle in a canoe.  In each case, CEFA's village agents, like Nadege, helped the co-ops to understand how to plant and care for these trees.  The oil from these palms are a promise for the future for these farmers.

--   Roy & Aleta Danforth  Covenant missionaries to the Central African Republic  cell phones: Aleta 011 237 67529 5071 or 011 236 7744 8621   Roy 011 237 66171 7808 or 011 236 7754 9176  email: roy-aleta.danforth@covchurch.org  blog:  http://blogs.covchurch.org/danforth/

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