This project follows "Seed of tomorrow", so for more context I suggest reading "Seeds of tomorrow" first.
A two hour drive from Morogoro in Tanzania, awaited for us to access Maasai villages. In two villages there would be a class on how to plant hybrid seeds in the most efficient way.
However the Maasai villages in which One Acre Fund (See "Seeds of tomorrow") operates are not easily accessible. In order to go to the villages, any outsider must sign a register checking-in every visitor in. This is a governmental requirement to preserve these villages and their inhabitants as well as their culture. Some Maasai villages are open to the public and often depend on the wealth that tourism brings. It wasn’t the case in these villages.
As we approached the meeting point for the first village, people appeared from everywhere. Maasai from all ages gathered to hear what One Acre Fund was proposing today. One Acre fund has been working with Maasai people for a few years now in order to help them better their agricultural practices and live off the land they have been given. For some tribes like the Maasai who mostly hoard cattle for a living, changing to agriculture as a way to earn money could be decisive on how they approach everyday life. Known for their semi-nomadic lifestyle, agriculture could mean that these villages might be on the path to a sedentary lifestyle. Although agriculture is still far from being their main resource of money, these villages seemed really eager to learn new ways of agriculture.
After a long talk with the village farmers, in which at some point a hoard of goats came to participate in the discussion, we headed out to a field to really show how to plant hybrid seeds in the proper way as well as maximizing the space to increase production.
These Maasai villages don’t have expensive tools required to plant big crops. At the time of the demonstration they had a rudimentary gardening tool and a machete. The demonstration covered all points of planting seeds. From the depth of the hole to the spacing between each seed, everything raised questions among the Maasai people present. Before, with their original seeds, they would use up to four seeds in one hole in order to get one that takes. Since crops would usually be quite small, space management and efficiency were not an issue. However with bigger crops, all of these issues must be taken into account.
And so everyone started observing at first and doing it after. The sun and the heat didn’t make it easy, nevertheless more and more people, interested in the commotion, started joining us. Maasai people would watch and listen, as their peers would do a demonstration in their mother tongue Maa. Since the beginning of our encounter with the Maasai, local One Acre fund staff, translates in Swahili the official language of Tanzania. However it is common for Maasai people to know some English. It was in the second village that we met the only woman who talked to us in flawless English.
This second village was much more crowded. In the first village we mostly encountered women. This is explained by the fact that agriculture is still considered to be an activity that brings food sorely for the household. It is explained as well by the fact that men in Maasai tribes are in charge of the cattle.
This didn’t seem to be an issue in the second village. Men and women from all ages gathered to watch the demonstration. At first, the One Acre Fund staff member, Sibi, Showed how hybrid seeds are supposed to be planted. As they did in the first village, The Maasai started grabbing the tools and doing it themselves. An imposing Maasai man quickly stepped forward to dig holes in the ground. Under the watch of his peers he heavily hit the ground with his tool in order to plant the seeds. This was done all so very fast. As soon as he dug a hole someone would measure the distance and plant a seed. This man seemed happy to participate in the demonstration.
The Maasai people are an important part of the culture in Kenya and Tanzania. These tribes have carried their ways of life through the ages and the forever-changing modern world. By working with an organization like One Acre Fund in the aim of developing one point such as agriculture, could be a significant improvement on their condition of life.
