Climate Change Adaptation: “With Composting We Have Materials to Produce Our Own Fertilizer”

In Guinea, it has been shown that poor management of natural resource exacerbates climate change impacts. In the village of Laya Doula in Faranah, Upper Guinea, alone, tonnes of plant debris, such as rice bran, were being dumped each year. IOM found it particularly interesting to implement interventions in this area, where the land is sandy, to support climate change adaptation. 

Faranah is rich in natural resources and has invaluable agricultural potential. However, environmental degradation poses a major threat to people’s livelihoods. To enhance their resilience and agricultural productivity, the inhabitants of Laya Doula have unanimously expressed their willingness to resort to natural solutions to climate change.

It is in this context that the project “Strengthening Resilience of Communities Affected by Climate Change and Environmental Degradation” was launched in January 2020. The Guinean authorities, the Institut Supérieur Agronomique et Vétérinaire de Faranah (ISAVF) and the NGO ADDIG have fully participated in this green project.

In line with the inclusive approach promoted by IOM, a participatory diagnostic study was conducted to allow all stakeholders to express their views on the challenges to be addressed. The exchanges proved to be particularly fruitful and provided an insight into the local environmental situation.

For several years now, water has been a real challenge in the village. “Until a few years ago, just digging a three-metre well was enough to find sufficient water, but now you have to go beyond ten metres deep to find enough water,” reminds Mohamed Keira, representative of the NGO ADDIG. 

Moreover, seasonal variations make rainfall completely unpredictable. “Before, we knew that there would be water at the end of August or the beginning of September, but now this is no longer the case,” says Mohamed Keira. These disruptions, linked to climate change, have a significant impact on agricultural production, as the president of the village women’s group, Fanta Keira, explains: “In onion cultivation, we see a drop in yields year after year. In the past, with one box of seed, you could get two to three bags of onions, but now things are not what they used to be.”

The implementation of green farming techniques in the village of Laya Doula was proposed to enable the inhabitants to adapt to climate change. Climate change is a major threat to livelihoods of the people of Faranah. For this reason, ISAVF trained 150 women from three market gardening groups through participatory processes. The focus was on the transmission of organic composting techniques based on plant and animal waste. 

This is a particularly advantageous approach that initially makes it possible to reduce waste by reusing it. In addition, when the compost has reached maturity, it considerably increases soil fertility and thus the agricultural productivity of the market garden.

The participatory learning provided by ISAVF has enabled 150 women, members of three groups, to be immediately operational and achieve excellent results on the perimeter using natural techniques. Fanta Keira recalls: “Before, we used to make archaic mounds and chemical fertilizers are expensive for us. Now, with composting, we have materials to produce our own fertilizer. Some of the women among us are already replicating composting next to the hut fields.”

This year, for the first time in a long time, all women in the group were able to meet their living expenses without having to borrow money. A joint fund was even created with the profits from sales of market garden products.