Food and forests in Congo-Brazzaville
Women farmers have a solution to growing food without cutting down the forests
“What we really need,” one of the men stated, “are chainsaws, to make it easier to cut down trees. It’s hard work to clear land with axes.” This was voiced at a meeting of farmers in Boko Songho — a remote and mountainous district of Southern Congo. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a way of life in Boko Songho, where for generations, people have cleared the forest to plant crops.
The farmers know that times are changing. As the forest recedes, they must now walk ever-increasing distances to reach their fields. Authorities have begun restricting hunting as efforts mount to protect the Congo Basin, home to the world’s second largest tropical forest.
A better way, up in the hills
Someone in the room asked, “Is there a way to grow more food without cutting down the rain forest?” Steady murmurs immediately arose from the women in the room. “Maala,” they said and repeated. “We grow food without cutting down the forest in the maala lands.”
Burn-beating, also known as Maala in the local Kikongo language, is a farming technique that involves cutting vegetation, laying it in heaps and burning it to ashes to enrich the soil. Maala fields are farmed for three years and thereafter left fallow for up to six. Research shows superior yields for cassava grown on maala plots, compared to yields in lands claimed from the forest. Maala fields are found in the savanna, wide-open grasslands where there is no competition with the forest.
A future without chainsaws?
One might wonder why people continue to slash and burn, if maala farming is so appealing. “The maala is backbreaking work,” said Rodiane, a lively 40 year old farmer who sprinted straight uphill to her one hectare plot. Planted in the rich, black soil, are thick stands of cassava, pigeon peas, squash tomatoes and hibiscus. Perhaps if maala farming could be more rewarding, the farmers would put down their chainsaws for good.
In Boko Songho and elsewhere in Congo-Brazzaville, it is women like Rodiane who practice maala farming. Understanding their plans and expectations is a giant step to imaging more sustainable food systems, become a reality.
In southern Congo, FAO, IFAD and WFP are currently supporting bean farmers, through an EU funded program. Farmer groups receive training and equipment, and their surplus beans are purchased by WFP for distribution to local school feeding programs.
In communities where farming and forest compete, similar projects could do more to promote alternatives to slash-and-burn. For instance, they could support women’s cooperatives and help them get the most out of their savanna crops. Helping farmers reduce the daunting post-harvest losses they face would reduce the need to clear plots in the forest. Finally, promoting product differentiation, with foods that are responsibly grown (‘good beans’), could work for the ever growing demand from consumers for quality products that are grown and raised locally.
Find out more about WFP’s school meals on wfp.org
