Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Chinese couple with my dad (far right) and other helpers
Flying Papaya








Watermelon puppy

THE EARTH, THE MOTHER


Bioko, the island where Malabo is situated, is of volcanic origen. It has the most fertile land I have ever seen. Everything here grows so aggresively. The humidity is 98% year around. There are only 2 seasons here: rainy season and dry season. The dry season is during our winter and it is the best time of the year. There is no rain in the rain forest! During the rainy season (our summer) it rains every day for a couple of hours a day. This is the tropical storm season!
Bioko is ideal to grow any type of crop. During colonial times (Spanish Colony) cocoa was the main cash crop because it was very profitable. The problem with this type of crop is that it is at the mercy of world market and crops that do not sell, cannot be eaten. The alternative is farming edible crops like fruits and vegetables.

With the help of some Chinese friends, my dad has been farming all types of veggies. It is an experimental farm and the produce is at all levels of experimentation...some grow better than others. He produces about 50-100 Kg of vegetables a day but he wants to raise this amount to 1000 Kg/day. It is a project that has no fanancial backing and he is currently financing it with the sales of the produce. The project needs financing so that he can better his irrigation system and expand the farm.

Believe it or not, this is one of the only fresh vegetable farms in the entire country! The future of Africa is in farming and anyone with anyone with a bit of farm knowledge or willingness to participate can contribute.

No comments: