Local name of practice: Siwêbât
Country/region/village: Chad/Mayo Kibbi Est/Guelendeng
Community: Massa
Context
Recent droughts, irregular rainfall and decrease in rainfall have led to loss in soil fertility. The community is experiencing these effects of climate change in the form of declining crop yields and food insecurity. To face this climate adverse effects, women and men set up with local materials (banco clay, conical straw, etc.) a compound (diameter of 2-4m by height of 2-4m) to store all the harvest. This grain storage facilities called granaries help communities build up climate resilience to small-scale farming household in Chad by allowing storage of crops in between two harvests periods.
Description
As a response to climate change, the community has endogenously developed a crop storage technique in the form of granaries. This approach has allowed the Massa community to develop capacities and build governance and planning tools in order to master the technique of food conservation for food security. The transmission of know-how has been passed on from generation to generation. The technology contributes to disaster risk reduction, as precautions are taken to secure production and combat food insecurity. It makes it possible to have seeds of quality by a selection in anticipation of the next rainy season. Its implementation requires the availability of eco-construction equipment with biomass. The granaries are built in banco like houses with conical straw roofs, and are essentially small storage houses where the products from the harvest are storedriods. The range of crop that is stored often varies between 250 kg to 1000 kg. The chief granary of the concession is placed in the center of the compound, in front of the entrance. Each woman has a reserve drawn from its peripheral plots. Women use the contents of their granary on a daily basis, while that of the chief of the compound is exploited last (a reserve for the period when there is shortage of food). The initial expenditure for the construction of a standard size granary is CFAF 40,000 (USD 80)/
Benefits of the technology
The advantages and performances of this technology are related to:
- The sustainable quality of preservation without deterioration;
- Its relatively low cost;
- The generation-to-generation transmission system is a means of securing livelihoods;
- Its ownership by the younger generation.
The direct beneficiaries of the practice are: households that secure agricultural production.
Indirect beneficiaries of the practice are: consumers, and family members
Gender considerations
The users of this technology are men and woman of the Massa community. There are no known risks for women using this technology. There are various beneficiaries and the benefits accrue to the whole family, especially for the daily preparation of meals by women. In fact, this technology helps women to sustain the food security and their family by coping with post harvesting losses occurred by irregular raining events.
Potential for technology transfer and up-scaling
There are no known barriers to tranferring the technology to other groups, cultures or regions. The model is being used in many areas and several African countries as a crop storage facility and has potential for large-scale technology transfer. Knowledge is currently spread via by word of mouth. The technology is easy to own but must be adapted to local construction habits and materials, and make provision for local weather conditions.
References
- Djekore M. 2016. Mission de recueil des meilleures pratiques en matière de gestion durable des terres en vue de leur diffusion, CILSS, 126 p
- Dramé A. Kiema A. 2016. Connaissances endogènes : les bonnes pratiques d’atténuation et d’adaptation aux changements climatiques en Afrique de l’Ouest, Enda Energie, 94 p
- GARINE (I. de), 1964 — Les Massa du Cameroun, vie économique et sociale. Paris, PUF, 250 p.