Elvie and Rebecca's Chance Elvie and Abegoudou Emanuella wasn't born yet when her future mom,

Elvie, and dad, Abeguedou, both graduated from the agricultural internship program at Songhai Centre in Porto Novo. But she may turn out to be one of the beneficiaries of the training in intensive farming methods her parents received, especially now that Songhai is able to help her with a small loan, geared toward women farmers, from the US non-profit, Eliminate Poverty Now.

Elvie and Abeguedou live about 40 minutes north of Porto Novo near the town of Adjohoun. About 18 months ago Elvie qualified for a loan of 2.5 million CFA (about $5,000) from Eliminate Poverty Now. The loan has allowed Elive and her husband, Abeguedou, to start chicken production (layers and broilers), rabbit production, aquaculture (catfish and tilapia) and crops. That might sound like a farmer who isn't sure what to focus on, but in the Songhai playbook, the key to productive subsistence farming is the synergy between different inputs and outputs (feed, seed, water, and soil, mulch, manure, crops, and animals). Songhai interns learn a lot of sustainable agronomy; they can mix and make their own animal and fish pellets, they know how to follow breeding lines for rabbit production, and they practice irrigation farming with intensive recycling. For example, effluent from the fish ponds is used on crops as fresh water is pumped to both.

We were visiting Elvie and Abeguedou as part of a delegation from Gonzaga University, which has had a partner relationship with Songhai for six years. Past Gonzaga engineering faculty member, Dr. Brad Streibig, worked with Songhai to develop a sustainable water filter for home use in Benin. Songhai has been producing the filters and selling them for 5 years. Study abroad groups from Gonzaga have engaged in health education with Songhai interns, and Nursing faculty have consulted on Songhai's model for small rural clinics. We continue to bring students for study abroad, research, and service. A potential new form of service involves documented outcomes for Songhai grads such as Elvie and Abeguedou. With training and knowledge from Songhai and financial support from Eliminate Poverty Now, Elvie and Abeguedou have a chance that only a few farmers in Benin have -- to become rural entrepreneurs. Now, 18 months into their project, we observe how things were going. They chose to set up their chicken and rabbit enclosures at Abeguedou's uncle's house, where Emanuella also receives schooling. The loan also allowed them to buy a small plot of land about two minutes away. They chose land that naturally sloped toward a marsh so they could lay out both crops and fish ponds. Their water tower is made of wood rather than concrete, as the ones at Songhai are, but it allows them to store water from the wetland and avoid the hazards of dry land farming.

They practice other Songhai methods on a small scale. Their crops are green and lush. While their land is measured in square meters now rather than hectares, Abeguedou explains to us, through our interpreter, Rolland Adoukonou, that he plans to expand crop production when the high water subsides. But even with all of this support, they have had a big setback. They lost 400 of their 500 egg laying chickens to a fast moving disease. Songhai was able to consult with them to save the remaining 100 chicks. Egg production is profitable in Benin and the proceeds from 500 layers could have met a substantial part of the loan payments, which start in October. Abeguedou shows us the farm ledger accounting for the loss and he and Elvie discusses its impact with us through Rolland. Even with this significant loss, fish and produce have realized 32,000 CFA in profits recently. They were losing some rabbits early on, but now things are stable and they will soon have rabbits to eat and sell. Rolland listens for a relatively long time as Abeguedou expresses something even more complicated than agronomy. Rolland nods and translated for us. "He says that they knows that the loss of the chickens was serious, but he and Elvie are determined to make up for it with their other production." Many things are going well for Elvie, Abeguedou, and Emmanuella. They have lots of food to eat and more and more to sell. They know how to get more food from their efforts because of their education. With the loan from Eliminate Poverty Now, they have started a diversified and sustainable enterprise. Their sense of determination and resiliency are
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native to Benin, but also a staple of Songhai's training model, which not only focuses on agronomy, but also personal discipline and entrepreneurship. Rebecca Our intinerary included visits to two farms that day, so after leaving Elvie and Abegoudou, we were puzzled as our driver took us into Cotonou, the biggest city in Benin. Home to over one million people, most of its streets are unpaved, especially in areas most distant from the office buildings and port activity at the citys center. We spent some time bouncing down reddish clay roads impossibly deformed by last month's rains. The driver signaled to a woman on a scooter whom he knew. She turned out to be our second farmer, Rebecca, and she was keeping an eye out for our truck. We followed her through a maze of narrower roads to her father's house. After introductions, we were led into a courtyard with a large rabbit enclosure built into one side. The enclosure itself showed was about 9 meters long and only 2 to 3 meters wide. After dipping our shoes in disinfectant, we entered to find two rows of new cages, many of which were full of mature rabbits, dozens of rabbits. On top of the cages, in small boxes, baby rabbits huddled together, still seeking warmth in spite of the high heat and humidity of the day. Rebecca described the main features of the rabbit enclosure. The concrete floor with drainage makes cleaning droppings easy and reduces disease. Males and females are separated and their breeding lines tracked. Early in the project, Rebecca was losing some baby rabbits to cold, but now the enclosure holds more heat. Keeping the babies in a small box has helped. The design and knowledge to raise rabbits came from Rebeccas training at Songhai. The resources to build the hutch came from Eliminate Poverty Now, a US based non-profit organization. Rebecca's rabbit farm is going well. Soon she will have more rabbits to sell. She plans to expand her operation to her brothers farm in the near future. Like Elvie, she has endured some setbacks and is becoming an entrepreneur of a profitable and sustainable business.
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Dr. Mark Alfino Gonzaga-in-Benin Gonzaga University Spokane, WA USA Summer 2012