ASYV: Over 100 species and counting!

Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is a good place to watch birds. Several visitors from the United States and Israel and about 20 of the Rwandan students have participated in bird walks so far. There are many birds to see, and part of my job is to keep track of them. 

Students at ASYV are using binoculars and
thinking critically about how to find and identify birds.

I have surveyed birds here from about 6am-8am on average about four days a week since early December, totaling just over 149 hours on 69 days. Although I love bird watching, it is not all fun and games. Surveying involves getting up regularly at 5:30 am before sunrise, getting bitten by ants at least once a week, soaking my shoes/sandals each day while walking through the thick morning dew, meticulously taking notes, and lugging a camera or computer around for documentation. I also have to transform my notes into electronic form.  Data entry is absolutely necessary for keeping an inventory, but it is the most boring part of the job.

The amazing Ross's Turaco! You can see the bright

yellow face and bill and the red mohawk well. You can

sort of see the bright blue/purplish color its body. What

you cannot see is the bright red patches on its wings,

only visible when in flight. I have seen this species 

(Musophaga rossae) at ASYV 6 times, only in the 

undeveloped area behind the school. 

So far, I have identified 115 species of birds that live on or have visited the 144 acres of ASYV property, with another 6 birds narrowed down but not to the species level. To put this in perspective, around 17% of the birds found in Rwanda or about 1% of the world’s birds can be seen right here in this small space.

The African yellow white-eye, Zosterops senegalensis, is a
delightful little bird.

About 87% of the 115 birds have been spotted at least twice; only 15 birds have only a single record. For example, I have found the violet-backed starling only once (although there were four individuals present that day, 1 male and 3 females). In contrast, I have seen the very-easy-to-see pin-tailed whydah on all 69 days.

A male violet-backed starling, Cinnyricinclus leucogaster,
was quite an exciting find!

Birds from 36 families have visited or live at ASYV (add to that families of two birds as-of-yet unidentified, woodpeckers and nightjars). Remember, a family is a grouping of organisms in the Domain-Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species taxonomic system. Among the families (which are in parentheses), there have been six species of sunbirds (Nectariniidae), 7 species of dove/pigeon (Columbidae), 9 species of martins/swallow (Hirundinidae), 10 species of waxbill (Estrildidae), 11 species of Accipitridae birds of prey (not including the two birds of prey from Falconidae), and 11 species of weavers (Ploceidae). 

This male scarlet-chested sunbird, Nectarinia
senegalensis, is as pretty as they get. The turquoise
on the head is not always seen and this is the only
photograph I have that captures the head color.
Visiting ASYV? You have a good chance of seeing it,
as I have recorded it more than 1 out of every 2 days.

Six species remain elusive: a woodpecker has been spotted twice, a swift that defies my dichotomous key, a female cuckoo that has only been around once, an Aquila species of eagle, a black-faced bird of prey, and a nightjar. Most of these birds have been visible for just a short glimpse, or I have yet to see the details I need to make an identification. I have also heard of an owl that people have seen, but it has not been reported in months and I have yet to see any trace of it. 

The spot-flanked barbet, Tricholaema lacrymosa, is one
of two species of barbets I have found at ASYV.
Neither species is common on the property; I have only
three records for this species.

Is all this information for the birds? Of course not. It is important for several reasons. First, it serves as a pool of data for student use. The sciences and mathematics are major fields in Rwanda; the analysis and the process of gathering the data provides students with hands-on experiences. It also allows students to learn the techniques and methods of finding and identifying birds. For future park rangers, tour guides, and biologists, they can gain skills they need to be competitive for good jobs. Second, it gives ASYV an important tool for attracting tourists. Rwanda has a lot of potential as a birding destination and having an established bird list (plus a lodge and proximity to Akagera National Park) will capture the attention of birders and tour operators. Third, it allows the students, staff, and visitors to appreciate the natural capital present at ASYV. Although many rural people here have a recognition of some of the birds, they have yet to see many of the wonders up close or understand their full ecological roles (this is based on my conversations and observations). Furthermore, people from the city who now live at ASYV have little recognition of the birds at all or their importance (much like America and probably everywhere else).

Cinnamon-chested bee-eaters, Merops oreobates, 

live at ASYV and are a pretty regular bird

 in the undeveloped area behind the school. 

Yes, they do eat bees, and they catch them 

spectacularly while in flight.

In the coming months, I will devote posts to the most common birds, most unusual birds, the breeding birds, and peoples’ interaction with our feathered friends. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed pictures of some of my favorite birds at Agahozo.

Building the Future

One of the important tasks we have at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is preparing our students for life after high school. Some students will go to university while others will enter the workforce. In a country with many people and fewer jobs, skills are of utmost importance.

Two senior four (10th grade) students finish building shelves

Students entering the workforce without specialized skills may have to settle for a job with lower income. For example, in the construction industry, the lowest rung of employment is the porter. Porters make around 1000 RWF per day (about USD $1.68). A porter may do any number of things such as cut wood or haul stones; it is extremely hard work. A carpenter, however, may make 2500 RWF per day (about USD $4.20). Clearly, having specialized skills is an advantage to our students.

Students measure before they cut

At ASYV, outside of school, we have enrichment programs that seek to expose students to different fields and help them build skills. I teach the carpentry enrichment program for the equivalent of 9^th and 10^th grade students each Monday and Thursday.

Students work together to get their angles square

On the first day of my carpentry EP, I was waiting near the center of the village for my students to show up. I had no idea who was in my program, so I asked two boys who were heading over toward the shed and wood supply. They said they were not in carpentry, but as they came back from that area a few minutes later one boy told me, "Your students are over there, but there is a problem. They are all girls." It was a powerful way to start my EP because it made me realize that through carpentry I could offer my students- most of them female- more than just skills, but empowerment through building.

Our first set of tools rest on top of the first item that students built

We started with a partially-broken hammer, a box of nails, and a carpenter square from last year’s carpentry program; I added my small tree-limb saw, a 1.5 meter tape measure, and a pencil that I brought with me from the States. That first day, we covered the names of the tools and tool safety; each student got to practice using each tool. We built a small table that the students were quite proud of because they had not used most of the tools before the class.

Sawing at a 45 degree angle... nice form!

I took a bus to Kigali on the weekend and bought myself a nice collection of tools for my students to use. I bought 4 hammers, 4 hand saws, 4 carpenter squares, 4 tape measures, and several sheets of sandpaper. About a month later, we got a donation of tools from America that added wood rasps, several sizes of c-clamps, and safety goggles.

Enrichment year (9th grade) students with their finished shelf

In the past 6 weeks of carpentry, my 28 students have learned some of the basics of carpentry and have begun to apply their skills for village projects. Our first project was to build shoe shelves. We have built 9 shoe shelves for different houses. We built a projector stand for the computer lab. We are nearly finished with 4 benches and will build several more for use around the village. Upcoming projects include cabinets for the science center, shelves for the new computer labs, and tables for the canteen. By building items that the village needs, the students not only gain skills but get to see how their hard work benefits their community.

Enrichment year (9th grade) students pose with the projector
stand they built for the computer lab. 

My students are getting better each week at hammering, sawing, measuring, and ensuring their joints are square and flush. Some of them are even starting to design their own projects; perhaps they are future carpenters at work!

Before carpentry students built this shelf, the closet floor
was covered in shoes. It was a great first assignment
for beginners!

(PS: A shout-out to the people that helped me learn tool use over the years- I am happily passing it on to my students!)

Safari at Akagera National Park, second visit

A visiting teacher to Agahozo from New York was interested in a safari and told me she was a “wannabe birdwatcher.” I jumped at the idea… let’s split the cost and go birdwatching at Akagera National Park!

A vervet monkey on the move! (Cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus)

Our driver was an hour late to pick us up this past Sunday, but it did not matter much as it rained from around 6:30am to 10am. Dark grey clouds loomed in all directions, and it did not look like a promising day for birds or any sort of fun.

Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) are easy to see at Akagera

We got to the outskirts of the park around 8am in our 4x4 jeep. The road up to the park entrance goes through some rather flat woodland. From what we saw in the rain, I estimate that it would be some excellent birding on a sunny day. There were of course common birds like grey-headed sparrows, red-eyed doves, red-cheeked cordon-bleus, ring-necked doves, black-lored babblers, and white-browed robin-chats. We also picked up white-headed black chats, grey-backed fiscals, Ruppell’s long-tailed starlings, European bee-eaters, greater blue-eared starlings, and lilac-breasted rollers, which are all pretty nice looking birds. We were treated to some helmeted guineafowl along the side of the road, and three African grey hornbills rested all wet from the rain in a tree. We drove up a hill to reach the gate, as the rain still fell.

Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris)

At the entrance gate, we stopped at the welcome desk. We filled out a form, met our park ranger, and paid our $30/person entrance fee. As we were walking out the door, the receptionist noted that we were birding and that the fee would actually be $70/person. I could not find any extra services we would be offered for the higher fee so I informed her that we would not look at birds and would just stick with the $30 “game drive.” The guides are pretty good with their birds, but of the two I have had at Akagera, they do not always know the birds at the species level (bee-eaters are bee-eaters, starlings are starlings, etc.). Plus, birds are the easiest group of wildlife to see. If they expect to get a premium price from birders, they better up the services, because I can bird just as successfully for $30 as I can for $70.

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi)

With our guide, we backtracked slightly to take the giraffe viewing road. We spotted one giraffe in the woodland, but the rain still poured. We picked up a neat mammal, a small antelope called a bush duiker, along the way. The only new birds we added were sooty chats and a lonely Senegal lapwing.

Olive baboon (Papio anubis)

The end of the giraffe road is back at the entrance gate, and I had our driver take us up to the Akagera Safari Lodge. I stopped in at the desk to get their most up-to-date contact information, as the Bradt guide and all the internet sources I have found were not current. Two olive baboons did show some interest in our car but quickly wandered off. We went to the lodge to look for the red-faced barbets that supposedly nests in a dead branch of a tree in the parking lot (I have seen in two sources, so I thought it was worth checking out). We found the ficus tree near the entrance to the parking lot that supposedly hosts the barbets, but the only dead branch had broken off and lay on the ground. We did get out and look around in the light rain, but did not find the barbets, which is a species endemic (found only) to the area west of Lake Victoria and in between the mountains separating Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I had hoped to see this bird, but we missed it here and on the day overall.

Hildebrandt's Francolins (Francolinus hildebrandti)

As we descended a giant hill toward Lake Ihema (the biggest lake at Akagera), we saw two fairly large antelope, waterbucks,  foraging in the grass. We found hildebrandt’s francolins, emerald-spotted wood doves, white-browed coucals, and a soaring African fish eagle. As we reached the edge of the lake, a few vervet monkeys captured our attention; they are very cute, a mostly grey-furred monkey, with a black face surrounded by white. A woodland kingfisher, Egyptian geese, African open-billed storks, and squacco herons populated the banks and nearby vegetation. A lone hippopotamus swam in the waters offshore. And then, some stunning blue-cheeked bee-eaters landed in a bush not far away! These, according to the African Bird Club list for Rwanda and the Birds of East Africa, are migrants and do not breed in Rwanda. They were very pretty, and the rain was finally stopping enough for me to take a few pictures through my spotting scope.

Blue-cheeked Bee-Eaters (Merops persicus)

We continued along the lakeshore, picking up African jacana, marabou storks, spur-winged lapwings, and long-toed lapwings along the way. We drove past a fishing village and through some woodland to another much smaller lake called Shakani. Here we saw a great white egret (same as great egret In Americas but here it is a different subspecies), numerous cattle egrets (many in breeding plumage), one intermediate egret, two little egrets, glossy ibis (same species as in Americas), hadada ibis, some great cormorants, and a grey heron. We had one sandpiper, but we had a poor view and did not bother to identify it at the species level. The highlight of this lake was a single yellow-billed stork, which we had previously only seen from afar; this bird was close, and modeled for our cameras. A single Nile crocodile swam across the lake, showing just enough to be seen- if you are looking- but it posed a certain danger to any unsuspecting bird or mammal.

Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis)

On the road away from Shakani, we checked the mousebirds but only found speckled mousebirds (no blue-naped). A bare-faced go-away bird and an African green pigeon hung around on separate branches for some great views, and we added long-crested eagle, fork-tailed drongo, and white-winged black tit to our day’s list. We passed some bushbuck (a bovine mammal) and arrived at Lake Birengero. There is an area that you can get close to the lake and scan the papyrus along the shore of the opposite side for the shoebill, an absolutely unique and amazing bird. The shoebill is only found in Africa, is specialized to eat lungfish in mainly papyrus swamps, and is not easy to see. The rain had stopped and the sky was clearing so we stayed for around 40 minutes, scanning the shore, back and forth. We did not find the shoebill. This is a bird that Akagera and tour operators advertise, and it is frustrating how hard it is to access in “one of the most accessible shoebill haunts” (Bradt Guide). Much of the opposite shore is not visible, being blocked by trees, reeds, and papyrus that are on our side of the lake. The shore is far enough away that even if you did find the shoebill, it would not be a great view. It would be easy to put an observation tower here. While canopy towers in the rainforest might be expensive to construct (with trees 150-200 feet tall), the trees by Birengero are much shorter. A tower would be unobtrusive to the habitat of the shoebill and allow Akagera to actually show one of its top animals. If the shoebill were reliably seen here, I have no doubt that many more birders would come to this park. On Birengero itself, we found a single grey heron, a great cormorant, an African fish eagle, and one grey-crowned crane.  As we looked for the shoebill, a white-headed saw-wing whizzed around, common bulbuls sat in a tree, some common waxbills darted around the reeds, and a spectacular double-toothed barbet landed low in the vegetation to our left. The Fanshawe illustration in Birds of East Africa does not do this barbet species justice; it is so much prettier in person. No shoebill though. We moved on, sad to miss this species for the day (we did not see it in other marshes in the park).

Lake Birengero (the papyrus marshes are mainly
to the right across the lake, so are not shown in this picture,
but may hold resident shoebills)

We saw yellow-fronted longclaws, little bee-eaters, and a spot-flanked barbet on the way to our picnic spot on Lake Hago.African grey hornbills and lilac-breasted rollers were particularly showy here, and they looked sharper than in the rain earlier. Some hippos nearly joined us for lunch, as they exited the water down shore and eyed us cautiously. A few pied kingfishers rested on bare branches next to the lake and African wattled lapwings were also present. We ate our hard-boiled eggs, wheat rolls, amadazi (fried dough rolls), pineapple, and bananas while contemplating what we had seen and what we might see next. On the drive to our next spot, we found an immature black-chested snake eagle, Levaillant’s cuckoo, and one of the finds of the day, a black-bellied bustard standing atop a termite mound in the distance.  Our guide pointed out the bustard and much credit to him for the difficult spot. It would be the first of three black-bellied bustards we would see that day. And also, perhaps my favorite of Akagera’s mammals, the common warthogs trotted about, looking silly with their tails sticking straight up. We had good luck with warthogs after this and saw quite a few (no pictures though).

Black-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis melanogaster)
(the last bustard we saw- picture taken on the plains)

We arrived at Plage de Hippos (hippo beach) to look for ducks and waders. We saw hippos and basking crocs; we saw three white-faced whistling ducks, spur-winged geese, Egyptian geese, water thick-knees, and a malachite kingfisher. A large number of African open-bill storks were around, so many that they were actually blocking the views of most of the ducks and geese. A Eurasian marsh harrier flew by, but we turned up no other birds and decided to move on. A black-headed gonolek flew in front of the car, but other than me, no one got good looks at it.

Two crested barbets (Trachyphonus vaillantii)

On our drive to the plains, we spotted three great birds. The first, perhaps the find of the day, was a pair of crested barbets. They flew into a fruiting tree and snacked, only giving a great view at the end. The birds we saw had much more red faces than Fanshawe illustrates, but otherwise the drawing was accurate. Stevenson’s text notes that it has a red-speckled yellow face; it looked nearly all red to me. In any case, it is a spectacular-looking bird, and it was Michele’s favorite of the day. As we drove on, a Ross’s Turaco flew by and a green wood-hoopoe also flew by, showing its orange bill and spotted and lined wings.

A large topi (Damaliscus lunatus) looks at us
 with the much smaller Bohor reedbuck (Redunca redunca)
to the right in the grass

As we reached the plains, black-headed gonoleks gave much better views for all to see. We found some African buffalo with yellow-billed oxpeckers on their backs. Many topi (an antelope with a black face and leg patches) dotted the savanna and a Bohor reedbuck went sprinting by. We found many more buffalo and checked every oxpecker to see if we could pick out a red-billed, but they all were yellow-billed. Crowned lapwings, Senegal lapwings, and many African wattled lapwings surrounded the mud holes or scattered in the grasses. A single black-shouldered kite rode the otherwise empty sky. Two giraffe roamed a hillside in the distance. We found one European roller in a bush and finally got a good picture of the black-bellied bustard. The sun was nearly behind the hills, and it appeared that we might miss zebra altogether. We hoped our visiting friend would see this unique animal. As we left the plains, and drove toward the exit in the hills, common zebra finally showed themselves. We had some sacred ibis fly overhead, and two unidentified nightjars (with white-wing spots) flew in front of the car. We drove out of the park in the dark and started the 2-hour journey home.

Common zebra (Equus quagga) finally showed themselves
just before dark

Although we missed some birds we wanted to see (shoebill, red-faced barbet), we left the park having identified 73 species of birds and 13 species of mammal. Looking at the list of birds, it is heavily skewed toward larger birds. Entirely missed are many groups of smaller birds. We did see many of these birds, but from a moving car it is very difficult to ID them. Even if a small bird lands in open view, we must get the driver to stop, possibly back up, possibly get out of the car, and then look for the bird. This is not easy to do for every little bird, especially if you are trying to cover the whole park (we wanted our visitor to see the plains game in the north, and we also wanted to look for certain birds in the south). Numerous cisticolas, warblers, sunbirds, and two cuckoos did go by, but we did not get the chance to ID them. For future reference or for other birders, if you want to go for smaller birds or concentrate on certain species, you must cover less ground. For this trip, I am glad we did go the whole distance as two of our top birds (crested barbet, black-bellied bustard) all came from the north.

Sunset over savannah and wooded hills in Akagera

Mammals:

Olive Baboon

Vervet monkey

Common Zebra

Hippopotamus

Common Warthog

Giraffe

African Buffalo

Bushbuck

Bush duiker

Bohor Reedbuck

Waterbuck

Impala

Topi

+2 species of mongoose, but I am unsure which ones (one small, one larger)

Reptiles:

Nile crocodile

Tortoise, unsure which species

Birds (73 species):

Great Cormorant

Cattle Egret

Squacco Heron

Little Egret

Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

Grey Heron

Yellow-billed Stork

African Openbill

Marabou Stork

Glossy Ibis

Hadada Ibis

Sacred Ibis

Egyptian Goose

Spur-winged Goose

White-faced Whistling-Duck

Black-shouldered kite

African Fish-Eagle

Black-chested Snake-Eagle

Western Marsh-Harrier

Long-crested Eagle

Helmeted Guineafowl

Hildebrandt's Francolin

Red-necked Spurfowl

African Jacana

Grey Crowned-Crane

Black-bellied Bustard

Long-toed Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing

Senegal Lapwing

Crowned Lapwing

African Green-Pigeon

Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove

Ring-necked Dove

Red-eyed Dove

Ross's Turaco

Bare-faced Go-away-bird

Levaillant's Cuckoo

White-browed Coucal

Speckled Mousebird

Pied Kingfisher

Woodland Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher

Little Bee-eater

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

European Roller

Lilac-breasted Roller

Green Woodhoopoe

African Grey Hornbill

Spot-flanked Barbet

Double-toothed Barbet

Crested Barbet

Barn Swallow

White-headed Sawwing

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Common bulbul

White-browed Robin-Chat

African Thrush

Sooty Chat

White-headed Black-Chat

Black-lored Babbler

White-winged Black Tit

Grey-backed Fiscal

Black-headed Gonolek

Fork-tailed Drongo

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Greater Blue-eared Starling

Ruppell's Long-tailed Starling

Village Weaver

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

Common Waxbill

Parrots and other birds here and there

I am in the process of working on an article about human-wildlife conflicts, but I am taking longer to write it than I originally planned. In the meantime, here are some of the beauties Michele and I are finding around Rwanda. All of these birds are found in the wild only on the continent of Africa.

A pair of African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus) hang out
near the shore of Lake Kivu, in Gisenyi, in the Norhtwest of Rwanda.

According to BirdLife International, the African Grey has
experienced significant population declines due to habitat loss
and the international pet trade. They are apparently so
popular as pets in the United States, Europe, and Asia that up
to 21% of the wild population is harvested annually. Read more.

A Red-chested Sunbird (Cinnyris erythrocerca) sings
near Lake Kivu.

A Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis) perches
on an acacia tree near the shore of Lake Muhazi
in Eastern Rwanda.

An African Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus senegallus)
searches for food near some rice paddies. Note its yellow
wattle on the side of its bill!

Four Lesser Striped Swallows (Hirundo abyssinica) rest atop
a banana leaf. These are the most beautiful swallow species
I have seen in the world. They make metallic-like sounds
and nest at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village.

An African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus) patrols the shore
of a lake in Akagera National Park, which forms the
Eastern border of Rwanda.

One Hammerkop (Scopus umbretta) lands on another
in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.

A Hammerkop stands on its nest in a garden in Kigali,
the capital and approximate geographic center of Rwanda.

The most beautiful bird of all... Michele stands at the edge
of Lake Kivu, which forms the Western border of Rwanda.
Across this body of water is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As you can see, this country is rich in birds. Michele and I use our free time to travel around Rwanda in search of them and other wildlife too. I am reminded of a quote from the poet Pablo Neruda that I saw posted at the Central Park Zoo:

"I've wandered the world in search of life: bird by bird I've come to know the earth."

I hope to see them all... thanks for reading!

Organic Agriculture and Composting in Rwanda

On Friday, I joined a small group from ASYV for a field trip to learn about organic agriculture in Rwanda. This group included a chemistry teacher, school administrative staff (myself), an informal education representative, two farm staff, and a landscape staff member. Our objective was to get some ideas on how to build environmentally sustainable practices into our operations and educational programs. We specifically wanted training on composting in the tropics and on plants that could be incorporated into our landscaping and farm to decrease pests without pesticides.

Entrance to the GOFTC demo farm

The training was at the Gako Organic Farming Training Center (GOFTC). The center opened in 2000 and has since trained over 60,000 farmers from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its founder and director, Richard Mynyerango, was our host for the day.

“No matter how big you are, a president, a businessman, or anyone, at the end of the day you still have to eat.” Richard said. The center is largely focused on just that: connecting people to the idea of healthy food and the how-to of growing it.

A terraced mound garden at GOFTC

While Richard and his center promote protecting the environment through organic agriculture, their approach is centered in helping people. Richard said they are looking for ways that organic farming and conservation can boost peoples’ income, open new cottage industries, and shift people from subsistence agriculture to accessing markets. With the environment as his guide, he is searching for “anything we can do to improve the livelihood of the people.”

Many of the innovations that the center promotes are not necessarily new to the world, but they are adapted to local conditions for use by local people. For example, space is very limited in Rwanda. Not only is it a small country, but it is very densely populated. If people do not have enough land, then they may not be able to produce enough food. Since 90% of Rwandans are farmers, this is a huge issue. The GOFTC promotes several space-optimization schemes to increase the amount of food grown in the same space. Two that really stuck out to me were the mound gardens and the sack gardens.

A mound garden can double the growing space

Mound gardens are soil (and compost) piled up in a small hill. The mound allows more plants to grow because it increases the surface area available for growing. The chemistry teacher with us calculated that it doubles the amount of growing space.  The sack garden is like a kitchen container garden on a larger scale. A durable sack is filled with soil and compost, staked with a post on 4 sides, and holes cut from bottom to top. Plants like onions were planted in the sides of the sack garden and herbs on top. Again, it is an increase in the surface area- and thus growing space- that is the real benefit of the sack container.

Sack gardens are used to optimize space

Other technologies they promote are rabbit, goat, or cow pens that allow for easier collection of manure and urine for use in composting or fertilization. They are also promoting dairy goats, but face a lot of resistance as there is a stigma about goat milk here in Rwanda. They experiment with different drainage systems and siltation traps to reduce erosion and catch topsoil that would otherwise be lost. They keep bees and remind people that if they use chemical pesticides on their farm, it will kill their bees. They experiment with mushroom production and with plants as-of-yet unused by most Rwandan farmers like bamboo. Perhaps most impressive to me is that these technologies are being tried by Rwandans for Rwandans; they are using materials that are accessible locally and are affordable for most people.

Rabbit hutch with easy manure collection (this hutch was
three containers high, again optimizing space)

One technology that has potential for renewable energy production in Rwanda is biogas. GOFTC has several underground tanks that allow for anaerobic (without oxygen) breakdown of its cow manure; they are able to use one of the end products of the breakdown, methane, to power their stoves (and hopefully some day, their other electricity too). Our lunch for the day was cooked on a biogas stove, and it was delicious! We ate most of the food, but I am guessing what was left over was composted.

Lunch being cooked on a biogas stove

GOFTC promotes composting as a way that Rwandans can improve their soil fertility. From my observation, composting in Rwanda is not that different than composting in the Midwest or Eastern United States (or perhaps elsewhere, but I have only composted in those two regions). Decomposition is the same process, with pretty much the same biological and chemical forces at work, and humans are just managing it to get a desired product. Climate does affect the composting process. There are two main seasons here, wet and dry, which essentially produce opposite problems: too much moisture getting into your compost or too much moisture loss from the pile. The compost book that GOFTC uses is a UK-based book (All About Compost by Pauline Pears) that has two basic pages on composting in the tropics. For the wet season, it recommends using large leaves to cover the compost to retain moisture. For the dry season, the book recommends again using large leaves for moisture retention or to bury the compost in a shallow pit.

Compost site with greens and browns waiting to be processed

GOFTC builds small structures over their compost to reduce moisture loss, protect from torrential rains, and keep their compost form baking in the equatorial sun. The compost cover has a post on each corner and a basic roof structure of attached sticks and large leaves draped over the sticks. As GOFTC does a lot of composting, these structures were fairly large and provided nice shade for us as we observed. The method of composting that GOFTC uses is called lasagna composting (called that in America, but I am not sure if they have names for different methods here), and it involves building your compost pile with specific layers. They start with sticks at the bottom to provide aeration and room for macro-invertebrates, then a 30 cm layer of dry brown materials, a thin layer of dry ash, a soaking of water or animal urine, a 30 cm layer of dung, a layer of topsoil, a 30 cm layer of freshly dead green materials, dry ash, and then start over adding another dry brown layer. Richard presented a reason for each layer, such as for instance, using ash to add potassium. He recommended checking the compost every 3 days and then after 14 days turning it. Most of these “waste” materials are available on a Rwandan farm, and while they will break down anyway, composting them in a managed way can provide the farmer with quick and high-quality humus that improves their soils’ productivity. Richard said they get finished compost in about 4 weeks.

Smaller compost site at the demo farm
also has a pit for materials storage

I got the impression from Richard that organic agriculture is still in its infancy here in Rwanda, but it has serious room for growth. One major challenge is that most people here cannot afford the higher prices of organic food. Organic food commands premium prices, but these are mostly from external markets, not local ones. Encouragingly, he said that the perception of the organic approach has changed in the last ten years from discouraged and un-modern to viable; he said even some agencies are beginning to promote it. Richard said, “no longer do the organic farmers walk with shoulders down. They now hold their shoulders high.” For the sake of the butterflies, birds, and the people of Rwanda, I hope that organic agriculture continues to grow and improve the lives that it touches.

Digging in!