Future In Our Hands
International Network

Supporting grassroots initiatives in Sierra Leone.

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Alpha Kargbo Youth Leading the World (YLTW) “We are pleased and grateful for all your support you have been giving us all this while, blessings to FIOH.”

YLTW have managed to cultivate 2 acres of cassava during the summer of 2025 with the aimed to benefit to the community in establishing a staple subsistence crop. This will enable local communities have a more reliable source of carbohydrates in their diet. The end product flour can then be used in baking. The local enterprise gives us the ability to have greater control over price fluctuations and ina ddition provides regular and reliable employment through processing the raw material.

YLTW started with ploughing as two tractor machines (see image 1) went to work the land. They to organized and utilized local labour to construct the required ridges on the area (image 2). This was followed by planting, weeding and cultivation. All with the aim to purchase and transport cassava stems, for farming.

Gari Processing Centre

YLTW chose this as they were convinced it would yield a profound benefit. The processing centre is available for use and is owned cooperatively by the grassroots community. Offering free or reduced cost use towards processing of the Cassava into the final flour.

FIOH are delighted to participate and facilitate locally managed initiatives like this project. We feel that it has provided meaningful employment, impact and sustainability to the lives of people who need it most. Projects such as this, managed from the ground up by local people has the fastest and biggest impact to people’s livelihoods.

It is our hope to continue to provide funding and guidance on projects like this into the future. If you wish to help us with your support, please consider donating or getting in contact with us for fundraising opportunities.

FIOH Sierra Leone – responding to climate change and Covid 19

ACTIVITY REPORT

PROJECT        :           Local response to climate change and Covid19

Funder          :           FIOH Fund -UK

COST              :           GBP 545

REPORTING DATE:  4thJune 2020

Brief background

In a bid to integrate climate change in development projects, FIOH-SL in collaboration with FIOH-UK supported farmers to mitigate climate change through scaling up the adoption of regenerative agriculture. This involved farming practices that work together not just to sustain, but to increase the carrying capacity of the land, restoring the natural fertility of agro-ecosystems.  Core practise involves permanent soil cover with living plants, minimum or zero tillage, maximization of biodiversity, composting from zero waste in the farming system and reduction of agrochemicals with a view of their elimination.

FIELD ACTIVITY RESULT

Result of activity 1: Organize community sensitization meetings on climate change:

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?

Following the discussion on the literal understanding of climate change, participants also brainstorm, on the kinds of climate hazards.

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

 Traditional/cultural practices adopted in the past to mitigate climate change as:

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 2 – Practical training on Agroecological/ farming.

25 farmers (15F,10M) received practical training (5 per session) of farm design, planting methods, plant spacing, zero or minimum tillage practice, composting from zero waste and field application. Monitoring results reveal that farmers are gradually adopting these practices on their own farms.

 

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 3 – Seeds and tools support. Following the procurement of assorted seeds and tools, these items were distributed to farmer field school representatives.

FIOH-SL seeds and tools support to cross-section of farmers.

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 4 – Seed multiplication and demonstration farms.

Two multiplication and demonstration farms were established in two communities using permaculture/agroecological principles – farmers working with natural forces or farming using natural approaches, the wind the sun and water to provide food, shelter, and everything else including compost, farm/ gardens needs beside seeds and plants. Any farm established using these principles is a permaculture /agroecological farm.

FIOH -SL support to the establishment of two permaculture farms.

CHALLENGES

 WAYS OF OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Representatives from the demanding villages were included in the on-farm training and promised to be given some proceeds from the established multiplication farms as starter seeds to establish their own farms.  Development of community pilot projects by FIOH-SL is underway to service other communities.

  A detailed concept Note will be shared with National and International     donors for possible support.

LESSONS LEARNT.

Household food insecurity exacerbated by the global lock down by Covid19 reveal the extent that existing food systems (and the people underlying them) have been undervalued and under-protected.

Please support the work of the Future in Our Hands Education and Development Fund whose aim is to help and empower some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised people by:

Cheques should be made payable to the
Future in Our Hands E&D Fund
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Fundraising to help the work of the charities would be greatly appreciated

Integrated Agricultural Association

IAA LOGO
Integrated Agricultural Association (I.A.A) is a Cameroonian non-profit, non-sectarian and apolitical Organization founded on the 5th of March 2016 by the founder Dungrila Pascal Mbimenyuy to  promote social, economic, and environmental well-being by:
(i) helping to create “sustainable economic development in rural communities in Cameroon,
(ii) empower and train youths and women-owned producer cooperatives, and
(iii) educate Cameroonians about the importance of organic farming and organic food.

Dungrila giving demonstration

Dungrila giving demonstration

I.A.A is a Youth led Organization with a main focus on empowering farmers through organic food production and commerce.
I.A.A also transforms subsistence farms into profitable businesses by helping smallholder farmers access good training, affordable capital, quality inputs and better crop prices.
I.A.A is passionate about creating social change and  has over two years of experience in nonprofit leadership with a focus on smallholder farmer empowerment, defending indigenous minority rights, education, health care and community development.

Specific Objectives.
To build and strengthen the capacities of peasant farmers through local trainings on cultivation and marketing techniques.

Working on farm

Working on farm

Area of Action: North West, Southwest and West Regions of the Republic of Cameroon and beyond.

Target Groups: Peasant women, Children, Youths, Farmers and Persons living with disabilities.

Values

Approach
We seek to meet our objectives in two different ways. The kinds of approaches we use are as follows:-

PROGRAMMES:
Integrated Agricultural Association (I.A.A) is working under eight different programme areas which include:

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT.
I.A.A helps to transform subsistence farms into profitable businesses by helping smallholder farmers access good training, affordable capital, quality inputs and better crop prices. She also launches food safety awareness raising campaign to educate the public in nutrition.
Many farmers’ livelihoods are stable but vulnerable. When working with these communities, we use conservation agriculture techniques and territorial value-chain development. The goal is sustainable growth while building stronger production and marketing groups, and creating market links between producers and buyers. Our approach enables farmers to access and manage financial services and improve their use of natural resources. We also strengthen the capacity of farmers and field agents to help them plan businesses and evaluate profitability. With our experience, farmers can connect better to markets and use technologies that raise yields. To help farmers and field agents succeed, we developed a digital tool kit called ICT4Ag Suite which facilitates training, business planning, and monitoring and evaluation, making it easier for farmers to grow their businesses.

Workers on vegetable plot

Workers on vegetable plot

METHODS USED.
Territorial approach to value-chain development: We work with farmers to identify and develop products that have potential for local, regional and national markets. We emphasize improving farmers’ production and market opportunities, but we work to improve the entire value chain so it will function more efficiently for all stakeholders. This process increases production, strengthens services for business development, improves post-harvest utilization and builds better market engagement.
Conservation agriculture: In response to global climate change, we help farmers learn techniques for conservation agriculture, which is the foundation of climate-smart agriculture. Techniques include using cover crops, planting with green manure and “no till” practices, conserving water and using native varieties of crops to manage pests. These approaches increase productivity, decrease costs and improve soil fertility.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT. We organize meetings to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the local environment and adopting strategies to deal with a changing climate.  We carry out tree planting exercises and train local groups and families to establish tree nurseries to supply tree seedlings to the local community, with the aim to foster community engagement in afforestation. We train more than 5,600 people each year in tree planting and care and work with school children to educate them on the importance of trees to the environment and the value of agro-forestry. We also conserve biological diversity, indigenous forests and maintain ecosystem services (water, soil, and carbon sequestration).

EDUCATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING.
We provide scholarship opportunities for children from low income families and marketable skills for those with special needs.
We provide vocational training to children with disabilities and support them with equipment to set up workshops that will enable them to be economically self-reliant, participate in community activities and be socially recognized.
We promote ICT and quality education both in urban and rural communities by equipping schools with computers and books libraries, construction and equipping school classrooms as well as the provision of sanitation equipment and water.

HEALTH EDUCATION.
In Cameroon the rural population does not have access to quality health care and services. The situation remains the same in public hospitals everywhere in the country. The rural population travel an approximate distance of 25 kms or more just to have medical attention, while those visiting public hospitals complain about poor approach by medical personnel. I.A.A strives to overcome these health disparities by training community health workers, building the capacities of hospital personnel, refurbishing and constructing community health facilities and offering nursing scholarship to rural youths especially those coming from poor families.

WATER AND SANITATION.
 In Cameroon, water crisis has become the order of the day both in urban centres and rural areas. This is a critical issue that affects mostly women and their children which have had severe consequences on their lives, notably; education and health. Children stay away from school just because they don’t want to carry water on their head every day. And women travel 5 kms or more to fetch dirty water. I.A.A provides access to safe and clean water (water pumps and distribution systems, well drilling, bore holes, spring capping).

HUMAN RIGHTS.
I.A.A is working to advocate for peace through peace building initiatives and humanitarian response, defending children against trafficking, early marriages and forced labour and ensuring that the rights and dignity of women, children and persons living with disabilities are protected and fulfilled.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT.
Women are often marginalized, less educated, lack access to finances, collateral security and are not always able to participate in decision making processes locally. Opportunities on entrepreneurship, capacity buildings and access to land are always limited. Where these facilities are available, they are not reliable, affordable and accessible. They suffer from domestic violence and their girls fall victims of child trafficking and early marriages. These situations are common in rural areas in Cameroon and elsewhere in the world. I.A.A is empowering women with micro- business skills and supporting them with startup loans for new businesses and improve existing ones. I.A.A assists women with entrepreneurial skills through micro-business training and financing so that they can be able to build wealth for their families and participate in nation building.

APICULTURE
Bees are important insects that play an important role in the environment by increasing ecosystem services through pollination. It remains imperative to understand and manage pollination services; farmers in rural communities have the potential to substantially increase their crop yields and income, as well as safeguarding micronutrient supplies from foods such as fruits, nuts and vegetables. This has important implications for food security, poverty alleviation and global health. However, promoting bee farming increases pollination services and provide progress towards several important UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is important that development and environmental outcomes are closely aligned, such that there is a long-term sustainability. Beekeeping, pollination and ecological farming are important goals of development and environmental protection.

Apiculture

Apiculture

APICULTURE AND FOREST GOVERNANCE PROJECT
We train forest communities in sustainable forest management. Many of these communities depend on agriculture for their livelihood which often results in the destruction of the forest for farm land. We train these communities in bee farming and foster their engagement in aforestation as alternatives to protect the forest and fight poverty. We provide opportunities for rural people in tree nursery management, planting and care, and in agro-forestry techniques. I.A.A. distribute forest seeds, agro-forestry seeds and bee farming materials as well as locally manufactured bee hives to vulnerable people. The goal of this project is to promote apiculture as a strong financial incentive for rural people to alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity.

The objectives of this project are as follows:-

(1) Teaching beehive construction, apiary set-up and maintenance, honey harvesting and tree-planting.

(2) Establishment and capacity building for community-based beekeeper cooperatives.

(3) Establish a honey shop and marketing hub; give advice and training about honey marketing.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROJECT
In Kumbo, Secondary school girls become pregnant as a result of lack of understanding about family planning. This is also because the information on reproductive health is not widely disseminated for better access by young girls and women of reproductive age. School girls’ records show poor academic performance as a result of menstruation. During this period, these girls stay away from school because of stigmatization and lack of basic menstrual hygiene information and the school administration do not make available a safe environment for these girls to take care of the menstrual situation with dignity. Married women deliver children too close as a result of lack of reproductive health information and family planning which result in poor health, and unsafe abortions. I.A.A has designed this project to increase access to reproductive health information among school girls and the women of Kumbo.

Sex education

Sex education

I.A.A set-up workshops throughout Kumbo with different groups of individuals in order to discuss reproductive health, and address the questions of the participants. The workshops involved secondary school students (one for male students and one for female students), sex workers, and local communities. For each workshop, every effort is made to make the participants feel that they are in a safe environment.

All workshops usually start with an open question session to answer the sexual health questions of all participants. In addition to these workshops, radio talk shows are held in local languages, which also include a call-in question and answer session.

PROJECT GOAL.
The overall goal of this project is to increase access to reproductive health information by providing young people with the knowledge and skills to promote their health and well-being as they mature into sexually healthy adults.

OBJECTIVES.

Integrated Agricultural Association
Foncha Street, Nkwen, Bamenda
Nw Region, Cameroon, Central Africa

EMail: integratedagriculturalass@gmail.com
Tel (+237) 682 v98 51

Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy

Who was Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was a self proclaimed Austrian clairvoyant, who founded a movement/religion which he named anthroposophy in 1913 after he split from the occult Theosophical Society founded by Helena Blavatsky. At the time of his departure the Theosophical Society was led by Anne Besant.
According to Steiner, anthroposophy adds to the scientific knowledge a knowledge of another spiritual world which is in the first instance invisible and lies above the senses.  He maintained that through meditative training of ones organ of cognition, each individual can acquire the ability to progress to a higher universal plane.  The concepts of incarnation/reincarnation and karma are fundamental to Steiner’s ideas.
The Theosophical Society has its headquarters in Goetheanum (which Steiner designed) in Dornach, Switzerland.  Steiner has written many books and articles and may have given as many as 6,000 lectures on issues such as education, medicine, agriculture, the pictorial arts and social care.
Steiner incorporated his ideas into education, science, agriculture, art, medicine, economics and social care.  A brief description of some of his ideas are shown below and a more detailed analysis c an be seen here:
WHO WAS RUDOLF STEINER
ANTHROPOSOPHICAL MEDICINE
BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE
CAMPHILL COMMUNITIES
WALDORF STEINER SCHOOLS

Anthroposophic medicines
Steiner believed that mistletoe had a role to play in the treatment of cancer.  His reasoning was based on his belief that because mistletoe was a parasite, it would help to cure cancer which he regarded as a parasite on human tissues and organs.  Anthroposophic mistletoe medicines include those marketed under the names Abnova viscum, Helixor, Iscador, Iscusin, Visorel, Eurixor and Plenosol.  Iscador is often touted as having the ability to boost the immune system but there is no evidence that it does so.  Mistletoe is listed by the American Cancer Society as an unproven cancer remedy.  Controlled clinical studies have indicated that mistletoe does not have any significant effect on the survival of people with cancer.  Some people can be allergic to mistletoe medicines.

Biodynamic agriculture
Steiner proposed what he called biodynamic preparations that would stimulate vitalizing and harmonizing processes in the soil through cosmic and terrestrial forces.  Initially Steiner proposed eight preparations, two of which involved packing cow manure (preparation 500) or silica (preparation 501) into cow horns, then buried for a number of months before the contents are swirled in warm water and then applied to the field.  Cow horns are utilised as antennae for receiving and focussing cosmic forces, which are transferred to the materials inside.  The other six compounds(preparations 502-507) are extracts of various plants either packed into the skulls or organs of animals (i.e. deer bladders, cow peritonea and intestines) or into peat and manure, where they are aged before being diluted and applied to compost.  The chemical elements contained in these preparations were said to be carriers of terrestrial and cosmic forces and would impart these forces to crops and thus to the humans who consumed them.

Camphill communities
Despite the undoubted dedication and care for the disadvantaged that must be reflected by most of the people running these communities and the external volunteers who help, it should be borne in mind that the foundation for the activities that take place is based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy, the religion/movement he founded.  Camphill communities could also be regarded as ideal projects for gathering together all of Steiner’s irrational ideas into the same locations.  Activities are most likely to include biodynamic gardening, eurythmics, Steiner/Waldorf pedagogy and art and craft activities with Steiner spiritual connotations and even what has been called anthroposophical medicine.  The basis of these activities is neither rational nor capable of scientific verification.  Biodynamic gardening incorporates organic farming methods and hence Steiner’s occult biodynamic preparations which I have outlined in the section on biodynamic agriculture, are unlikely to result in negative outcomes.  The same could be said for eurythmy.  They can perhaps be regarded as just a waste of time or better substituted with more rewarding activities.
However, with regard to medical matters, there are clear dangers involved in substituting proven and scientifically verified medical treatments and procedures with those such as homeopathy and anthroposophical medicine which have no such foundation.  Robert Smith Hald’s bitter account of the misdiagnosis of his wheat intolerance (which he did not discover until he was 36) and erroneous treatment by anthroposophical practitioners in several Camphill communities in the USA, caused him considerable suffering over many years.  He opens the account of his experience with the comment “Anthroposophy is a religion, and Camphill is a sect, a cult of fanatics pursuing spiritual development and ultimately perfection. They believe that sickness is the soul incarnating, and also that it has to do with karma.  They don’t believe in inoculations, so I had all the child diseases going around, some twice.  My being sick all the time was obviously not just the mumps and the measles and whooping cough, so they had the anthroposophical doctors in all the time, in between punishing me for being sick (thats why I stayed out of the house for as long as I could).  There were three doctors, one in Beaver Run, one in The Village, Copake and one that practiced in both places.”

Waldorf/Steiner schools
The degree to which Steiner’s ideas are incorporated into school pedagogy and activities may vary from school to school but many of the teachers will have undergone training in anthroposophy using Steiners publications.  School activities may incorporate eurythymy, biodynamic gardening and Steiners spiritual ideas about art.  Some schools may also have an anthroposophical doctor and embrace homeopathy.

Eurythmy is a form of dance which Steiner describes as follows: “We pass over to movements representing the possibilities of inner activity, movements which have their origin in the planets.  In their sevenfold nature we have synthesized the animal element in man. The nineteen possibilities of sound: the consonants have their source in the Zodiac; the vowels in the dance of the planets.  A cosmic activity may be brought to expression by means of human gesture and movement.  The word of the heavens is really the being of man. By means of an imitation of the dance of the stars, discovered through spiritual knowledge, we have the possibility of renewing in eurythmy the temple dancing of ancient Mysteries.” (Eurythmy as Visible Speech – Rudolf Steiner Press 1984 from Waldorf Watch.) In the same article Marie Steiner is quoted as referring to Negro dances as ‘decadent’.
One interpretation of Steiner pedagogy is described in ‘An introduction to Steiner Education’ by Francis Edmonds (Sophia Books 2004). Edmonds confirms the idea that humans are composed of ‘body, soul and spirit’.  He also states that “Darwin spent much of his time studying the grimaces in animal physiognomies in search of human origins, being so convinced that man is derived from animal origins – a fascinating study, but it led to nothing more conclusive than that animals also have emotions, likes and dislikes, advancing with desires or retreating through fear and antipathy.  It belongs to the blindness of our time that we still perpetuate the idea that man is an animal derived from an animal”.  This statement reflects not only Edmond’s patronising attitude to a great man’s enlightened scientific discovery, but is perhaps a reflection of the supreme arrogance that has often evolved with the development of the human mind and the human disregard of nature and other living creatures.  Other aspects of Steiner pedagogy presented in the book are seriously open to question and perhaps Steiner’s and Edmond’s disregard of science is well reflected in Edmond’s comment that “Modern science has little place in it for man – it leaves him a homeless and lonely figure in the universe”.
Edmond’s repeats many of Steiner’s occult ideas that I have already mentioned and different practical aspects of the pedagogy are explained in occult spiritual terms.  Colours are seen as a ‘direct language of the soul’ which is represented in particular colours and shades.  For some inexplicable reason black is associated with evil. He repeats Steiner’s classification of groups of children according to their temperaments – (i) blood – sanguine – flighty (ii) black bile – choloric – irrational (iii) yellow bile – melancholic – peevish, jaundiced (iv) phlegm – sluggish.  He suggests that children, and the stories they are told, should be grouped according to these temperaments.  I find this very idea highly objectionable and open to abuse.  There is a suggestion in the book that a girl’s hollow chest had been cured by eurythmy (another of Steiner’s ideas that places spiritual connotations on special dance movements).  Steiner even developed ideas for what he called bothmer gymnastics which according to Edmonds “sees the body as a temple from which all other temples have originated, bear witness to the divine”.
                                                                                                            Michael Thomas

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Post war rural development in the Tonkolili District

sierra.leone.conflict.displaced
Post war Rural Development
This project was intended to help people living in the rural areas of the Tonkolili District recover from a 10 year civil conflict.
opening-ceremony-640The project was officially launched in November 1998 and comprised agriculture and small-scale income-generating activities.  Maize, pepper, cassava, cow pea and egg plant were grown successfully.
Gara dyeing, tailoring, soap making, bread making, including the required training, were established in conjunction with savings  and credit schemes.  All of these activities proved to be sustainable in the long term despite being interrupted by a resumption of hostilities between February and December 1999.
The background to the war and an account of the monitoring visits Mike Thomas made to Sierra Leone can be seen here:
BACKGROUND TO THE WAR IN SIERRA LEONE
SIERRA LEONE DIARY 2000 and 2002

The project was re-launched on 26th February 2000.

Mike Thomas and Edward Kargbo at Mamyoko heliport

Mike Thomas and Edward Kargbo at Mamyoko heliport

 

Mike Thomas made a monitoring visit on 5th May 2000, but had to leave the country two days later because of renewed rebel activities.  Shortly after about 45,000 people fled into the project area due to fighting between rebel and government forces.  In addition to the intended beneficiaries, emergency food and water was provided to many of these internally displaced people.

 

 

convoy-attack-640 queing-640 internally-displaced-fleeing-640 displaced-640school-shoe-boxes-640 aid-distribution-640

The pictures above show (i) the effects of a rebel attack on a relief convoly, (ii) Displaced people queuing for food, (iii) displaced people fleeing from rebel attacks (iv) displaced people with their belongings, (v) one of 10 Swindon schools which collected she boxes of emergency aid to send to Sierra Leone (vi) the aid being distributed at Yonibana.

Rebels first attacked the project area in December 1994 destroying two villages and most public buildings and shops . Many of project beneficiaries shown had been traumatised by rebel attacks and seen members of their families killed and maimed.  Many spent months surviving in the bush.  Many will have spent time in Freetown slums or displaced camps where they have had to develop new skills to survive.
bush-640The project co-ordinator, Edward Kargbo, himself a farmer, had to adapt to these very different environments and at one stage spent nine months surviving in the bush with his large family.  Several of his staff were killed and others brutally maimed.

 

maimed

One of the most successful activities of the project during periods of conflict was the seed multiplication programme. This involved sowing crop seeds in areas not affected by rebel activities and using some of the seeds derived from those crops in other areas when vacated by rebels.

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When peace was eventually restored after the intervention of British troops and United Nations troops from India and Pakistan, Mike Thomas carried out the final monitoring visit between the 18th November and 7th December 2002.

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All agricultural activities had been re-established and the training centre had been rebuilt after it was destroyed by rebels.  Most of the tools and equipment had been hidden during rebel attacks and were re-claimed.
The partner non-government organisation, Future in Our Hands Sierra Leone is now well known and respected for its development work in the region.

If you would like to support the work of the FIOH Fund please make a DONATION:

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