Cashew Training Tourney

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In accordance with my region’s plans after our April cashew training in Toubacouta, each work zone in Kedougou conducted a cashew training for farmers in the area. I participated in two of the trainings: one in the Saraya workzone east of Kedougou (Jaxanke territory) and one in a village west of Kedougou (a Pulaar area).

At the Jaxanke cashew training, I did most of the teaching along with my friend Andrew, a Jaxanke health volunteer who lives about 40km from where we held the training. 22 farmers and five volunteers attended the training. It was a great turnout thanks to the hosting farmer; he sent out the invitations and we brought the food. Some days I can speak and understand Jaxanke really well, and other days I seem to be missing a lot of what is said. Luckily, the day of the cashew training was one of the former. Andrew and I took turns discussing the information of each of three cloth posters we had made in Kedougou the day before. After talking through a poster for about 20 minutes, the farmers at the training would discuss amongst themselves and ask questions of the more knowledgeable members of the group. We would then repeat with the next poster.

Our role as volunteers in the process was not to dispense new information or be experts on the subject, but to bring the farmers together, get a discussion about cashews rolling, give some information about cashew best practices, and let the farmers in attendance take the conversation where they wished. I am, after all, new to cashews—and new to agricultural work in general. The training continued for just over two hours in this fashion, then we had a delicious lunch of chicken with oily rice cooked by the hosting farmer’s wives. Overall, the training went very smoothly. Lots of farmers attended and were engaged in the discussions, breakfast and lunch were cooked on time, I was able to understand most of the farmers’ questions (in Jaxanke), and we did not go over our food budget. A success on all accounts.

Far before the afternoon heat wore off, Andrew and I commenced the long bike ride out to his village. We arrived just a few minutes before the sun was starting to set. I spent two nights in Andrew’s village; we spent time with his family, toured his neighbor’s large banana plantation, and held a small training about how to make a cashew nursery. Due to an untimely rainstorm, we were not able to demonstrate filling tree sacs, instead opting for reusing our posters from the previous day’s training.

The next week I joined my friends Hannah and Eric for another cashew training in a village near their sites. As I do not speak Pulaar, I offered to be photographer for the training (this joke got a few laughs when I introduced myself at the training). Although I could not understand a lot of what was being said, I had fun spending time with my friends and watching enthusiastic farmers talk about their craft.

Below are some pictures from the cashew trainings:

Me teaching about outplanting, protecting, and pruning trees at the Saraya work zone cashew training (in Jaxanke)
My friend Andrew teaching about tree spacing

Cashew training panorama

Farmers trying roasted cashews we bought in Kedougou

Our hosting farmer talking about his experience with cashews

My friend Andrew and I took a break at the top of a hill during the bike ride into his village
Banana orchard. Water for irrigation is pumped in from the river that borders the field

Banana flower

Bananas ripening on the tree

Huge puddles on the bike path to my friend Hannah's village (I rode in the morning after a rain storm)


Another huge puddle
On the way to Hannah's village

Bike selfie

Cows graze in in the rice fields

Biking with Hannah to the Pulaar cashew training

Eric and a farmer demonstrating how big to dig a cashew outplanting hole

The puppy poses for a picture

Eric teaching at the cashew training

Hannah teaching about cashew spacing


Our hosting farmer adding his input about pepiniere creation

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