Food Security Project
One of the crops grown on the Food & Nutrition project site is the Cajun Cajanus better known as the pigeon pea. This bean is packed with healthy nutrients. After harvesting, the beans are carefully selected and packed in re-used glass jars.
Moringa Oleifera, also called the miracle tree, has been used for centuries due to its medicinal properties and health benefits. On the project site we dry the leafs in one of the leaf dryers. The leaves are processed into Moringa Powder and Miracle Tea, among others.
Solar oven platform
Water tower
Drip lines for water supply
Jar washing station
Pigeon peas ready for harvest
Watering the pigeon peas
Baobab leaves, lovely salad!
Banana field
The cashew apple tree
The cashew apple cooking workshop
Delicious cashew apple in syrop
Training for the women of
Mariamakunda about Global Warming
Food Security Project
The goal of Food Security is to contribute to food security for people living below the poverty line. Together we are growing nutritious crops at the project site with the aim of producing high quality vegetarian foods. These foods are both given away in support of good nutrition and sold commercially. As with all of CFN’s projects, profits from sales benefit the continued development of CFN’s charitable projects.
Jar washing station
During 2020, CFN continued to develop the Food Security project. A jar washing station has been realized, where used jars are washed and sterilized. They are than sent to the Kololi factory for packaging products. Improved leaf dryers have been developed and are used to dry Moringa leaves, Baobab leaves, beans, herbal teas, etc.
Solar ovens
Some 20 solar ovens have been developed and are in full use to sterilize the washed and dried jars, with new covers. Also beeswax is melted and filtered in the solar ovens. This is a very environmentally friendly and practical solution for remote places, clinics, farms, etc. to preserve and sterilize materials. Beeswax is normally melted on fires, causing the wax to smell like smoke. Melting it in solar ovens gives a clean, pleasant smelling beeswax. An important factor for our cosmetic products is to have high quality wax. We e.g. are putting our dried beans, in jars and sterilize them in the ovens so that they can be kept for years.
Education
Several workshops have been given on topics such as safe food preparation, the nutritious value of various crops, importance of natural fertilizer, avoiding fire to prepare land for agriculture, honoring natural clean up systems (as termites provide), importance of bee and other insects, organic growing, sterilizing, the use of solar dryers and eco friendly ways of des-infection leaf matter and climate issues like global warming. The aim is to make the Gambian population aware of the need for healthy and ecologically grown food.
