Yassah Ballah
Building Better Futures in Agriculture through ICT
Every Saturday, we all women sell our individual and group crops and vegetables. The duty is our duty as women, this is so because we have been selling when we were still young. I do not even feel any pain of us women selling as it has been part our tradition here in Liberia.
Fighting Sexual and Gender Based Violence
In Liberia, it has been a tradition that most women and girls do the selling of their own families. All males in Farwenta AF, usually carry the goods to be sold early in the morning, spend the time at market looking for market of their produce sometimes just on standby in case of some mischief/violence to the women of the group caused by other people
Increased Production
Yassah acknowledges that the availability of the Cassava processing machine has really increased time spent on the two and half acres Cassava field, therefore contributing to more production come harvest time in March/April 2019. Before the arrival of the machine, Farwenta AF spent five days to produce just 20 buckets as a group using manual methodology. Since the arrival of the machine the production has drastically improved, Farwenta is now producing 80 buckets or more in a day depending on the availability of bought Cassava. Farwenta AF’s Cassava farm will be ready for harvest in March/April 2019. At moment the AF buys raw Cassava root from those with in the community at a cheaper price and process it into different foods. Gari is the mostly produced Cassava food as it can cook; Aber, Acheke, Fufu, Dombouy and GB. Process of grinding cassava was too manual and risky as the hands of the grinders would always be the victim of the circumstance.
Yassah noted her happiness of the grinding and compressing Cassava machines. She acknowledges the availability of machinery notes that has increased more time spent on the farm work than processing. AF is expecting to harvest more than 10 tons of Cassava root in 2019. Yassah has high hopes on the future of farm and enjoys seeing positive change on daily basis. Weekly basis more young people join the AF.
My passion is to see this farm growing up to be one of the biggest Liberia Cassava farm and produce. I believe in agriculture and foresee the better future in it. Seeing more female young people expressing their interest in joining in the cause makes me happy
With passion to increase more land for farming, Yassah has the opportunities of more young women taking leadership roles in the farm activities will increase. ActionAid Liberia continues to give adequate support towards the growth of the GSSE. AAL is also supporting the young people to negotiate with elders for more farm land and ownership as GSSE leadership has raised the issue of land ownership.
