Baobob Forest
Destination Linguere
This weekend, Wyva, an old friend of our’s, offered to take me back to Linguere a small town in central Senegal where a couple from my old mission lives. Linguere is also near the village of Thiel where I spent one month as a child. As you can tell from some of the pictures, Linguere is in the Sahel the last strip of plant-life which manages to survive before hitting the Sahara.
The trip was a wonderful experience. It was particularly nice to get away from the traffic and hub-bub of Dakar. Anne and Willie the mission couple we visited are both doing tremendous work. Anne runs a small health clinic/pharmacy where she works with issues related to child birth and also provides support for people infected with HIV/AIDS. Willie has started a really exciting dairy project where he is experimenting with adapting modern milk production techniques to the local environment.
Forage providing water to local villages / Pipe leading to the new stables
Milk in the Desert
The Pulaar people in this region are one of the many cultures on earth who’s survival for thousands of years has hinged on the milk they receive from their cattle. As a result, cows are an integral part of the culture for this semi-nomadic people and the means to measure wealth. However, for the Pulaar in northern Senegal milk production (particularly in the dry season) has become increasingly difficult with the slow advance of the Sahara.
Three modern stables near completion
Willie, with the support of the Lutheran and Christian Reform Church, has started a program to begin implimenting modern milk production techniques of the west in hopes of increasing the output of local cows. To achieve this the project has two major components. First, they are in the final stages of completing a compound of stables where the cattle will be able to go to get food and water reducing the need to wander large distances in search of water. Secondly, the project has purchased two large Holstein bulls (Cows used for milk in America) which they have started to cross-breed with the local cows. Since local cows produce an average of 1-4 liters of milk a day (Dry - Rainy season) and Holsteins are capable of producing in access of 40 liters per day, the hope is that their offspring would produce in the 10-15 litre range while remaining suited for desert-like conditions. If you consider the fact that cattle from the project are only producing a combined 20 liters a day you begin to understand the potential impact.
How many people and cattle get their water
The full impact of the project will not be felt until 2008 when the first generation of cross-breeds have their own calves (2/3 Holstein) and start producing milk. The project has some exciting development implications and should be useful in providing a lot of knowledge about the effects of stabling and how suitable cross-breeds are for the environment and ultimately, given their much larger need for water and food ,whether or not they are more efficient milk producers. The ultimate goal is of course replication, but for the time being there are some very excited Pulaar shephards in Linguere that stand to have the quality of their family’s lifes drastically improved.
Senegalese Leboo Cow +
US Holstein =
The future?
More Pictures
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