A friend of mine is village chief in the African country of Niger. He knows that a village granary is the only sustainable way for him to protect his people from famine, by storing seeds for future crops and by storing surpluses for lean times. Like many good ideas, if this one is to be realized it needs planning, funds, and hands on work.
Funds are hard to come by. And, most people feel better about funding something they can see and understand so I set off to make this granary in Niger more tangible through photos, videos, and stories.
I sent a Canon SX95 camera to my friend the Chief and he began snapping photos of traditional granaries, neighboring town's modern granaries, and local farms. He starting emailing me lots of photos at 640x480 in order to fit more photos into each email, but I really wanted to share compelling high quality photos with other folks who might want to join our effort.
Flickr vs Picasa? I think of Flickr as a feature rich publishing mechanism and I think of Picasa as more of an individual editing and sharing mechanism.
Please take a look at our
Flickr site and tell me what you like or don't like.
How do you think I should go about sharing the photos that will reach people who will see this project and believe in it?
The GAGURI project in Niger now officially registered as an agricultural cooperative by the local regional government. The eight people pictured here are serving as leaders of this organization, coming from two dominant ethnicities, Hauza and Buzu, and two faiths, Islamic and Christian. They are united in their determination end the threat of famine in their village by building a modern granary to safely store their grains and seeds for planting and for emergency use as food.
The growing season in Dan-Makaho village depends on rain for germination of the seeds and for growing the young plants to the point that their leaf and root system is large enough to take in what little moisture comes in the dew and light rains. The village chief Issa reports that the soil was already dry at planting time and occasional bursts of rain have not been optimal for a good harvest later on this year.
Issa is the village chief of Dan-Makaho and he is SITIA.org's partner in Niger. He recently sent along a few photos showing how his people plant their crops.
My friend's village is more visible now that a few of our photos are visible on Google Earth and on Panoramio. Viewed on Google Earth or Panoramio, these pictures include the lattitude and longitude and are placed on a real map of southern Niger. Zooming in on the village of Dan-Makaho from the air, the village well is clearly there in the clearing surrounded by a few trees. There are also modest houses and the arid fields where the people grow their sorghum, millet, and cow peas. 
A friend of mine is village chief in the African country of Niger. He knows that a village granary is the only sustainable way for him to protect his people from famine, by storing seeds for future crops and by storing surpluses for lean times. Like many good ideas, if this one is to be realized it needs planning, funds, and hands on work.
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