Relevant excerpt from "Anon Is A Peace Corp Volunteer" (a much longer post)...
"A volunteer once fronted enough money for the farmer he lived with to buy fertilizer. They spread it together, and the yield was recorded. It was nine times what it was the year prior. Instead of taking the money back for the loan, said volunteer forced the farmer to buy fertilizer for the next year and save it.
The next year came and they used it again, and again the yield was ten times what it was over the last non-fertilizer year. This time, though, the volunteer had left the country. The farmer didn't buy any fertilizer, and instead blew through the money he earned from his crop on frivolous crap and gifts to every extended family member who cast a shadow on his door.
The next year, his yields returned to the original level, and everyone went on with their lives as happy as before. The end.
This is my penultimate Africa story. There's a bit more to it, however. The Peace Corps showed graphs and charts of this particular case as a successful intervention. I only found out about the little coda because I specifically asked what happened the next year. They didn't decide to share that little fact in the larger meeting. It brings together everything – the waste, the stupidity, the lack of foresight, the inability to see cause and effect, the massive importance put on frivolous crap, and the way communities tear down their best members. Here's the takeaway: Nobody who wasn't white on that farm saw the connection between the yields, the money they were making, and the fertilizer. Nobody stopped to think, “Hey, we should buy more of this!”"
uvulectomy 3 points 5 hours ago
Relevant excerpt from "Anon Is A Peace Corp Volunteer" (a much longer post)...
"A volunteer once fronted enough money for the farmer he lived with to buy fertilizer. They spread it together, and the yield was recorded. It was nine times what it was the year prior. Instead of taking the money back for the loan, said volunteer forced the farmer to buy fertilizer for the next year and save it.
The next year came and they used it again, and again the yield was ten times what it was over the last non-fertilizer year. This time, though, the volunteer had left the country. The farmer didn't buy any fertilizer, and instead blew through the money he earned from his crop on frivolous crap and gifts to every extended family member who cast a shadow on his door.
The next year, his yields returned to the original level, and everyone went on with their lives as happy as before. The end.
This is my penultimate Africa story. There's a bit more to it, however. The Peace Corps showed graphs and charts of this particular case as a successful intervention. I only found out about the little coda because I specifically asked what happened the next year. They didn't decide to share that little fact in the larger meeting. It brings together everything – the waste, the stupidity, the lack of foresight, the inability to see cause and effect, the massive importance put on frivolous crap, and the way communities tear down their best members. Here's the takeaway: Nobody who wasn't white on that farm saw the connection between the yields, the money they were making, and the fertilizer. Nobody stopped to think, “Hey, we should buy more of this!”"