Pineapples Galore

World Hope International Sierra Leone has been working hard with the people of Rogbere. The original goal was to get 10 acres of pineapples planted in 2014. In Rogbere they are now at 2 acres of pineapple, with 24,427 pineapple suckers planted. They had hoped to be further along with this project but the Ebola virus crisis has meant WHI could not import pineapple suckers from Guinea (where the Ebola crisis started) and some farmers were reluctant to go to the fields and work near other people for fear of contracting the virus.

A Sierra Leonean planting pineapple suckers.

As it is now the dry season, it is too dry to plant any more. They hope to begin planting pineapples again in May. In the meantime, the plan is to care for the current acreage by working with the people of the village to weed, water, and start applying calcium carbonate, which will stimulate the pineapples to start fruiting. This should make them ready to harvest in the summer. Beyond selling the fruit in the open markets, WHI is coordinating the harvest with Africa Felix Juice near Freetown to buy some of the fruit for juicing.   

World Hope is also going to begin to look at supplementing some of the village farms with other fruits that are less labor intensive and are ready to harvest sooner than pineapple. They are going to focus on developing their nursery farm for guava and papaya to supplement these farms as soon as the plants are ready to be planted from the nursery.  This will help these villages diversify their crops as well, which will be very valuable long-term.