Saamaka Soöto Baäku Sistema (SBS)

Rice is the most important food in many countries. The cultivation of most rice varieties requires a lot of surface water, which will become a scarce product due to the increasing climate change. The people in the Upper Suriname forest area use a variety that can suffice only with water from the rainy seasons. However, the harvest is insufficient due to a lack of knowledge for a sustainable use of the soil, which leads to shifting cultivation. every 3 years.

Ecosystem 2000, developed the Saamaka Soöto Baäku Sistema (SBS) an  agroforestry system for sustainable and highly productive family farming in the tropics. It opposes the approach of just bulldozering and burning the forest for agricultural land as well as using pesticides and fertilizers which threats their water resources.

This system allows the transition from shifting cultivation to permanent residential agriculture with minimal financial investment for the individual farmers, mostly women.

Specific problem: Food insecurity through high labor invesments in maintenance of plots and the insufficiency of the yields in rice production.

To date, the Saamaka(Maroon) and indigenous people carry out their agriculture by shifting cultivation in the Upper Suriname forest area (total area 136,754 square kilometers). Due to a lack of knowledge about sustainable ecological agricultural techniques and mainly working by hand, the field yields are low and the soil becomes exhausted after 3 years. As a result, local food supplies are running out within a few months, and people still have to rely on expensive food from the capital Paramaribo with a distance of 150-400 kilometers. There is a famine among the residents due to a lack of income and food sources. As result the residents migrates to Paramaribo in the hope of a better existence. Sixty-five thousand (65,000) people are affected by this current system.

By training the farmers, starting with the Saamaka Maroons, in new sustainable techniques and provide them with small environmentally friendly equipment, the local residents can meet their own needs all year round and due to the environmental friendly method can make a positive contribution to the international goals set for climate change.

Solution: 

The solution is to teach the Maroon community sustainable farming techniques to move them from shifting cultivation to permanent residential farming.

Processes:

- For the improvement of the soil fertility and the acidity the Mucuna pruriens will be planted and used as a natural fertilizer after harvesting. 

- The SBS uses light mechanization for tillage during construction, harvesting and threshing. 

- In addition, a 3-production zone is applied, which consists of 3 concentric circles. The center is a plot of approx.. ½ ha rice-bean field. The second one is a strip of 10 m of tuberous, vines and herbs under palm trees, primarily for oil production. The third circle is formed by a cocoa plantation under a secondary or recovering forest, allowing the traditionally used and cultivated cultivation.

Technology:

- The SBS is a well-considered design for sustainable and highly productive family farming in tropical rainforest conditions. It is a permanent residential agriculture technology with soil maintenance and the use of endogenous elements to increase soil fertility whereat a minimal financial investment for the individual farmers, mostly women.

This solution serves the total community.  All men involved in cutting and burning the agricultural plots and especially women, who are preparing the land and sowing rice by hand, which traditionally takes more than 3 weeks for a group of cooperating women. Beside farming, women have to provide for the family. Absence of jobs, lack of household incomes force the men to find work elsewhere, mostly in Paramaribo or in the mining areas. Women and children are in a very dependent and vulnerable position. By reducing labor investment and helping families to become self-sufficient allows them to also find other ways to provide in their income. 

The SBS layout requires the use of small technical equipment. Young men will be attracted to perform land preparation and harvesting, which creates jobs. Also transportation of products over the river to markets by solely male boatmen can creates opportunity for new jobs. In time this will rebalance the gender ratio and strengthen family farming.

Comparison between traditional practices and SBS.

* Note: the first time a plot is cultivated according to SBS, the time investment is about double. i.e. 160-180 hrs  This due to more intensive soil preparation in year 1.  

Challenge: 2020 Global Challenges

With the SBS Rice productivity, family farmers in the Upper Suriname forest area are stimulated and trained in techniques that will elevate their traditional farming methods to a sustainable method that can feed multiple people, which can contribute to the International Climate Goals of the Paris Agreement for 2050. These family farmers will be provided with small environmentally friendly equipment that will facilitate harvesting, threshing and product processing capabilities for better value addition and food waste regulation. The applied system will lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the current slash-and-burn traditional farming method.

Where others try to apply fertilizers, weed pesticides and heavily polluted equipment for higher production, the application of SBS uses natural fertilizers without the use of weed pesticides and an environmentally friendly method of tillage and land preperation. 

The small farmers are used to changing agricultural plots every 3 years because of soil exhaustion and burn of the forests on their new agricultural plots. Everything is done by manual labor, which is labor intensive and leads to smaller areas of planting. With the natural fertilization and the new SBS way of planting, it is not necessary to work on a new agricultural land because of soil depletion. By using small environmentally friendly equipment there is a significant improvement in working hours, enabling them to cover a larger area with higher production.

The SBS consists of 3 concentric circles. The center is a plot of approx.. ½ ha rice-bean field. The second one is a strip of 10 m allowing the cultivation of tuberous, vines and herbs under palm trees, primarily for oil production. The third circle is formed by a cacao plantation under a secondary or recovering forest. Therefore, production will significantly increas within 1 harvests per year, which leads to food security. All of these are plants that are traditionally used and cultivated.

However, in a traditional plot of approx..½ ha one will find a great diversity of plants planted at random which leads to no constant food production and no food security. 

The core technology in this SBS agriculture system is the use of the natural fertilizer Mucuna pruriens. This Mucuna is implanted after tillage. As it grows, it covers the soil after 8 weeks, preventing weeds from getting through. Emerging weeds must be removed beforehand. During growth it fertilizes the soil with nitrogen and serves as a biomass for humus after it has finished flowering.  

Once the seeds are ripe, they can be harvested and stored in a cool dark place for the next sowing cycle. The Mucuna plant dies after seed production. The soil is then free of weeds after 4 to 6 months and covered with a thick layer of withered leaves. When preparing for rice planting, the soil can be tilled and the withered leaves and roots serve as additional fertilizer. After the rice has been sown, there will be only 1 moment when weeds need to be removed and harvest can start after 16 to 20 weeks. The weeds are collected at specially designated compost sites, which will then serve as breeding grounds for beneficial micro-organisms and will be used again as fertilizer for soil fertility. Nothing is burned anymore.

The soil quality will be improved due to the use of Mucuna. The pH becomes slightly higher, nitrogen increases by 50 to 80 tons / ha. Due to the large production of biomass, the humus content increases, which gives the soil greater resilience during extreme weather conditions.

This technology is used for more than a decade, yet it isn't known in Suriname. It has been specially developed for a sustainable improvement of the livelihood of the population in the interior and the research lasted 3 years at 5 different sites spread through the Saamaka Territory.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308521X97000413

It was embraced by the local IICA Office in 2016 and financed by the UN-FAO in 2017. The results were dispersed on an FAO Regional Conference on resilient agriculture in Georgetown, Guyana, 17-18 of October 2019.  In 2018 IICA’s Regional HQ supported Cornell University (US) to do research on the genome of the local rice varieties, supposedly Oryza Glaberimma.  

In 2017 tests at the Djumu Test Site showed a significant increase in rice production.  In 3 successive years, production increased with a factor 6 from 0,5 Tons/ ha to 3 Tons/ha.

Also, the soil structure and pH value improved significantly. The soil tests show a slight increase in pH after the Mucuna Pruriens cycle.  All soils were light to moderate acid on average 5 at the start. After the Mucuna Pruriens, they were on average 6.4. This may be an indication of the improvement in acidity using Mucuna Pruriens.

Concluding it may be stated that a fully-developed SBS agroforestry allows a farmer's family to gain U$ 5.000-6.000 / year. Less than 5% of the Saamaka people make more than € 200 /month.  CEDLA reported in 2008 an average income per capita of € 10 / month. Little has changed since then. 

Short-term changes lead to long-term impacts

The results from the research phase will be implemented through a Pilot project in 7 villages. The complete SBS is primarily based on soil maintenance and the use of endogenous elements to increase soil fertility.    It allows the transition from shifting cultivation to permanent residential agriculture with minimal financial investment for the individual farmers, mostly women. 

Outcome: 

-  Food security for the Maroon women by becoming self-sufficient 

-  Exhausted land produces again

-  Increasing household incomes through market production

Outputs affected directly :

Who

-  The Maroon women and their family by reducing labor investment and helping families to become self-sufficient 

- Jobs for men are created in using the small technical equipment to perform land preparation and harvesting and transportation of market products.  

What

-  The SBS-system training and managementskills which thrives on an increase in soil fertility and a significantly improved soil structure and pH value. 

Outputs affected indirectly:

Who

-  The Tourist villages who can now source their products locally instead of Paramaribo and stimulate Agro-tourism beside their nature-tourisme.

-  The re-tailers in Paramaribo may suffer from the change because of incomelosses

Input: 

-  The process of design and research 

-  The use of small technical equipment

-  Seed of the Mucuna Pruriens 

-  Transportation, time and money to visite the area

-  Skillsmanagement training 

The current number of people served 1,000 (250 households)  and in one year it will serve 2,200 (550 Households)  during the five years 115,000 people (16,250 households and 50,000 nature tourists) people will be served.

Goal within one year: 
Introducing and familiarize a highly productive and sustainable family farming technique where only 25% of the current labor investment increase the rice yields with 600 % allowing farmers to abandon slash & burn to protect the environment, improve their food security and generating supplementary income.

To achieve this goal:

Supporting activities with basic trainings to increase the harvest; The elimination of the need to abandon slash & burn and the use of post-harvest dangerous pesticides; Introducing small environmental farming equipment to illuminate their labor; Their adaptability to the uses of a 3 concentric agriculture circles, which is within the reach of most farmers relative to their income and cash flow.

Financial barrier:

Financial means to cover the high costs due to the enormous distances to the villages and the large number of participating farmers. 

Cultural barrier: 

The cultural values and customs when introducing this agricultural system.

Due to the social nature of this project, donations will be actively search for.

To address the issue of cultural barrier is necessary to actively take into account their cultural values and customs when introducing this agricultural system through consultation with the community.

This solution of Ecosystem 2000 is not a part of the larger organization. Our organization shall implement  this solution in partnership with local government sectors such as Regional Development and Agriculture, production and natural recourse and Tropenbos Suriname. Their role is to supervise and give technical advice a to farmers groups.

11 Employees are working on call.

1. Jef Crab. Holistic ecologist. Since 1994 involved in natural farming. Developed integrated agricultural systems for Tribal communities for sustenance and market oriented farming in close collaboration with

2. Natascha Neus studied medicine and non western sociology (specialism of anthropology)

3. Shanti Adhin biologist. Former director of Tropenbos Suriname

4. Sila Kisoensingh child neuropsycholgist

5. Noraisha Tjong A Hung BSC agricultural production specialization forestry

6. Evert Eeckhout biologist specialization in organic agriculture

7. Ruben Eeckhout tropical forestry

In training

- Ilhaam Ahmadali
- Naomi Crab
- Gregory Hew A Kie
- Naydel Jabini

We are currently partnering with:

- The Ministry of Regional Development which aims to promote regional development, resulting in: supporting agricultural development in the interior. In addition, farmers in the interior are encouraged and facilitated in the cultivation and processing of agricultural products for marketing and tapping and / or creating markets. 

- Tropenbos Suriname (TBS) is a nature conservation organization that aims to improve the sustainable use of tropical forests and trees for the benefit of healthy ecosystems and the well-being of people.

The Saamaka communuty has a traditional authority which consists of men and women. The women are very well represented on the village level; women 221 ( 41.3%) - man  315 (58,7%). This authority primarily benefit women since the tribal society is largely run by female lead households (gender ratio 4:1), including the responsibilities of income generation and repairs to buildings and structures.

During the last Lio Kuutu (tribal meeting) in November 2018 leaded by the tribal council of the Saamaka people in Upper-Suriname, the gathered tribe accepted unanimously the founding of a co-operative and a revolving development fund as short term strategic goals. This co-operative is the working arm and the development instrument of the Tribal Council.

Business Model of SBS:

The cooperative consists of villagers members who are engaged in agriculture crops that are traditionally used and cultivated. The cooperative is represented by a board for a period of 5 years. The Board coordinates the management and maintenance of the equipment, the purchase, distribution and sale of agricultural products and the provision of various training courses. Prices will be created through supply and demand and will be set annually for farmers, buyers and the Board management. 

The product sales of rice, cacao, NTFP-oil and honey are primarily for the tribal society and for the increasing tourist resorts. In case of overproduction, exports will be made to neighboring countries.

Ecosystem 2000 will provide training and guidance to farmers and help provide them with the necessary environmentally friendly equipment through funds.

Applying for SOLVE:

Solve is a international marketplace for social impact innovation with the possibility to fund and support entrepreneurs in lasting transformational impact. Eco-System 2000 wants to introduce an innovation eco-system technique for livelihood improvement to the Saamaka Community in Suriname. Due to the long distances and the difficult accessibility of the area, there are enormous financial barriers to facilitate the community in improving their living conditions. Eco-System 2000 cannot solve this challenge on its own. Therefore, SOLVE is beeing asked for help, who has the objective to solve critical Global Challenges.

Financial barrier: 

SOLVE can help us overcome our financial barrier by providing a grantfunding of USD 200,000. 

Partnership Goals: 

Knowledge sharing in the field of technology and innovation to promote and strengthen the development, transfer and dissemination of environmentally friendly agricultural technologies for the sustainable development of the Saamaka Community in Suriname.

Potential Partners:

- UNDP of its Social Program in helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. and where women and girls are empowered and achieving Gender Equality – the promise of Global Goal 5 – is vital. 

How they can help to advance my solution 

By having a branch in Suriname, technical support can be requested for awareness campaigns with regard to ecosystems in the agricultural sector.

- IDB of its Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) where they provides support to non-profit organizations that provide social and community development services to disadvantaged populations, such as entrepreneurial solutions to poverty and Rural Business (including production, processing, marketing and value chains).

How they can help to advance my solution

They can help in the next phase with financial support for further processing, value chain and marketing.

- UN Women of its Mentoring Program where 

How they can help to advance my solution

They can help in the next phase with support in creating women entrepreneurs in the Saamaka Community.

- Patrick J. McGovern Foundation of its exploring ways in which advances in information and technology can improve the quality of life on Earth. 

How they can help to advance my solution

They can help to advance my solution by providing financial supporting.

SBS is an innovative technology ecosystem especially developed for marginalized women and girls of The Saamaka community who will access quality learning opportunities in farming techniques to succeed. These women are very well represented on the village level in a traditional authority; women 221 (41.3%) - man  315 (58,7%). This authority primarily benefit women and girls since the tribal society is largely run by female lead households, including the responsibilities of income generation and repairs to buildings and structures.

Through this authority they can exert more influence on the implementation and management of this eco-system and other agricultural measures that benefit them, which will improve their quality of life. 

The innovation for Women Prize will be used for the women of all seven villages as follow:

- training on eco-system techniques
- provided with seed and small equipment
- setting up the demo plots in the villages
- construction of the village keyhole

As the layout of the SBS requires the use of small technical equipment, the collaboration of humans and machines to tackle global challenges will be achieved, such as poverty reduction, and the way forward towards a better future with a positive humanity impact. This can demonstrate that advanced technology and transformative breakthroughs in mental health have the power to improve lives and change society around the world.

Young men will be attracted to perform land preparation and harvesting. It thus creates jobs for men. As transportation still happens over the river by solely male boat drivers, also the transportation of market production creates new jobs for men.  In time this will rebalance the gender ratio and strengthen family farming within the new method. Being self-sufficient and finding a reasonable household income, will relief women from their dependence and vulnerability and strengthen their position.

The following SDG's will be achieved:

SDG 1 poverty: enhancing food production while lowering time investment, creating possibility for market production

SDG 2 hunger: enhancing food production and chances for income

SDG 3 health: production of healthy food without chemicals

SDG 5: Gender equality: lifts the workload and creates opportunities for income for women

SDG 8: decent work: creating of sustainable livelihoods

SDG 13: climate: reduction of CO2 emission because of eradication of the need for slash and burn

SDG 14: Life below water: no use of chemicals, no irrigation needed

SDG 15: Life on land: no use of chemicals, protection of forest à wildlife habitat Ad 2 en 3:

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for Humanity Prize to advance my solution for all seven villages: 

- purchase of small equipment for the removal of secondary forest
- purchasing of a mow and plow machine
- purchasing of a seeder
- purchasing of a harvesting machine
- building and furnishing a small processing unit

This equipment will be owned and managed by the village association.