What we produce
When the Sahrawi people came here to the refugee camps in the mid seventies, vegetables and herbs were not a big part of their diet. After many years of canned and packaged food aid, humanitarian organizations started distributing a few types of vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, carrots and potatoes in small rations. This is when they have been introduced to these vegetables. And for many years, people only knew these few types. We started growing new plants in the garden like broccoli, kale and kohlrabi as they are very nutritious, but because our people are not familiar with these plants, they simply wouldn’t eat them. This became a big cultural challenge. How can I introduce these plants to my community? We started looking for creative ways to introduce these plants to the community and encourage them to start adding them to their recipes . For instance, One Meter of Art is a project we developed with kids that uses art, food and education in order to learn, and help spread the word about these new practices and foods.
Since we started in 2018, we’ve been cultivating a variety of vegetables, herbs, and trees in our garden, while also raising different animals close to each other. Because of the limitation of our resources, including space, water, and food, it was not easy to farm many crops or raise a lot of animals at the same time. Instead, we decided to work with a few crops and fewer animals in the same space at the same time. They are both important to have in the garden, but they both have their own challenges. Reducing the quantity of the crops and animals will allow us to give each of them the attention needed before moving on to the next. We hope to keep the garden as diverse as possible, this is important for everyone. It’s important for plants to have animals, their manure feeds the soil. It’s important for animals to have plants, they grow healthier and give more food, and it’s important for me to have them both.
The results varied depending on each type: some plants and animals showed progress within a few seasons, while others required more, sometimes as long as four years of care. This experience equipped us with many new things. It taught us so much patience, resilience, and the wisdom to work with the living things around us.
What we grow in the garden is not about producing a high quantity of food or high numbers of animals, but more about experimenting and finding the plants and animals that can live in this harsh environment. So the foods we produce such as milk and eggs are supplements to our everyday meals. The humanitarian aid that we receive is not enough on its own.
Here, we’re excited to share with you some visuals of the plants and animals that have been part of our garden over the years.
