The 28.1-acre demonstration farm in Nimba County recorded its best harvest yet — validating the conservation techniques we now teach farmers across seven counties.
The 28.1-acre SHIFSD demonstration farm in Kpytuo Town, Nimba County — supported by our long-standing partner All We Can (AWC) — has just closed its most productive season since we acquired the land in 2023. Rice, cassava, and short-cycle vegetables all exceeded target yields — cassava by 41 percent, rice by 28 percent.
The farm's role is deliberately double-edged: it is a working farm generating produce for local markets, and it is a training site where farmers from surrounding communities can see conservation methods without having to take a risk on their own fields first.
Why yields keep climbing
Three factors stand out from this season's records. First, cover cropping over the previous dry season protected soil moisture into planting. Second, we rotated maize and legumes on the same plots to fix nitrogen naturally, avoiding the fertiliser costs that price most smallholders out of yield gains. Third, our post-harvest drying racks — built on-site from local materials — cut losses from mould and rot by nearly half.
“The demo farm isn't a demonstration in a lab. It has to work commercially or the model isn't real. This year it worked, and it worked with the same tools our farmers have at home.”
— Program coordinator, Nimba
Surplus revenue from the harvest goes back into the program: seed multiplication, farmer training subsidies, and — starting this cycle — a small revolving fund for participating families to buy tools without borrowing at market rates.
