The Chairman

The Chairman of the village asked if he could plant matoke within the sharecropping project. Matoke is a main staple here, it is much like a banana but the consistency is different. They are peeled, then wrapped in the plants leaves and put in a cooking pot (Usually clay) on top of the banana stalks. The pot is placed on a charcoal or wood fire so that the matoke is steamed for a couple hours. Water is added to the bottom of the pot a few times to keep the steam going. After is is done it is mashed and has the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Put a little gravy on it and you can barely tell the difference! The trees are different than the banana trees in that their trunks have a lot of black in the leaves. So the board agreed to partner with the Chairman as a goodwill gesture. He is a good man and really cares for his community (but he is a politician also!)  He has planted two acres and will pay back the money we have loaned when the matoke is harvested plus “suckers” to plant ourselves or to give out to be planted. He has also agreed to provide the school we are partnered with five bundles of matoke every other week to feed the children. (Suckers are the offshoots that grow beside the grown plant.) This is a longer investment because it takes a year for the first harvest and then every eight months after. He has staggered his plantings so that he will have constant harvests of matoke. He is also growing maize. He has to have a lot of income since he has two wives and sixteen kids to send to school! We asked once why he doesn’t have a car and we were told that with sixteen kids to support and educate he didn’t have the money for a car! He is very proud of his matoke and very thankful we gave him this opportunity when nobody else was growing this crop.