Field notes from Sierra Leone: the Makeni bioenergy project

SEI has been watching the project closely, surveying local villagers to learn how about how their lives are – or aren’t – changing, and aiming to draw insights for policy-makers in Sierra Leone and other African countries, as well as for donors and development banks.

The surveys are being conducted by a local team trained by SEI and project manager Ival Cummings-John. In April, the team conducted its second round of surveys, visiting nine villages across the Bombali and Tonkolili district in Sierra Leone over 27 days. The team spent two to three nights in each village and completed a total of 332 household surveys and 18 participatory rural appraisal (PRA) sessions. Below, Cummings-John describes the experience.

On arrival in any village it is important to first greet the chief, to make them aware of our reasons for being there. As this was our second time to the villages, it felt more like going back to see an old friend than introducing ourselves a fresh to the community. For the most part, the chiefs were very welcoming and provided us with a place to sleep and food to eat without too much hesitation.

There was, however, the odd instance when it wasn’t so easy, as it was clear the chief did not have much interest in the project or us being in their village. Once, after waiting for a few hours for the chief to find us a place to stay, he came back and said he had found somewhere for us to sleep. When we entered the room, the aroma of chicken mess filled the air. The chief insisted that there was nowhere else in the village to sleep, but after asking around the community, someone kindly offered to let us sleep on the floor in their unfinished house. This was a much better option for all of us.

Sleeping arrangements and food were always the topic of conversation before arriving in the next village. Would we be sleeping on beds filled with bedbugs, or would we be given the bare floor? Would we be eating fish soup for the umpteenth time, or would they surprise us with some nice rice and “plassas”? The great thing about the team is they were all adaptable, and took each village as it came, with few complaints.

Our day generally began with a PRA tool session before the people in the community headed off to their farms or jobs. Getting people to participate seemed more difficult than last October, as this is the time of year when many people prepare their land for planting. Also, many people are now working for Addax, which meant they had to leave early to go to work. The only way to catch them was to also wake early and convince them to stay for a bit while we administered the PRAs.

April is the hottest time of the year in Sierra Leone, so it was near impossible to do any sort of work when the sun was at its peak. Instead, we used this time to bond as a team, either taking walks to check out the next village, or our favourite activity, walking for miles to find a river to bathe. The walking in the heat was always exhausting, but when we finally saw water we all relaxed and had a good time.

This was also a great way to mingle with people from the community while they washed their clothes and had their baths. The River Rokel, the largest in Sierra Leone, is the main river for most of the communities we visited. It is more than just a place for bathing, but a place that people use to cross from one village to the next. When the water is lower in the dry season, people wade across with all sorts of things on their heads, from bicycles to firewood to laundry.

As a team we figured if people who were older than us could wade across the river there was no reason why we couldn’t do the same. The first time we tried, it was a daunting experience, as the current was slightly strong and the middle of the river was a lot deeper than it looked. But once we had conquered the river, it became a regular occurrence to cross as if we had been doing it for years.

In the evening, when people came home from their farms and jobs, we would sit down with them and administer the household surveys. The hardest thing about doing the surveys was trying to locate the same households again. It was amazing how many people had relocated in just six months.

The second survey data has now been delivered to SEI, and our researchers in Bangkok have begun analysing the data. We are looking forward to our final round of surveys, in September.

Learn more about SEI’s Makeni project »