Changing Lives with Peanuts

Sixty families in rural northern Sierra Leone’s Tonko Limbo Chiefdom have seen their lives and livelihoods transformed, due in large part to Paul Conteh, M.S.W. ’15, and Agraverse, an agricultural economic development ministry founded by Conteh and supported by the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering. 

Traditionally subsistence farmers, these families are now growing peanuts as a cash crop to meet and exceed their household food needs.

“We currently are working in one village. By next year, we hope to involve at least three of the nine villages in Tonko Limbo Chiefdom,” Conteh said in an interview with the Baptist Standard.

Thanks to ideal soil conditions and a dramatic increase in the value of peanuts in Sierra Leone, peanuts have provided a boon to the local economy and the livelihood of the families Conteh has worked with.

Generations of families in the region have a rich farming history and possess valuable knowledge about the most effective methods for cultivating crops on the existing, fertile land. The greatest challenge that Conteh was able to assist with came from acquiring seeds and managing the transportation and marketing processes to distribute their harvest to various parts of the country.

Conteh has built a coalition of Baptist, Wesleyan and United Methodist churches alongside other evangelical Christians in the region. 

“We went in with the mindset of, ‘Let’s unify the body of Christ for the good of the community,’” Conteh said. “We are at least working across some denominational lines.”

Agraverse asked local churches to suggest which families should join the pilot project. The local churches, along with community leaders and program participants, had the freedom to shape the program the way they wanted, and Agraverse had minimal interference or intervention, according to Conteh.

Conteh saw a “bountiful” initial harvest, and he anticipates scaling up the project in the upcoming year. His strategy involves extending the initiative to encompass more villages and diversifying crop experimentation. 

Looking to continue his education and expand his expertise, Conteh envisions a return to Baylor to pursue a master’s degree at Truett Theological Seminary in the Theology, Ecology and Food Justice program.