July 15th, 2023
Bonjour a tous et bievenue!
Today is July 15th 2023
Thoughts on L'ouest Afrique and Guinea in particular.
What precisely are the knock on effects of the War in Eastern Europe? The strangulation of Tigray? Economic uncertainty and inflation? I offer no concrete answers nor any advice on how to act but merely present some thoughts. These thoughts don't represent the opinion of any of the leadership of CGTPAF. I'm merely the loyal secretary of the President faithfully executing the orders of leadership to put out a blog and maintain this website.
The great Hunter S. Thompson had a volume of essays titled Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie published in 1994. At a certain point in my life I would have fully agreed with that statement but now things are bit more complicated. I'm loathe to speak about politics with people of a social milieu. But even more so in today's climate I avoid the subject outside of generalities until I've conducted my own personal screening of a person. Slight probes on some subject, listening intently on which fronts they advance and occasionally finding someone with whom I can speak frankly. Although I still find myself getting worked up, rather involuntary, hence the reluctance to be baited into any political conversation. But it's time to seize the spirit of HST and start speaking honestly. As the great John Dolan wrote: Gonzo was really code for speaking the truth. I would recommend the Great Shark Hunt for anyone interested. The section on drunkenly heckling marathon runners of the Honolulu Marathon is worth the price of purchase.
Republic of Guinea
World Bank IDA Credits and Grants from 2014 - 2022: 1.5 Billion Dollars
One Belt One Road Initiative: 20 Billion Dollars
Questions anyone? In the future this website will feature a primer section detailing the history of Guinee but for now suffice it say that the Chinese are serious. I've seen firsthand the construction and work of Chinese SOE's (State Owned Enterprises) and generally positive opinions about the work being done by Guineans. "They work and they don't interfere in politics." Perhaps other nations could take some notes...Would it be so far fetched for a smaller nation to do its own form of One Belt One Road? You put in the cash now and you get the pay off in twenty years when Peak Oil and hard limits from climate change and political instability start popping up every month. Imagine if Poland instead of begging for the position of second banana to the United States initiated a program of development in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Build some roads, schools, and go in for a port deal. You might have Polish mining firms capable of competing with American, Chinese, French etc majors for contracts. The people of the region would never forget the good turn you gave them and in return...
Washing clothes in the Niger river and the effects of the chemicals downstream on people and wildlife will be a disaster many in West Africa will lament in the coming decades. Although I'm sure this goes on in many other river systems across the region.
They grow coffee here - but all I'm able to buy is an instant packet of Nescafe. Perhaps the first assertion of national sovereignty we will see reemerging this century (this applies to all nations) will be the ability to consume the products grown and made by one's own people. (I should note this is a highly dangerous suggestion and not meant to be taken seriously by any head of state who doesn't posses a trustworthy intelligence service and military)
A heat pump for every home and a solar panel array to match...this is a free idea for any aspiring regional politician.
Creating a forest network in the Guinee
Following the a devastating earthquake in Caracas in 1812 Simon Bolivar exclaimed: "If Nature is against us, we shall fight nature and make it obey." In Israel, The Yatir Forest project offers a glimpse of what is possible even in some of the most demanding of climates. On the edge of the Negev desert, Israeli Foresters have created a seven thousand acre forest. Planting began in 1964 with the initiative of Yosef Weitz, the head of the JNF Forestry Department. Today the forest provides recreation, research, and protection from the desert. The Yatir Forest is a part of the Weizmann Institute of Science under the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. I would advice the reader to follow the links for additional information on this wonderful project.
I raise Yatir as an example because many of us forget that Israel was not always the high tech modern country we see today. In fact its early years were quite spartan and romantic only to a certain set of us. But with dedication, organization, and a long term vision something great was accomplished. Which brings me to the question of afforestation and preservation of existing forest stands in the Republic of Guinea. We must face certain realities. The burning of wood for cooking or creation of charcoal will continue unabated and lead to catastrophic ecological consequences if left unabated. Bridging the gap between the meal cooked over a pot on a fire to cooking on a electric stove in an air-conditioned home require billions of dollars in infrastructure, economic transformation, technical training, and the assorted steps that come with industrialization.
On an intellectual level we must be aware of these obstacles. But to often a discreet call to inaction is hidden behind questions of morality. We must act correctly. We must respect the customs and culture of our partners while also seriously analyzing the problems ahead of us. We don't drown in anxiety over questions of saving the planet but on concrete ones. Like how can we transport two hundred seedlings to a field five kilometers from the paved road? Or how can we obtain the necessary wiring and wooden posts to get this project past phase two? While doing our work we must also observe carefully and become aware of the situation in our area of operation.
There are the beautiful classified protected forests in Guinee which feature forest elephants and a myriad of wonderful wildlife. These areas should be preserved in their natural state. Outside of the protected forest system, however, there is an opportunity to improve forest conservation and creation at the village and sub-prefectural level with the aim of creating a native timber industry while also providing additional biomass for day to day needs. The climate and soil in most areas of the country are conducive to successful cultivation of native and foreign hardwoods. While foreign saplings (typically for Palm Oil and fruiting trees) from Bangladesh, China, and other nations are available for purchase. The same can not be said for hardwood timber. The priority assigned to forests and a possible timber industry are nascent at the moment. Creating a sustainable timber industry and market require many small steps. First, the creation of a nurseries for the cultivation of hardwood timber. This is a process that deters many potential Guineans entrepreneurs because of the high up front capital costs and in some locales the lack of basic materials for construction. Not to mention additional costs of transporting fencing or wood if someone is far from a market town. And then of course the sourcing of seeds and saplings (if they are even available).
Amongst our projects is an initiative to establish a series of nurseries in three locations. The first is nearly finished in Faranah prefecture. The next proposed site will be in Kissidougou followed by a nursery in Kouroussa Prefecture. Currently our field agent and agricultural engineer are nearing completion of the first nursery. Next while we have the rainy season over our head we will begin seeding and growing saplings. But where do we plant our saplings? Here we have our first experiment in creating a public-private timber plantation or forest reserve on a small scale.
What do we mean by timber plantation reserve? Our aim is to enter into a partnership with the local town or landowners for the creation of a small forest five to fifteen hectares (all items in italics are proposed and not in effect as of this writing) that would have the proposed operating plan. The land will remain property of the town or landowner but leased to the cooperative for a period of ten to fifty years. Financing, materials, and technical operations will be the responsibility of the cooperative. Hiring will be done at the local level first. Community interests, regulations, and policies of the national government will be respected throughout the period of our contract. All negotiations will be conducted in good faith and all financial reporting will be transparent and available to the community (or partner) and members of the cooperative.
What many of us in the West and other developed nations take for granted is the enormous state support rendered to agriculture and timber in our respective nations. We can rely on a network of government agencies, universities, research stations, subsidies, private financing, experienced technicians, overnight delivery of materials, complex machinery, electrification, and all the other things I'm not failing to mention. Not to mention that here in the United States we have an enormous land forest reserve system (administered by the United States Forest Service, one of the finest public land agencies in the world) with generations of practice and thousands of qualified experts.
In many respects Guinee is a nation without a state (to quote the former President). The nation is building and there is optimism for the future. Things can't go on as they were and one encounters many ambitious and serious people ready to take up the task of building the nation. While there are many obstacles to come we must face our problems one at a time. From the psychological point of view this is an asymmetrical struggle. How can a cooperative that is desperately undercapitalized, lacks machinery and vehicles, has only a few trained personnel and whose principal partners can only visit the projects a few weeks a year hope to succeed. First, we must develop our personnel and partnerships. Our field agents and supporting staff are our most important investment. When we can find men and women with discipline, intelligence and ambition and furnish them with capital, training, and a goal we can build our foundation. Our field agents will build strong local partnerships. Like the trees in the forest we must build relationships with our partners. The best way to build trust is to deliver tangible material gains. With that in mind we don't seek to have massive plantations dedicated to solely to shareholder profit but to engage in a project of local development. We seek to become a catalyst of development both economic and human.
Returning to the asymmetrical strategy of development. The second priority is to develop quality projects that can be sustained with local conditions in mind. The nurseries must be built to a high quality but with a simplicity that can be replicated by cooperative members as well as other interested partners. Further, we must constantly seek to learn and improve our techniques. Knowledge and experience must be continuously passed on. With a nursery we find that a little capital can go a long way. Once costs like labor, materials, and transport are finished and the necessary permission and paperwork obtained we can begin the project of development. First, the creation of a business that generates revenue for the cooperative but that can also act to subsidize costs to local growers and community members. Depending on the region and local market the nursery will grow along two lines: agricultural and hardwood timber. The agricultural seedlings will focus on fruiting and nut trees that can be sold for profit. These plants will cover the short to medium term costs of operating the nursery along with paying the wages of the workers. The hardwood seedlings are the long term investment which can provide income in several avenues. As the trees grow, especially quick growing species like Gmelina Arborea, errant branches can be trimmed and sold off for firewood or charcoal production (this could even be used as a part of a deal with a partner).
Second, we must begin contributing to research and data collection. A priority for CGTPAF in the next five years is the development of an agricultural research station. We can leverage our contacts at University of Faranah which specializes in Agriculture to recruit and train future specialists in a number of fields. There we can cultivate a relationship with faculty and students to conduct data collection, practice in the field, introduce technology to future leaders and create the basis for a system of data collection and sharing on agricultural and forestry related issues. There are opportunities in creating meteorological stations, price monitoring, soil monitoring, air quality amongst some of the possibilities.
Finally, the development of a high functioning organization. These next five years will be critical for recruiting our foundational partners and field agents. This will be a time for significant experimentation. We must be precise in our allocation of investments. I will admit that I often find myself coming up with this or that idea and getting very excited but time (as limited as it has been thus far) has tempered my overenthusiasm. At this time we are small and effectively a top down organization with myself and Sangare commanding from the heights. Worker ownership and input are not merely concepts that interest us but mechanisms which will be necessary to our success. This post is running long as is so I will develop this idea in another post.
Bonne sante, bonne chance et bonne nuit
Bertrand Reyes, Private Secretary to the President of CGTPAF
What I'm currently reading:
State of Exception - Giorgio Agamben
Beware of Small States, Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East - David Hirst
85 Days in Slavyansk - Alexander Zhuchkovsky
Links:
One Belt One Road
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201808/21/WS5b7b6117a310add14f386d13.html
World Bank Credits and Grants
https://ida.worldbank.org/en/financing/debt/country/guinea
Yatir Forest