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A GREEN OASIS IN KOMBO

BADJI ORGANIC FARM

Founded in 2016 by Lamin Badji, an agripreneur with great vision for his country and the warmest heart of Africa,

the Badji Organic Farm started with the goal to grow organic vegetables and employ and educate local poor farmers so they can learn, grow and expand from their experience.

We support this amazing project and started a partnership, after I met Badji by pure luck in Qatar and we started talking about hydroculture and plants, and our shared passion: the combination of nature and business.

He overwhelmed me with his dedication and vision about the plantation and the need for eco-agriculture.

We decided to kickstart the organic farm together and started a wellfare project: the Gambia WaterWELL project.

Since the moment we met the project got really activated and has now a sustainable future and soon a water well.

Thanks to the help of many supporters, gifts and small investments from collections we can now further expand and grow together as friends in Gambia. We hope this webpage will give you an honoust insight in the incredible work Badji did and will interest you to contribute or support the WaterWELL project, in Europe or in Gambia.

The farm is situated in a small Gambian village called Kombo Basari, located strategically because of the best soil in the aerea and the short, 15 minutes drive from the famous Brikama marketplace. This is the biggest market in Gambia, well known by vendors, as all locals (both men and woman from the small town villages, sell their products here to the local stores and to the bigger Resorts and Hotels from the coastal area.

All the grown garden products of the farms are expensive goods, because the seeds and goods have to be imported from neighboring countries and some of them are even imported from Europe (like onions from Holland). Lamin Badji is a visionary local businessman, taking up the agriculture to help educate and employ them, all from self-learning and hard dedication.  Badji learned from his many work related stays abroad and conversations about the project with investors and mentors all over the world. He is now working in Qatar, Doha, and from there as well he’s constantly busy doing research and studying different ways to build better irrigation systems, solar fields for energy and engineering works for the borehole, the biggest challenge of our project: WATER.

Kombo Basari is a small village, part of Kombo region in Gambia.

Kombo was a kingdom and later a chieftaincy in Gambia during the colonial period. Kombo was part of the Mali Empire and gained independence after its fall, and was then ruled by the Sambou Bainunka clan. Mansa Karapha Yalli Jatta became the first King of Kombo, after seeking help from the then independent Kaabu Empire Kombo was ruled by two families, the Jatta (Djatta) and Bojang (Bodian) clans, when one clan becomes Mansa, the other clan gets to chose the crown prince from their own clan and vice versa. From 1840-1855 Mansa Suling Jatta was the King of Kombo.

There are relatively few mentions of Kombo in early Western literature on the Gambia, owing primarily to the fact that European visitors primarily visited the northern ports. In 1621, as English explorer Richard Jobson was about to leave the Gambia, he recorded that he met the King of Kombo, who welcomed him to the country. Portuguese explorer André Donelha wrote in 1625 that Kombo "produces much rice and is very beautiful." Another Portuguese explorer, Francisco de Lemos Coelho, wrote in 1688 that the King of Kombo was a Falupo, a general term meaning a Jola living near Casamance and that his village was the largest anywhere on the river. Coelho further wrote that Kombo had "much wax and rice" and that the King and his people were Pagan. In reality, he was a Mandinka while his mother was a Jola and he was a Muslim who probably was not very religious to attract European tourists and traders as many Muslims do today. The Masquerade Kumpo is named after Kombo.

There were originally six villages of Kombo. namely Brikama (the marketplace), Yundum, Jamburu, Kafuta, Sanyang and Manduar.

REACHING OUT

If you want to contribute and partner up you can also contact us directly, Badji is there to happily answer all your questions by what’s app or email and we do our best to respond.

We added a list of all important materials that would be of great help for our project. If you have any of these goods, even if the goods ar not in the newest conditions, all will be accepted with the highest gratitude. We will take care of shipment and transportation and you will be informed of the arrival.

Also we will send you a newsletter with updates and all project developments and business outcomes.

If you want to help with the project on the location in Gambia we can take care of accommodation and arrangements, please send a resume and some small cv / portfolio with an explanation about yourself and how you could be of help. Each year we will pick one candidate that will receive a flight ticket and needs.

Information about the Badji Organic farm

Lamin Badji, his family and the farmers

The farm is established in 2016. The land is fenced and prepared and money was hardly earned to buy a first small solar panel kit for green energy. After clearing the farm with the boys in october 2021 the land is fixed for replanting the cash trees and organic farming, the small but suitable farmhouse with solar panels was constructed to host the farmers. At this moment most vegetables and trees are dying because there’s no water. We are making great efforts to start drilling the borehole within the next weeks. At this moment only 3 farmer boys are remaining. As soon as the water supply is fixed, work can start up and farmers can return.

The Badji farmhouse and livestock

Livestock

Goats - The farm will also rear some goat to be used as meat for the local market since the average Gambians eat meat only twice a year due to the cost. Badji Organic Farms is hereby trying to meet the market demand of the meat by making efforts so enlarge the livestock in order to supply meat at a reasonable pricing in the future.

Chickens - In the farm we have free walking chickens for meat and fresh eggs

The donkey - the donkeys provide the best organic compost for the farm

Gear and equipment

Transportation - Without transportation it wil be difficult for the Badji Organic Farm to supply the market at the appropriate time and Badji Farms is therefor looking forward to get a better ways of transportation.

Our goal is to export an small delivery van from Belgium to Gambia.  All farming is organic. The compost Badji creates is a mix of organic materials and animal dug (donkey and goat meanly) to assure sustainability for both the climate and human beings. Badji already knew for a longer time that Organic Farming is the only possible future proof concept.

Plants and Crops

Soursop - The farm has some great quality of Soursop trees (Soursop is know for its abilities to kill cancer, it’s a highly valued tree), but they are in urgent need of water to make fruits.

Guava - At the farm they successfully planted Guavas from seeds in the Philippines, they are growing nice but also need water or they will not survive

Lemon & Oranges -  All the planted lemons are dying because of the lack of water and the orange trees have problems too. They are of great importance because the sell of the oranges is important to do business with the big hotels and resorts, as all spoiled tourists (the species we call  the two legged-donkey in Gambian jokes) want fresh orange juices. And to be honest, I like them as well, who doesn’t?

Capricosum - Half of the paprika’s died, the rest of the plants is in very bad condition

Banana - One tree is still fighting for surviving and already gave nice fruits in the past

Cucumbers - The new plants are slowly growing and are now supported by sticks as they don’t have the strength to grow without yet

Cassava - On Christmas day the Cassava was harvested and the dry is obviously affecting the disappointing result.

Papaya & Mango - O, yes! There’s even that in the garden. The plantation will be like a small paradise with heavenly fruits after completion.

Equipment

At this moment we are holding a money collection to transport 2 Power Thrillers and spare parts to Gambia. We found a great machine and a mechanic ground cutter for export, and hope to find the missing part of our budget soon. We now collected 70% of the needed money so have high hopes!

• Power plows and power thrillers - even non-functional ones (we have a very handy mechanic and they can also be used for spare parts)
• Plows, ground cutters
• Solar panels, converters, equipment and batteries
• Small batteries and electronic components
• Valves, tubes and plumbing materials
• Electronic wires and small gear of all kind
• Mills, spades and garden tools like shovels or buckets
• Buckets of containers
• Hummel
• Irrigation materials, pipes and driplines
• Tapes and connection materials of all kind
• Tools of any kind
• Fencing materials for protection - we don’t want free walking cattle to damage the plants or theft of the vegetables
• Old laptops or computers

Seeds and sibblings that grow well in our soil

We hope to raise awareness of the importance of our need for good quality seeds. We made an email campaing 'need for seed' and contacted al Belgian Seed Libraries to ask for a generous Christmass gift.

If you have any stock, we will send you a post label free of any charge to send this perciousness and a postal card from Gambia to thank you for the contribution.

• Onions
• Cabbage
• Lentils
• Hibanero chilli
• Orange, lemon
• Pomegranate
• Capsicum (all kinds)
• Papaya
• Courgette
• Cassis
• Peach
• Apple
• Pumpkin
• Mango
• Okra - Eggplants
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Melon
• Tomato (all kind)
• Bulbs and flowers (desired by the local resorts, even Tulips are welcome)
• Lettuce
• Pepper
• Herbs of all kinds
• Grain (for the chickens and donkey)

All seeds received will be welcome to us - we even had seed gifts received from the Philippines!

Knowledge & Expertise

We are always looking for extra hands, books, manuals and information of any kind. Are you an agriculture enthousiast wanting an adventure or a different kind of holiday break, a student wanting to learn and volunteer, or good in writing letters to investors, shipments, a lobbyist or a mechanic wanting to fix old gears? Great in taking pictures or making an advertisement or educational videos? An influencer with a big heart? Don’t hesitate to contact us!  If you have books or studies, papers or any education, please reach out.

Just willing to support by sending us a good old-fashioned post card? This is also possible and will be received with the greatest joy.