Cashman, K.

The author had to field test alley cropping in Nigeria with limited-resource farmers. There was much resistance to a concept which did not translate well into any local language, thereby creating confusion. Alley cropping also promoted tree planting when local practice required clearing them; women were especially reluctant to plant trees on their land as it could lead to repatriation of their land by their men. Together with several villagers and teachers, the author came up with a play about the 'Fertiliser Bush' which could be performed by community members.

The author describes problems encountered while supervising an on-farm research project in S.W. Nigeria. Her task of "testing" alley farming under field conditions was made particularly difficult as there was no word to describe "alley" in the local language. She devised solutions to these communication problems by involving a primary school in a drama production called the "fertiliser bush". Dialogue is given to show how concepts, such as poor production related to soil quality, could be put across easily through theatre.