But how do they go from these trees in mango groves to these baskets in a village kilometers away....?
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| First there's the basic hand-picking, but this only works for those low-hanging mangos that can be reached from the ground or by ladder. How about those high-hanging mangos? |
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| Most local mango farmers use a device like this man, which is basically a long bamboo stick with a pouch on the end of it and maybe a second long bamboo stick with a knife on the end. The high-hanging mangos can either be cut or shook loose, but end up falling into the pouch positioned at the end of the bamboo stick. |
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| From the pouch, the mangos are then placed in these larger baskets until both are full. Then the baskets can be carried home. This man is was just getting started when we caught up with him. Looks like he's got an afternoons worth of work ahead of him to fill those baskets. |
Unfortunately some of these high-hanging mangos just are deemed worth it to pick because there are so many. When mango season is in full swing, the prices tend to plummet, giving farmers little reason to strive after those high-hanging mangos and resulting in mangos rotting on the trees. Our hopes are that with a dried mango product being in demand in markets outside of these villages, mangos will be in higher demand resulting in higher prices, greater incentive to use these natural resources, & higher income for these farmers.
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| The women will often carry one basket full mangos strapped to their back, while the men tend to carry two baskets with a bamboo stick connecting them. These folks are heading back out to get another load. How far? 1-4 kilometers is not uncommon (.5-3 miles)! |
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| Carrying 1 basket (~100lbs.) or 2 baskets (200lbs.) 1-3 miles, its no wonder some of the men in the village look like an NFL linebacker (see photo left). After pushing a wheelbarrow a few hours one day, I jokingly commented that I wanted to become strong like this man, to which everyone simply laughed! |
The majority of the mango trees are located in the hills, while the village lies below. Thus retrieving these mangos is a labor intensive task that usually starts in the early morning until mid-afternoon.
