Gardening

Gardening provides families with vegetables for nutrition and income. Many Nigerien women are interested in starting gardens but may need encouragement, technical advice, and support. This unit covers the vocabulary and phrases for discussing, planning, and working in a garden.

Vocabulary

Zarma	English	French
kali	garden	le jardin
fangal	garden bed / planche	la planche
dumareyze	vegetables	les légumes
riba	advantage	l’avantage
kuyan	depth	la profondeur
duma	to plant	semer
tilam	to transplant	repiquer
dumiizey	seeds	les graines
botogo	clay	l’argile
tasi	sand	le sable
birji	manure	le fumier
hanandi	to water	arroser
dogu	to thin	éclaircir
kali windi	fence	la clôture
margante	mixed together	mélangé
kambak kar	forearm measure	la mesure d’avant-bras

Why Garden? — Sample Phrases

Zarma	English
Ifo se borey gonda kaley?	Why do people have gardens?
Riba fo no go kali teyan ra?	What advantages do gardens have?
Ifo da ifo ni ga duma ni kali ra?	What are you going to plant in your garden?
Kali ga gayan iri windey. Dumareyze ga iri izey boriyandi.	A garden helps our families. Vegetables improve our children’s health.
Ni ga hin ga dumareyze neeya habu ra ka du nooru.	You can sell vegetables at the market and earn money.
Kali goyo si wahala, amma a ga ba hari nda haggoyandi.	Garden work isn’t hard, but it needs water and care.

Garden Preparation — Sample Phrases

Zarma	English
Ni hima ga fangal fansi kala a ku ga to ni kambak kar fo.	Make sure you dig the planche at least one forearm measure deep.
Ni fangalo ma te botogo nda tasi margante.	Your plot should be clay and sand mixed together.
Dan birji fangal boŋ.	Put manure on the bed.
Bataray ma te santimeti waranza — dumiize kulu bifo.	The spacing should be twenty centimeters between each seed.
Ni ma hanandi subbaahi da wiciri.	You should water in the morning and evening.
Dumiizey ga fatta ka ce, ni ma dogu.	When the seedlings come up, thin them.
Waato kan dumareyze boriyandi pepinyeer ra, ni ma tilam i kali ra.	When the vegetables are ready in the nursery bed, transplant them to the garden.

Dialogue — Convincing a Woman to Start a Garden

Speaker	Zarma	English
Volunteer	Ni sinda kali, waala?	You don’t have a garden, right?
Woman	Kala. Ay man te kali hal sohon.	No. I’ve never made a garden before.
Volunteer	Ni si ba ni ma sintin?	Wouldn’t you like to start one?
Woman	Ay si bay. Goyo beeri no?	I don’t know. Is it a lot of work?
Volunteer	A si wahala gumo. Ni ga ba labu kayna nda hari.	It’s not too hard. You need a small piece of land and water.
Woman	Ifo se ay ma te kali?	Why should I make a garden?
Volunteer	Riba boobey no go kali teyan ra. Ni ga du dumareyze ni izey ŋwaari se. I ga boriyandi. Ni ga hin ga dumareyze neeya habu ra mo ka du nooru.	There are many advantages to having a garden. You get vegetables for your children’s food. They’ll be healthier. You can also sell vegetables at the market and earn money.
Woman	Ay sinda dumiize.	I don’t have seeds.
Volunteer	Ay gonda dumiize kayna. Ay ga hin ga ni no. Iri ga sintin binde.	I have some seeds. I can give you some. We can start together.
Woman	Ni ga cawandi ay?	You’ll teach me?
Volunteer	Oho! Iri ga te goyo binde. Ay ga cawandi ni fangal teyan da dumiize dumayan da hanandi.	Yes! We’ll work together. I’ll teach you how to make beds, plant seeds, and water.
Woman	Ay ga ba ay ma sintin. Kala iri koy goru labu.	I’d like to start. Let’s go look at the land.