MARTA Farmers

Preserving Tradition

Burundian women ready to move to new farm at Indian Creek MARTA station

The Umurima farmers from Burundi are, from left, Halieth Hatungimana, Janne Nyibizi, Everine Nyandwi and Ana Marie Mukeshimana. Standing behind them is interpreter Joseph Minani. (Photos by Dyana Bagby) Everine Nyandwi tastes a ripe blueberry.

By Dyana Bagby

The four women gathered around a tall bush in the middle of the small farm across the street from the Avondale MARTA station. Clusters of ripe blueberries were hidden beneath some leaves. They picked a few and popped the sweet fruit into their mouths.

“Oooh! Ooooh!” said one woman, chuckling, and filled her hands with as many blueberries they could hold. Her friends did the same, chatting excitedly with each other.

The women are from Burundi, a small East African country. Through an interpreter, they said they all learned as young girls how to farm. The food they grew was cooked for family meals. Farming was also a way to support their families.

“Farming in our country is the first thing we do … it is our first job,” Halieth Hatungimana, 63, said. “If we didn’t farm, we wouldn’t have food or clothes.”

“If you don’t farm, how do you put food in your belly?” said Everine Nyandwi, 57.

Ana Marie Mukeshimana, 48, said because girls couldn’t go to school in Burundi, they farmed instead.

“It gave us a living,” said Janne Nyibizi, to civil war and the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. When they resettled in Clarkston and Stone Mountain, they asked locals where they could grow their own food. That question led to the formation of the local nonprofit Global Growers Network Inc.

In late 2009, Global Growers found a piece of vacant land adjacent to the East Decatur Station commercial development near the Avondale MARTA station. The group made a deal with the property owner to pay $1 a month for the site to build a farm for the women, known as Umurima, to honor their Burundi heritage.

“The reason why that first property was so helpful for this group of farmers is they don’t drive,” said Robin Chanin, co-founder and executive director of Global Growers. “Having a farm on the MARTA line made farming possible.”

For the past 12 years, the Umurima have planted and harvested grains, onions, chard, kale, collard greens, peanuts, beans, and blueberries from the small plot of land. The women also grew favorites from their home country, such as cassava, a root vegetable like yuca, and muchicha, an amaranth green. They grew the food for their families and sold some to local markets.

During this time, Global Growers expanded to create a network of farms and gardens throughout metro Atlanta that are used by hundreds of international families

The Burundi women pick blueberries at the small farm where they’ve grown food for 12 years.