Through Mabinty’s eyes, we experience the intimate moments of a farmer’s journey and witness the slow erosion of a community’s way of life.

Mabinty is the mother of Kandeh, who receives a handful of rice daily as an encouragement to do well in school. But as Kandeh’s stash of rice grows, so does the realization that things are no longer as they were. The humming of Mabinty lures us into the heart of Sierra Leone’s countryside to witness the impacts of an agricultural bioenergy project supposed to bring “development” to rural communities. Grain by Grain is a silent, yet powerful reminder of the hidden costs of public-private partnerships and the false promises of “clean agriculture” projects.

This story is based on a real case of a public-private partnership (PPP) in Sierra Leone. PPPs are being portrayed by governments and funders as the new silver bullet for public services and infrastructure projects.

DAWN joins a growing critique of PPPs that argues they reinforce the corporate capture of the state and challenges their supposed effectiveness and transparency, finding it problematic that public services risk being taken over by greed and a colonial-era mentality.