Looking around Suleiman’s green and thriving vegetable garden, it is hard to believe that the father of four from Kolda, Senegal, used to spend up to 6 months at a time away from his home and family, working as a farm labourer just to be able to afford to buy a fraction of the food he now grows himself.
“Every evening that I was away, I would think about my family,” says Suleiman. “They would have to wait for me to come back with my earnings so that they could eat, or borrow money or food from neighbours. We could afford mostly rice and leaves, there was not many vegetables here,” he says.
With 40% of people living below the poverty line, many families in Kolda endured long periods of separation with men leaving the village to earn what little money they could. Few opportunities for women to contribute to household expenses existed, and thus families faced a precarious existence - with meagre household earnings, the food that they could afford was low in diversity and nutrients, leading to high rates of illness and mortality, especially for women and children.
To break this cycle of poverty and food insecurity, three years ago the PINKK project begun assisting farmers in growing more nutrient-rich fruit and vegetables in their own backyards, and to make these gardens a source of economic empowerment, particularly for women.
The project targeted an initial 5,500 households with agricultural and agri-business training, and distributed seeds and seedlings of nutritious, high-value crops such as tomatoes, orange-fleshed sweet potato, and fruit trees including moringa fruit and papaya. To date, 4025 gardens have been set up with PINKK support in both Kolda and Kedougou.
Awa Kande, a widow with seven children, was assisted by PINKK in setting up a successful plot in the “Laabal” communal market garden.
“Before, I used to work on a rice field in the rainy season to earn money. We didn’t have any vegetables, we ate mainly rice and millet,” says Awa. “Since I started the garden, my children have more food like potatoes and salad.”
Laabal garden brings together 65 women who farm small plots for both sale and household consumption. Although their individual surpluses are small, the women market their produce together with the help of a caretaker. Three women are regularly selected to deliver and sell the vegetables at the market, up to 40km away, distributing the profits to contributors, and eliminating the need for expensive and sometimes risky middle-men. This pooling of resources eliminates the high barriers of time, distance and expense in selling their produce and increases their profits.
So far, Awa has been able to buy a goat with her earnings and to pay for the enrolment of all her school-age children.
“I miss my husband who has been gone for 22 years. Now, it is up to me to look after the family and to be self-reliant,” says Awa. “My future plan is to make my garden bigger, to have more livestock and poultry, so that if my family has needs, I can fill them immediately, and we don’t have to wait.
Her oldest daughter, Rubi, attends university in the capital city of Dakar on a scholarship, and Awa is able to fund her supplies.
“We will never be able to repay out mother for all she has done for us,” says Rubi. “She has supported our studies, she has kept the house, and satisfied all our needs. That’s why we have to succeed and get good jobs, to make her happy.”
PINKK aims to support the women from Laabal further by building irrigation pools in the garden and buying a solar pump, to reduce the time and effort spent watering the plots by hand from a well during the dry season.
In addition, PINKK has supported women in setting up savings and loans schemes (SACCOs) to enable them to grow their businesses, under the leadership of key implementing partner Developpement International Desjardins (DID). 6089 women have benefited from the scheme so far, with the project setting up 380 in Kolda and 160 Kedougou. PINKK trains the women in financial literacy before they join the scheme, supports them in creating viable business plans and teaches them how to apply for loans and save money.
As a result of loans ranging from 15,000 – 100,000 CFA ($35 - $230 CAD) women have been able to set up diverse income-earning activities including the buying, breeding and selling of livestock, high-value crops, setting up neighbourhood shops, and even making and selling ice.
“Women are now able to invest back into their families, including the purchase of nutritious foods, medicines and education for their children,” says Cheikh Tidiane Samb, Regional Nutrition and Public Health Coordinator at Nutrition International. Already, these initiatives are starting to achieve results, with child mortality rates falling from 71 ‰ to less than 45‰ since the start of the project.
Empowering both men and women by giving them the independent means to generate wealth is a key part of PINKK’s sustainability strategy, ensuring that the positive trends in income, food and health continue to rise under the stewardship of the communities themselves.