By the end of 2022, we had helped create more than 180 vegetable gardens by financing wells for gardens and gardening tools.
These fenced-in gardens not only provide an income-generating activity, but also offer children a varied and balanced diet.
Over 28 different vegetables are grown there, including garlic, onion, tomatoes, and cabbage, as well as flour or couscous and the famous local «Maggi cube», a popular seasoning added to many dishes, which contains sesame, ginger and garlic.
The products are processed by the women’s cooperatives (in either dried or canned good format), allowing the population to have access to varied and high-quality food throughout the year, thus making the lean season (the period between the dry season and the rainy season) less difficult to get through.
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While the primary objective of these gardens is to combat malnutrition and generate income, they also help to develop vegetation cover and thus contribute to making the area more attractive and pleasant to live in. The effects of climate change are also noticeable there. Temperatures increase year on year, and the rainy season is getting shorter - while rain used to fall on average between early July and September, now it only rains in August. To exacerbate matters, water cannot infiltrate the dry soil which causes flooding and destruction of property..
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Developing these crops through these vegetable gardens facilitates not only a richer diet but also helps combat soil erosion