Women have the ability to positively

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Women are often perceived as child-carers, homemakers, and nothing more. But they are also capable of taking on an important economic role.

Women have the ability to positively influence the development of rural villages. They already play a vital part in their own families’ development through housework and other daily chores. Every day, they must travel several kilometers to retrieve supplies from distant shops and buy basic food items (milk, oil, pasta, etc.).

This takes up a lot of their time, thus preventing them from developing other activities that could potentially diversify their sources of income.

 

Our numerous actions aim to offer women more independence, by:

• Teaching them to process and dry fruits and vegetables, thanks to the creation of 5 cooperatives in 5 villages. These cooperatives are equipped with solar ovens, grain mills, and carts. Their produce is then sold locally as well as at the Agadez market, and generates regular income. 

• Creating shops within cooperatives: women buy essential products in the nearby towns, then sell them locally for a profit. This profit goes towards healthcare.  

• Creating small shops for everyday consumer products, giving women the means to generate their own income. Living in the bush means that these women are isolated as there are no large businesses nearby. They sometimes have to walk for hours for simple amenities such as clothes, sanitary products, food, and medicine.

• Providing women with working capital, either individually or as part of a group, allowing them to purchase food, fabrics, and so on, which they can resell in their village for a profit. For a group of 15 to 20 women, this usually represents € 2000 (US$ 2400).

• Teaching them literacy.

• Teaching them to sew.

• Providing management training.