The Dawady project was launched in 2017 with the Belgian Cooperation via ULB Copération.
It involves developing a plot of land near the Dawady health centre in eastern Senegal into an agroforestry market garden. The project included the construction of a borehole with a water tower, and a processing and storage facility. This project was implemented with Kaicedrat, The Ivory Foundation’s partner in Dawady since 2015, and with the agroforestry association Am Be Koun.
The project was successfully launched in 2019. A trainer and 2 assistants have been recruited to look after the plot. An association of women (GIE )has been set up to look after the garden. They have been trained in agroforestry techniques and involved in starting up the garden:
- Creation of a nursery of fertile trees and thorny shrubs for living hedges,
- Initial composting for the first growing beds,
- Setting up the first market gardening beds.
- Secondly, the team of gardeners joined the Kaicedrat’s mobile team to present the garden to the pregnant women monitored by the Kaicedrat, visiting each village on the midwife’s rounds. They also decoded local initiatives
Identification of women beneficiaries, creation of the MSE
An economic interest group was set up after several meetings with local authorities and neighbourhood associations. These meetings led to the definition of management methods for a community farm and the establishment of internal rules for the management of the plot. 134 women joined the MSE, paying a modest membership fee but demonstrating their motivation to get involved.
Setting up the growing beds
This garden has been designed using agroforestry methods.
The first step was to prepare the tree seedlings to be planted in the market garden. 3 species of tree were sown in the on-site nursery: leucaena leucocephala, albizia lebbeck and samanea saman, chosen for their ability to fertilise the soil. They were then transplanted after 2 months, and spread throughout the plot. At the same time, thorny trees (melliferous acacia) were sown and replanted at the edge of the plot to reinforce the fence.
In the meantime, the plots of land were prepared and cultivated by the women.
The garden quickly became productive, and harvests of sweet potatoes and aubergines were launched.
20% of the harvest is systematically collected and distributed to pregnant women supported by the Kaicedrat mobile team, a project also supported by The Ivory Foundation.
Since 2021, The Ivory Foundation has extended its action by helping 5 villages on the outskirts of Dawady to establish their own market garden areas. These are among the 20 villages visited by the mobile team from the Le Kaicedrat association, supported by the Fund. This mobile team enables a midwife and a nurse to visit pregnant women to monitor their pregnancies.
Two garden managers from Dawady accompany the mobile team’s tour to monitor the gardens with the women’s groups set up in each of the three villages to run the gardens.