Our Partnership with CREATE!

In Senegal, the annual dry season is nine months long. As a result, the agriculture there is usually carried out during the short rainy season, with nearly 90% of land worked by small-scale, family-based farms. Climate change has only further exacerbated this problem, resulting in decreased rainfall, droughts, and desertification that has restricted water access for irrigation and food production. And with less cultivation area and time, families have begun to focus on cash crop cultivation rather than foods that will sustain them economically. For poor households, this limits their ability to consume nutritious food, which has adversely impacted food security and nutrition. The World Food Program estimated that 17% of people in Senegal are food insecure, 66% of children under the age of five are micronutrient deficient and 54% of women in their reproductive stage are anemic. 

One Day’s Wages partnered with CREATE to bring clean, abundant, and affordable water and a year-round supply of fresh, locally grown vegetables, fruit, and poultry to the residents of the rural communities in the Fatick-Kaolack region of Senegal. It is part of CREATE’s approach to organically develop self-sufficient communities in Senegal under the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework, with women as the community drivers of change. 

The project rehabilitated existing wells, installed solar plumping and gravity-fed drip irrigation systems, and made clean water available to communities year-round for household and agricultural needs. The water availability helped communities grow vegetables consistently throughout the year. Training and supervision on sustainable agricultural practices were also provided by CREATE technicians to gardening groups of 50-100 participants in each community. The training ensured that members have the skills to grow fresh, nutritious vegetables, thus improving food security, nutrition, and overall health of residents. It also provided new and expanded economic opportunities by allowing participants to supplement their household income by selling their excess vegetable production in local markets.