JANUARY 2004

Progress in West Africa

In November and December 2003, Dr. Fitigu Tadesse (Vice President) and Jennifer Thomson (African Woman Food Farmer Initiative Senior Program Officer) visited The Hunger Project Epicenters in the four West African countries where The Hunger Project works: Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The following is a brief report of their visits.

Ghana

In Ghana, the number of Epicenters jumped from nine in 2002 to sixteen by the end of 2003!! During their visit, Dr. Tadesse and Ms. Thomson were able to meet with the partner populations of six Epicenters: Taido-Anomabo, Atuobikrom, Nsuta-Aweregya, Adomfe, Matsekope and Amoyaokope.

Women from Matsekope and Amoyaokope Epicenters show their enthusiasm during the VCA Workshop.

During the visit, Ms. Thomson met with the leaders and members of the newly forming women-owned and managed rural banks in two Epicenters, in Atuobikrom and Nsuta-Aweregya. The Atuobikrom Epicenter will be home to the first officially-recognized "rural bank supported by The Hunger Project in Ghana." The rural banks will be in the form of community credit unions, which are cooperatively-owned and managed, and are therefore uniquely designed for low-income communities.

So far, more than 325 women have signed up to be members of the Atuobikrom Epicenter AWFFI rural bank, and they have saved over 8 million Cedis (about $1,000). The women have set the minimum deposit (called a "share") at 50,000 Cedis (about $6). They set the deadline for collecting the deposits for the end of November so that the women could sell their recently harvested crops and have enough money for the deposit. Conveniently, 50,000 Cedis is also equal to the 10% savings requirement needed for a 500,000 Cedi loan (about $60) which is the average AWFFI loan size to date at Atuobikrom. The women are also planning to continue to save on a regular basis with the credit union.

Members of the Atuobikrom Epicenter AWFFI rural bank in front of the Epicenter building.

The women at the Nsuta-Aweregya Epicenter are following in the Atuobikrom Epicenter’s footsteps, and have just started organizing their committees and mobilizing savings.

Members of the Nsuta-Aweregya Epicenter AWFFI rural bank

Benin

Benin has also expanded significantly in 2003 adding two new Epicenters and three new Sub-Epicenters bringing the overall totals up to 8 Epicenters and 4 Sub-Epicenters by the end of the year. During their visit, Dr. Tadesse and Ms. Thomson were able to meet with the villagers in seven Epicenters and Sub-Epicenters: Kpinnou, Bonou, Dassa-Paouignan and Wawata Epicenters as well as the Ouissi, Kissamey and Abomey Sub-Epicenters.

A woman speaking during Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop at Kissamey Sub-Epicenter.

AWFFI Woman making beignets (fritters) at the Abomey Sub-Epicenter.

Dr. Tadesse and Mr. Lazare Sehoueto, Minister of Agriculture, at the Avlamè Epicenter Inauguration.

The highlight of the visit to Benin was the inauguration of the new Epicenter building at Avlamè on Friday, November 28th. Some 300 people from nearby villages attended and the guest of honor was the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Lazare Sehoueto, who came to offer his congratulations and to encourage the people in their future endeavors. When the Minister spoke, he also personally thanked The Hunger Project President, Joan Holmes, and The Hunger Project staff and investors for their "energy and heart which enabled Avlamè to take a step forward."

Burkina Faso

The Global Office visited five of the nine Epicenters in Burkina Faso. Three of these Epicenters are new in 2003, and Dr. Tadesse and Ms. Thomson visited two of these at Bissiga and Kouy. They also visited three of the more established Epicenters at Loaga, Nagréongo and Zincko.

Woman speaking with Dr. Tadesse at the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop
he conducted at the Kouy Epicenter.

In Burkina Faso, the people have been very adversely effected by the war that broke out in neighboring Cote d’Ivoire in September 2002. Cote d’Ivoire is Burkina’s main trading partner, especially for rural people’s grain and livestock. Therefore, life has been difficult for many people who are unable to sell in the regional market as they did before, and they are limited to a constrained national market. Despite these hardships, through the Epicenter infrastructure they have been able to continue their activities, including continuing to repay their loans from the AWFFI program, and taking new loans to build up the local economy, and keeping the food banks stocked to guard against hunger.

Woman speaking at Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop at Loaga Epicenter.

The Epicenter Committee President, Jennifer Thomson, and Alimata Onadja, 
AWFFI Coordinator, inside the well-provisioned Loaga Epicenter Food Bank.

Senegal

In Senegal, The Hunger Project is currently working in 17 Epicenters. Instead of increasing the already large number of Epicenters, The Hunger Project-Senegal concentrated on intensifying  activities within the existing Epicenters. For example, with the integration of the AWFFI program into the overall Epicenter strategy, the staff is ensuring that all Epicenters are able to access the AWFFI credit, and that the population in the former AWFFI areas have the opportunity to attend VCA workshops to mobilize the communities for self-reliant action for the end of hunger and poverty in their villages. During their visit, Dr. Tadesse and Ms. Thomson visited eight Epicenters in the northern region of Senegal.

At the Dahra Epicenter, the population is building an “L”-shaped Epicenter building with the support of The Hunger Project. Mobilization began there in 1999, and in 2001 the The Hunger Project women-owned and managed rural bank at the Epicenter was formally recognized by the Senegalese government. The Dahra rural bank is currently operating from in a building nearby, but will move to the Epicenter building once construction is completed, in order to be more convenient.

Community members gathering for the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop 
in front of “L”-shaped Epicenter building being constructed in background.

 

The Coki Epicenter also has a very well-organized rural bank which is expecting to receive government recognition in 2004.

Manager of the Coki Epicenter’s rural bank, Mrs. Penda Ba, and community members 
attending Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop at Coki Epicenter.

At Sanar, the villagers began working with The Hunger Project through the AWFFI program in 2001. Therefore, the Sanar Epicenter rural bank is also very well-organized with 146 members. Now, the women have expanded their farming with support from The Hunger Project-Senegal, which helped them finance the installation of a “drip irrigation” system. As you can see in the pictures below, farming with the drip irrigation system entails much less manual labor (lower photo) than the traditional system of manual irrigation using buckets to fetch water (upper photo). The women pump water into the drip irrigation tank from a nearby water source and then release it through a faucet connected to a network of watering tubes which is laid out like a web over the soil.

Manual irrigation (above) versus “Drip Irrigation” (below) implemented with Hunger Project partnership.

Overall Impressions

During their visit, Dr. Tadesse and Ms. Thomson were very impressed by the dynamism and commitment of The Hunger Project’s partner populations in each country, despite the hardships that are so prevalent in Africa, especially in the rural areas. The leaders in each Epicenter - whether they are members of the Epicenter Committees or the AWFFI Credit Committees or Animators for VCAs or HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality – are reaching out to their neighbors and to nearby villages to inform and mobilize people to take action against hunger and poverty in their villages.

And in turn, the populations in the Epicenters have invested the few assets and time that they do have to start or expand income-generating activities with credit and training, take literacy classes, expand food production, processing and storage to prevent shortages, initiated nursery and elementary schools, health clinics and pharmacies, and countless other activities which are crucial to ending hunger and poverty. The Epicenters ihave been and continue to be indispensable centers of mobilization and progress for the surrounding villages; and represent a source of pride and sense of accomplishment for everyone involved.