Water and Food for 2,000 People in Rural Senegal

Friends,

All of us at CREATE! would like to thank you for your generosity that has helped us continue partnering with rural communities in Senegal, helping them improve their access to water and food. Today, I want to focus on the community of Keur Ndiouga and how the community is flourishing due to your support.

Situated in the Fatick region of Senegal, the community of Keur Ndiouga started their partnership with CREATE! by signing the Memorandum of Understanding in 2021. The community was in the unique position of possessing a shallow well, a borehole and grain storage infrastructure from previously collaborating with a government-run agriculture project that had ended with no chance of sustainability. After starting partnership with CREATE!, their borehole was rehabilitated and the solar pumping system was installed. Since their well was too far away from the cooperative garden, the borehole was chosen as the water source for the garden while the well meets domestic consumption needs. The solar pumps CREATE! uses for its projects are small enough to be installed in a borehole. With the help of this pump and panels, the community now has access to 27000 liters of water every day out of which they consume 8000 liters and use rest for agriculture. Before the solar pumps, the women in the community had to pull out water manually, which made it very difficult to sustain any agricultural activities. Now, with the pumping system, water is being pumped out and stored easily for the women to use. The community has also installed the gravity fed irrigation system to irrigate their fields. The 417 men and women in the community of Keur Ndiouga are now benefitting from this water.

As Lena, the community garden President of Keur Ndiouga mentions, the access to perennial water through the solar pumping system has helped them immensely. Lena also says that before CREATE!, her group was gardening, but they never had a good production because they were working without any training or direction. That changed after their partnership with CREATE! was formalized and the technicians started training the group on organic and sustainable agricultural activities. With this training and the water from the borehole, the 84 women and 2 men in Keur Ndiouga’s garden are now producing a variety of nutritious vegetables every month. In 2022, they produced nearly 350 pounds of fruits and vegetables on an average every month. Most of the vegetables that they produce are common in Senegalese diet like okra, tomatoes, eggplants, African eggplants, turnips, bell peppers and watermelons. Their fresh vegetables produced organically is attracting buyers from surrounding villages since these vegetables do not spoil easily. Together with vegetables and fruits, the community has also planted a number of trees in an effort to prevent desertification. Their garden thus has rows of papaya and moringa trees that provide food and shade. With such productive activities, the community is on its way to improving its food security and self-sufficiency.

Keur Ndiouga is now in its second year of production activities and the women are committed to continue their programs for years to come. Implementation and continuation of activities in Keur Ndiouga has been possible with the generous support of donors like you. The women of the community and all of us at CREATE! are grateful for this support.

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