Women's Community Gardens in Niger

We are pleased to report that during the 2018-2019 program year, our 60 partner gardeners in Nassilé and Tagantassou directly fed over 300 people in their communities. Additionally, as a result of our garden and drip irrigation installments, over 1,000 additional adults and children from neighboring communities collected water and bought produce harvested from the gardens. 

RAIN’s Sustainable Agriculture program provided our partners in Nassilé and Tagantassou with the critical resources to build environmentally sustainable food and water systems that not only provided secure food sources, but also income generating opportunities.  Here are some of the community garden successes:

Highlights

The Nassile and Tagantassou gardens produced over 46,000 lbs. of crops enabling the women in the program to feed their families and contribute to nutritious and diverse diets across their communities.

o Harvest included cabbage, carrots, eggplant, yalo, lettuce, green pepper, tomato, potatoes, onion, melon and watermelon representing a significant contribution to expanded nutrition compared to a diet consisting predominantly of grains.

Despite a difficult harvest year nationally, our local gardeners produced enough food to sustain themselves and even sell surplus crops for an additional profit.

o Gardeners in Tagantassou increased the group’s income to bring in 411% of the previous year’s earnings (150,000 fCFA) to contribute to their economic independence and garden sustainability;

o Nassilé gardeners engaged in additional income generating activities to earn 274% of the previous year’s total (594,050 fCFA) – their increased earning power was due in large part to a new cereal bank initiative (271,900 fCFA with stock remaining). This consisted of stocking cereal such as millet and sorghum to store and sell during the “hunger season.” They stocked 13 bags of cereal to serve a dual purpose: to keep gardeners and their families fed during the hunger season and to increase profit by selling the grains during the off season when their market price peaks. They also benefited from a new product: mangos;

o Earnings were used to ensure garden success and sustainability; gardeners purchased mosquito nets to protect the nurseries, pesticide, fuel for the motor pump (before the new well was established), bags for produce sales, a padlock, and travel to and from sale sites.

RAIN installed two borehole wells (50+ meters deep) with solar powered submersible pumps – RAIN’s first wells with this more sustainable and efficient technology. In addition to providing safe drinking water, these wells save women precious time and contribute to their safety.

o The wells are both over 50m in depth. In Nassile, the well produces 1.5 m3/hour of potable water and in Tagantassou the well produces 3.5 m3/hour;

o This increased access to water will facilitate garden expansion in the coming year – something the communities have asked for but that required additional water. It also ensures that there will be sufficient water for consumption in addition to the water used for drip irrigation;

o Finally, these are communities where a lack of well productivity left women waiting by the well late into the night and early in the morning, hoping to collect a few more drops of water. This increased water flow will save women time – allowing them to dedicate more time to income generating work – and help ensure their safety by eliminating the need to wait outside for long stretches of time at night and in the early morning.

Climate change increases variability in rainfall, resulting in extreme droughts and floods. This variability significantly impacts Niger’s fragile soil, crop production, and access to potable water– exacerbating pre-existing issues in a country already prone to food crises.  2 Million people are chronically food insecure; 4.5 Million are at risk of becoming food insecure.  The need for sustainable agriculture is clear.

Sustainable food – Sustainable income – Sustainable lives.

RAIN’s Sustainable Agriculture program has provided access to safe drinking water through the installation of 22 wells; increased the variety of nutritious foods available to over 11,000 Nigeriens through the implementation of over 20 community gardens; and helped communities across Niger to turn subsistence agriculture into a business through 3-season drip irrigation and financial literacy.

Last year, 60 gardeners in 3 gardens produced 7160 lbs of harvest.
Lessons on organic agriculture produced 3x the harvest of the previous year.
Lessons on basic business principles produced 5x the profit of the previous year.

But this program is about more than numbers, it's focused on people.  Here are some of our partner's stories:

Hariatou Issifi,lives in Tagantassou and is an active gardener through RAIN’s Sustainable Agriculture initiative.

As a widow, Hariatou is solely responsible for supporting herself and her children. She is deeply grateful for the opportunity to grow nutritious food for her family and to supplement her income through crop sales.

This year, she grew varied crops including cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Her lettuce was particularly successful and in addition to growing enough for her family, she was able to put some aside for sales.

The profit she earned allowed her to repay an old debt, pay for her daughter to attend school, and purchase new fabric for her daughter’s clothes for the year.

Salmata, from our Nassilé garden, said this about our program:

“…Before the arrival of RAIN in our village, I did not understand how to practice market gardening; but now I have a perfect knowledge of how to manage, namely the preparation of the soil, the transplanting, the maintenance of the crops, using the drip irrigation system etc… I sell a part of this production, offer social assistance to other people, and I bring a good part to my family for our own consumption…”

Your support makes this project possible.  Thank you for supporting Sustainable food – Sustainable income – Sustainable lives.