Project Report
| Mar 25, 2022
A Hopeful Harvest
![Forming the Committee]()
Forming the Committee
Community sits at the heart of much of RAIN's programming. When launching a new endeavor, like the agriculture program, RAIN holds community meetings to discuss the program, the work involved, and the qualities of a successful participant. These discussions yield a working group of women who, in collaboration with RAIN Field Agents, discuss the Sustainable Agriculture group’s responsibilities and program goals. This allows the women to form a group that feels organic and cohesive, which is critical as their success is tied to their group as a whole.
RAIN also works with the community to establish management committees for the wells and gardens and to determine committee structure and responsibilities. To build ownership, reaffirm self-sufficiency, and facilitate giving back to the community, committee members are elected by the community itself. Maintenance committees include a president, secretary, treasurer, and two health and hygiene advocates.
2022 Program Updates:
In Torguit, the community has contributed $250 dollars (half of the annual gross domestic product per capita) to manage the maintenance of the well installed by RAIN in 2021.
The committee has already successfully overseen some minor repairs to the well. When a larger piece of the well needed to be replaced, the committee successfully contacted the head of the local hydraulics department who negotiated with the drilling company to source and finance the needed piece and repairwork.
In Betarmatas, the water management committee doubled the monthly contribution of 500f per household per month to 1,000f per household per month for a savings of 114,000cfa per month.
Further, the 34 women in Betarmatas' Sustainable Agriculture group harvested 5,517kg of tomatoes, the most productive tomato harvest in the region. Production was so successful that people from other communities asked the group for advice for their own tomato crops! Tomatoes are often dried before being sold, which enables the women to sell them for more money. The group also had success growing corn, cabbage, onion, and lettuce for this year's harvest.
Much of the produce is sold fresh in town and what can’t feed people is used to feed the livestock they’re fattening up for sale. In total, the group earned 175,000 (almost $300) from the produce that has been sold so far (almost half annual gross domestic product per capita – which is a significant income increase for rural communities). As the season changes, the women are now planting more wheat and moringa.
We would like to thank you for helping to provide women with access to the training, resources, and capital they need to establish financial security. By giving women the opportunity to independently build their own livelihoods, we not only promote gender equality but help whole villages to flourish.
Please consider sharing this project with friends and family and asking them to match your gift and double your impact!
![Harvesting onions]()
Harvesting onions
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