Women's Community Gardens in Niger

RAIN’s Women’s Cooperative Gardens provide land, irrigation and classes in health, nutrition and hygiene to help women feed their families. In Niger fathers have traditionally had gardens – they grow for one season and then, all too often, have to go to a neighbouring country to find work. While they are gone, the food and money that they left behind often run out, leaving women desperate. RAIN gardens give women the land, water and training that they need to get through these difficult times and feed their children.The dry season is long and harsh – the gift of irrigation gives women the ability to grow vegetables and fruit for 3 seasons a year. In

The dry season is long and harsh – the gift of irrigation gives women the ability to grow vegetables and fruit for 3 seasons a year. In Tirboy one of the communities we are working in, the women have learned how to plant new foods like cucumber, onion, tomatoes, cabbage and melon. These changes will help the diet of the families in the community helping children live longer and be stronger. It also gives many of these women hope. That hope is one of the greatest gifts we as partners can give. Tirboy is thriving thanks in part to irrigation improvements and more choices of crops. Tirboy has improved greatly as it is greatly affected by food and water shortages during the hunger times.

Water changes everything. Women have 3 growing seasons per year. There are 220 women gardening 3 RAIN women’s cooperatives who now have wells providing water for irrigation and drinking. With your donations, they are learning to grow crops organically, to cook with nutritious vegetables, to practice good hygiene practices and to market their cash crops.  Fifteen communities continue to have access to water with RAIN wells – water that also improves food security through garden irrigation.