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This project will address the following needs, all identified by the community members:
- Lack of access to clean, abundant, and affordable water
- Little or no access to fresh, nutritious vegetables year-round
- Persistent unemployment and economic insecurity
- No local opportunities for education and jobs training
Senegal's harsh, desert-like climate makes year-round water essential to maintaining the health and sustainability of rural agricultural communities. Although most communities have access to a commercial water source, this water is expensive and insufficient to meet local needs. It is also frequently too salty for home consumption and agricultural uses. In contrast, in all the villages that CREATE! has worked in to date, the rehabilitated or new wells have had water that has met all drinking quality standards.
Communities in rural Senegal bear many of the impacts of global climate change. Desertification and unpredictable rainfall have shortened the annual agricultural season to just a few weeks, so families are unable to grow vegetables year-round. With these limitations, many households eat few, if any, vegetables and are unable to produce enough vegetables to sell for a profit throughout the year. With abundant water and agricultural training, year-round sustainable access to nutritious foods and income generating opportunities are possible.
Over a five-year period, this project will employ a proven community partnership and training model to foster economic empowerment, improve food security, and build community self-sufficiency for 500 people in a rural village in Senegal. Our partnership with the village will first involve rehabilitating an abandoned water well and installing a solar pump and gravity-fed garden irrigation system to provide access to clean, abundant, and affordable water for the community. With subsequent hands-on coaching in sustainable agriculture strategies, this project will provide the necessary elements for community members to start growing fresh, nutritious vegetables year-round for the first time ever. They will also enjoy improved household incomes and economic security, through training in poultry production and in the marketing and sale of vegetables and chickens. Then, using savings and lending strategies, we will teach participants how to develop a community fund to support the long-term maintenance of their garden and water source, thereby improving water and food security and economic sustainability. We have designed each stage in our collaborative partnership to progressively build the skills required for community empowerment and self-sufficiency.
The funds will be used to train the villagers the skills they need to sustain themselves and improve their living standards, rehabilitate their abandoned well, install and maintain a solar powered pump and irrigation system, provide the tools, equipment and seedlings and seeds necessary to grow a year-round community garden.
Rotary Club Dakar Millenium will be monitoring all activities in Senegal. Rotary Club of Bellevue has sent club members to Senegal to evaluate the suitability of our proposed cooperating organization CREATE! as a partner in this grant project. Rotary Club of Bellevue will review and approve all payment requests and disburse all funds from a dedicated bank account. Club members will make visits to the village to view progress and consult with the Host Club on activities in the village.
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