Thieneba cooperative president inspects tomatoes at the garden site.
CREATE! community gardens remain lush and green even in July, at the end of the dry season in Senegal. In Thieneba, cooperative members and CREATE! field technicians work to ensure that the community’s garden remains an oasis in the desert. In late June, residents of Thieneba joined CREATE! in contributing their labor and money to deepen their well and install additional solar panels to increase the capacity of the solar-powered pumping system. Access to greater amounts of water will help cooperative members in Thieneba expand their garden site if desired.
Solar panels pump the water into a series of interconnected basins.
Currently, both tomatoes and eggplant are thriving in Thieneba’s gardens. In June, garden cooperative members harvested almost 170 pounds of tomatoes to use in their households and to sell at local markets. The cooperative members in Thieneba are excited that the improved well will increase their future vegetable yields.
Cooperative members in Thieneba water their growing tomato plants.
In June, Thieneba cooperative members started over 400 tree seedlings, which they will plant with the assistance of CREATE! field technicians during the rainy season. These trees, including acacia, papaya, mango, and cashew, will shade the garden and provide additional sources of food and income in the future.