Community Gardens in Rural Senegal

Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition

CREATE! will mobilize communities and make strategic investments to improve the food security and nutrition of small-scale farmers through community gardens and sustainable agricultural practices.

The creation and management of organic community gardens

Reforestation and natural resource management activities and campaigns

Crop diversity leading to dietary diversity and improved food security

Engaging youth through school vegetable gardens and reforestation activities

Women will sell their surplus harvests to weekly markets and regional buyers

Emergency food distribution during lean, hunger periods and supplemental feeding of pregnant women and children under five.

CREATE! works with partner villages to establish cooperative community gardens in Senegal. Women in each of CREATE!’s partner communities grow vegetables, fruits, and nuts year-round as part of our cooperative community garden sector. Cooperative groups receive training from CREATE! technicians in sustainable irrigated agricultural techniques and learn to grow the types of vegetables they enjoy eating. Thanks to abundant water from rehabilitated wells, solar powered pumps, and gravity-fed irrigation systems, partner communities can cultivate their crops year-round, instead of only during the short rainy season, as they did in the past.

Cooperative community gardens produce enough vegetables so that members are able to sell some produce in their local markets, and also earn and save money for household use.  Since the start of our program, cooperatives have grown and sold more than 60,000 pounds of produce and have planted more than 11,000 fruit and nut trees. In addition, community members have donated more than 30 acres of land for cooperative training centers and community gardens in Senegal.  There are over 40 active cooperative groups in our partner communities, representing over 1,000 cooperative members, and benefiting their children and other family members.

Community Gardens In Rural Senegal

CREATE! works with partner villages to establish cooperative community gardens in Senegal. Women in each of CREATE!’s partner communities grow vegetables, fruits, and nuts year-round as part of our cooperative community garden sector. Cooperative groups receive training from CREATE! technicians in sustainable irrigated agricultural techniques and learn to grow the types of vegetables they enjoy eating. Thanks to abundant water from rehabilitated wells, solar powered pumps, and gravity-fed irrigation systems, partner communities can cultivate their crops year-round, instead of only during the short rainy season, as they did in the past.

Cooperative community gardens produce enough vegetables so that members are able to sell some produce in their local markets, and also earn and save money for household use.  Since the start of our program, cooperatives have grown and sold more than 60,000 pounds of produce and have planted more than 11,000 fruit and nut trees. In addition, community members have donated more than 30 acres of land for cooperative training centers and community gardens in Senegal.  There are over 40 active cooperative groups in our partner communities, representing over 1,000 cooperative members, and benefiting their children and other family members.

Community Gardens in Senegal Create Healthy, Affordable, High-Quality Food

Each day, cooperative members gather at their garden sites to transplant seedlings, water growing crops, and harvest vegetables that are ready to eat. CREATE! field technicians lead weekly training sessions in advanced agricultural techniques, including planning for future garden activities. Throughout these cooperative community gardens in Senegal, members plan and plant their garden beds with vegetables popular in the local diet – including tomatoes, onions, peppers, okra, eggplant, and lettuce. Cooperatives also tailor their vegetable production to meet demand during local religious festivals, helping to increase profits for their group.

Most cooperative groups sell about 80% of their vegetable crops within their communities. Before the arrival of CREATE! in these communities, many families were rarely able to purchase or eat fresh vegetables without traveling long distances or paying high prices. Now, women throughout our partner communities are able to serve healthy, inexpensive, and high-quality vegetables to their children. Women report more than a 100% increase in the number of vegetables that they are able to serve each day as part of their families’ main meal. The sale of vegetables contributes greatly to household income, in addition to meeting basic human needs, creating surplus, and improving health.

Contact Us

CREATE!
132 East Broadway, Suite 416
Eugene, Oregon 97401

(541) 603-0522

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