CREATE! will install a drip irrigation network in the women's cooperative community garden located at CREATE!'s training and demonstration center in Ouarkhokh, Senegal. The purpose of this project is to reduce the cost and time-intensive labor needed to grow vegetables using hand watering and to increase the size of the year-round irrigated garden plot by 75%.
In addition to cooking, gathering firewood, and caring for children, a group of 35 women in Ouarkhokh also gather at their 4-acre cooperative garden twice daily to water their crops. During Senegal's 8-month dry season, these women are only able to plant and water crops in about half of the garden plot. Hand watering is not only labor-intensive, but also costly, as the garden's water is from a commercial source. Drip irrigation is an economical solution to these challenges.
CREATE! will install a drip irrigation system in two acres of land within Ouarkhokh's existing cooperative garden that is currently only cultivated during the 3-month rainy season. By providing access to a drip irrigation system, cooperative members can increase the amount of irrigated land in their garden plot by 75% and save money, time, and labor through efficient water use. Drip irrigation will nearly double the overall year-round vegetable production in the garden plot.
A drip irrigation network will help Ouarkhokh cooperative members fully exploit the land in their garden through year-round irrigated agriculture. Women will save time and labor while learning valuable new agricultural and technical skills. Increasing yields of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and other vegetables will also improve local food security and increase incomes. Through drip irrigation, cooperative members can use their own skills and labor to improve the lives of their families.
