By Camille B. SODJI | Project Leader
1. Context and Challenges
In rural Africa, women are often the silent pillars of their communities: they farm, feed, educate, and care for their families. Yet, they face harsh realities: chronic poverty, persistent inequalities, geographic isolation, and limited access to education and basic infrastructure.
In Benin’s Couffo department, these challenges are particularly acute. Women there wage a daily struggle to ensure their families’ survival, with few resources but admirable determination.
It is in response to this reality that the NGO Éducation et Développement (ONGED) launched an ambitious initiative to support 104 rural women across 15 villages in Dogbo, with the goal of strengthening their economic autonomy, resilience, and dignity.
2. A Beacon of Hope
Thanks to generous donations from GlobalGiving and Benevity, as well as the exceptional commitment of Professor Lisa Thompson, ONGED established its first cooperative: ALLÔLÉ ALLÔMEY.
This cooperative enables women with no resources to come together, share their skills, and transform a local staple—cassava—into ‘gari’, a prized flour in Beninese households. This pilot project, launched in Domonhoué, quickly demonstrated that with minimal support, women can change not only their own destinies but also those of their children and entire communities.
3. Achievements
3.1. Acquisition of Basic Equipment
Initial donations allowed for the procurement of cassava—the essential first step in production—and the ordering of a manual press.
3.2. Launch of Gari Production
The women processed over a ton of cassava into high-quality ‘gari’, showcasing their traditional expertise and motivation to build a sustainable livelihood.
3.3. Human and Social Impact
This project has yielded far more than a product: it has sparked renewed confidence, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a powerful collective dynamic. Many neighboring women are now calling for the program’s expansion so they, too, can escape poverty.
4. Persistent Challenges
Despite a promising start, several obstacles still hinder the project’s growth:
- Insufficient equipment: Apart from the manual press, the lack of grinders and roasting machines limits production capacity.
- Logistical issues: Transporting raw cassava and ‘gari’ remains difficult due to the villages’ isolation.
- Lack of training: Most beneficiaries are illiterate or have little education, lacking skills in management, marketing, and functional literacy.
5. Call to Action: Your Donation Can Change a Life
To address these challenges and amplify this initiative’s impact, we need your help.
Your financial support, no matter the amount, can unlock a world of opportunities for these courageous women.
Your donations will help:
5.1. Modernize Equipment
- Purchase electric grinders, roasters, and other modern tools
- Improve ‘gari’ productivity and quality
- Reduce the physical strain of manual labor
5.2. Launch Training and Literacy Programs
- Teach reading, arithmetic, and management
- Strengthen entrepreneurial and business skills
- Enhance knowledge of local agricultural value chains
5.3. Improve Logistics
- Acquire a motorized tricycle or cart
- Facilitate access to fields and urban markets
- Increase income through better market opportunities
6. Together, Let’s Transform Destinies
The ‘Economic Empowerment of Women in Couffo’ project is more than a social initiative—it is a silent revolution led by women who refuse to accept their circumstances and are determined to build a dignified future.
Thanks to donations already received, lives have changed. But for this change to be sustainable—to reach dozens, hundreds, even thousands of women—we need you.
Your donation is an act of solidarity.
Your donation is a seed of hope.
Your donation is the lever for lasting transformation.
Donate today. Offer an opportunity. Sow the future.
By supporting this project, you empower a rural woman to become an entrepreneur, a free woman, a leader. You help build a world where every woman can realize her full potential—despite poverty, isolation, or injustice.
Thank you for your generosity, your commitment, and your belief in the strength of African women.
TOGETHER, LET’S EMPOWER THE WOMEN WHO KEEP AFRICA ALIVE.
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