Water and Food for 2,000 People in Rural Senegal

Friends,

It is my pleasure to report that with your support, CREATE! has successfully started partnership with another community, helping them sustain and improve their lives and livelihoods. The aim of this project, like any other CREATE! Project, is to improve the availability of perennial water, food security, health, nutrition and livelihood opportunities of the rural community of Ngaraaf in Senegal using environmentally appropriate and sustainable methods. Situated in the Linguere region of Senegal, the community of Ngaraaf consists of 700 inhabitants practicing trade, agriculture and livestock raising. Located near to the Sahara, average annual rainfall in the region is about 11-16 inches, allowing only subsistence agricultural activities during the rainy season. Lack of perennial water was one of the biggest drawback identified by the community members for the continuation of agricultural activities. Before partnering with CREATE!, the women from the community were trying to grow vegetables in their backyard using water from the commercial tap. While this was a testament to their commitment to grow their own food, it was not an activity that was sustainable given the high cost of commercial water. The partnership with CREATE!, that began in February of 2023, has been instrumental in the community’s ability to start on a path of sustainable development, beginning with the access to water.

This first stage starts with the rehabilitation of an existing well to help improve their access to water. The well in Ngaraaf is 95 meters deep and has a 12-meter water column that is fed by the Continental Terminal of the surface aquifer system in Senegal. Once the CREATE! team was satisfied by the water available in the well, the rehabilitation work was initiated. The team then worked with local well diggers and the community members from Ngaraaf to first clean the inside of the well and then to refurbish it. After this, the next step was the installation of the solar pump and panels as well as the construction of the water basins and the platform for the water reservoir. With the reliance on sustainable and renewable technology in our work, CREATE! combines gravity fed irrigation methods with our solar pumping systems to ensure that the community garden can be efficiently irrigated. For this purpose, the water reservoir is placed on a raised platform with pipes leading down to the basins in the garden. From this year, with Ngaraaf being the first community, we have changed the design of our raised platforms to house the storage shed for all the gardening equipment below it. The solar panels are also now being installed above the reservoir and not on separate poles like before. This will make the system more efficient and resistant to wind damage. With the infrastructure for the irrigation system and the pump and panels in place, Ngaraaf started to have a regular access to water since May 2023 and has seen the supply increase steadily too.

With water from the well available for irrigation, the cooperative members of the community of Ngaraaf are able to cultivate more than 95 per cent of their community garden in less than three months. Under the guidance of agricultural trainer, Codou Gadji, the women started to meet regularly to plow the land, make organic composts, prepare the vegetable beds and establish vegetable nurseries. In fact, the women had started bringing in organic matter for composting much before activities started since they wanted the compost to be ready for them when they started planting. The first vegetable that they sowed in May 2023 was okra, followed by tomatoes, both of which are popular in Senegalese diet. By June, the okra plants were showing signs of good production; the community started harvesting in August, and till date has already harvested and sold more than 450 pounds. To ensure a continuous production of a variety of fruits and vegetables, the community planted watermelons in June and by August, sold about 100 pounds of watermelon.

The community of Ngaraaf has already embarked on the road to sustainable development. In a few months, they have started to produce nutritious vegetables that will improve their health and livelihoods. This has been made possible due to the year-long water they now have, thanks to the dedication of the community members and your support. In the coming years, we expect Ngaraaf to achieve self-sufficiency and take ownership of all their project activities with the same commitment they have shown till now.

All of us at CREATE! would like to thank you for your generosity that has helped make this possible.

Thank you, Merci, Jerejef!

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