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Our Projects · Rain-fed Agriculture & Food Sovereignty

Women of the Land and Rain

Femmes de Terre et de Pluie

With the Senegalese rainwater association ASGEP, women's groups are restoring market gardens and harvesting rain to grow more food.

OngoingRain-fed Agriculture & Food Sovereignty2025–2028 (three-year project)
© IRHA
WhereSenegal, communes of Keur Maba (Kaolack region) and Djilasse (Fatick region)
When2025–2028 (three-year project)
WithASGEP, a member of the IRHA Alliance, and local women's groups
Rainfall≈ 686 mm a year in Senegalnational average, World Bank; local figure to add

Key Figures

  • 7market-gardening plots
  • 30training workshops
  • about5,000trees

The Challenge

Rural communities in the Fatick and Kaolack regions face deforestation, worsening soils and growing water scarcity. Overuse of natural resources and salt in the groundwater reduce harvests and threaten food security. As livelihoods weaken, farmers gradually abandon their land and move to the cities. The project therefore works with women's groups, strengthening their capacity to maintain, restore and manage water, trees and soil.

Average monthly rainfall and temperature in Senegal, 1991–2020
Rain in Senegal: about 686 mm a year, mostly June to October. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal (observed 1991–2020) and World Bank average precipitation.

What We Do

  • Raise awareness among women's groups and in the villages of the project area.
  • Train women's groups in tree planting, care of agroforestry plots, rainwater management and agroecological value chains.
  • Develop market-gardening plots for agroecological vegetable production.
  • Restore the plots and the land around them with soil conservation and water retention techniques.
  • Plant trees as part of the restoration work.
  • Organise exchanges of experience between women's groups.

Expected Results

  • 7 market-gardening plots developed.
  • 30 training workshops held with women's groups.
  • About 5,000 trees planted.
  • Soil conservation techniques designed and put in place.

Progress So Far

  • Four video testimonies were recorded with ASGEP in March 2025.
  • In 2025, 7 women's groups were trained in agroforestry and rainwater management.
  • 863 kg of produce were sold during the rainy season.
  • 350 people were reached through awareness activities; 2 participatory theatre workshops were held.
  • Ecosystem restoration is continuing through soil and water conservation work.

Suññ diine guyy ñaare.

“The field that drinks rain will give again.”

Wolof sayingproverb: wording and translation to check with our local partner

On the Ground

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Women farmers in their agroforestry field, Senegal · © IRHA
Women from a rain community participating in a local training on water management in Senegal · © IRHA
Woman farmer standing proudly in her field in Senegal · © IRHA
Farmers digging half-moons to capture rainwater in the soil, Kaolack region, Senegal · © IRHA
Stone gabion slowing runoff and holding soil, Ndayene, Senegal · © IRHA

Partners and Funders

The project is implemented with ASGEP (Association Sénégalaise pour la Gestion de l'Eau de Pluie), a Senegalese member of the IRHA Alliance. ASGEP promotes the sustainable management of rainwater in fields to make local territories more resilient. Funders: Stiftung Drittes Millennium, the Temperatio Foundation and the Canton of Basel-Stadt to verify: funders.

Resources

Project factsheet to upload (see notes in the page file)

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