From soil to strength: potatoes fueling women's autonomy in Mayo-Kebbi

In the Mayo-Kebbi region of Chad, women must find new livelihoods to avoid overexploiting the resources of the national park in which they live. It's a challenge that calls on their confidence, their ability to innovate and their resilience... but it's also a story with a happy ending! 

With the ELLESadAPt project, which we are carrying out with financial support from Global Affairs Canada and in collaboration with Baastel et Noé, we worked with these women to identify concrete, sustainable paths of action. The chosen solution was to introduce potato farming, a crop previously absent from the region. 

To achieve this, women had to adopt farming practices and nature-based solutions that were completely new to them. Among other things, they began producing compost to enrich the soil while recycling their waste. They also learned to make biopesticides from chilli and neem to keep pests at bay. 

Together, they mobilized their know-how and determination to make their ambition a reality. And they succeeded! After four months' work, during which they rigorously followed the technical itinerary established with them, they harvested three times more potatoes than they had initially anticipated.

A promising harvest... and new challenges

As potatoes are new to the community, this first harvest generated increased demand, helping to boost the income of women farmers. It also enabled the women to diversify their family's diet.

What are the next challenges for the women of Mayo-Kebbi? In addition to learning how to cook potatoes, they must make sure that the newly enriched and profitable land is not claimed by men. This presupposes major advocacy work, but also better access for women to financial services that will enable them to retain control over their land.

With this in mind, we are working with UCEC-MK, a local financial cooperative that came into being thanks to the efforts of a Quebec priest keen to spread the Desjardins Group mission and model. Founded in 1980, this cooperative is now well established and is a major vector of development and economic autonomy for vulnerable populations in Chad.

Today, the success of the women's farming groups we've worked with is generating interest throughout the region. “More and more women want to join our group, but we intend to consolidate our foundations before expanding our ranks. It's a nice challenge,” says Justine Ferbeubé, president of the Pkinbé group in the village of Tréné.