Côte d’Ivoire: Women are winning the fight against malnutrition

“If malnutrition is a sign of poverty, then our women have partially conquered it in Kpafonon,” says a clearly pleased Solo Laga, a retired teacher. In this village, Solo has seen generations of children fed on Mimintchin (sauce for the poor), as it is known in Senufo, the local language.  Anemic, deformed, or suffering from other malnutrition-related diseases, many children did not survive.

The “sauce for the poor” -  a distant memory!

The diet in the Poro and Bagoué regions of northern Côte d’Ivoire lacks variety and consists mainly of maize and yams. “Until recently, we were evacuating at least three children a week to the hospital because of blood problems, but since we started cultivating the garden, everyone is in good health,” enthuses Awa Koné, president of the Bêtikana cooperative in Kpafanon.

Since 2019, eating habits have changed: households regularly consume carrots, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, eggplant, sweet potatoes, and eggs produced by the cooperative’s 56 members.

Financed by the World Bank through the Japan Social Development Fund, the Support to Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture and Capacity Development of Small and Marginal Farmers (ASNAP) project allows vulnerable rural populations to have access to a rich, balanced diet and enables women to empower themselves through the cultivation and sale of organic vegetables. 

The project rehabilitated an abandoned hydraulic pump to supply water to a village farm where women from the Bêtikana group and agricultural technicians from the National Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development (ANADER) work side by side to produce organic vegetables of sufficient quality and quantity for local consumption and surrounding markets. Better still, the cooperative provides free vegetables to the village school canteen, so that school children can enjoy balanced, vitamin-rich meals. 

Trained and equipped to conquer malnutrition and generate income

In Komborodoudou’s public square, women sing and dance. The lyrics of the song, a departure from the usual folklore, are revealing: “Woman, cultivate your garden, the source of your autonomy and your family’s health; do not rely solely on your husband.”

That afternoon, the women of the Tcheregnime cooperative are celebrating a project that allows them to flourish and improve the health of their children in a region where four in 10 children suffer from malnutrition, according to official statistics.

“We are happy, because we used to have many children with big heads, small feet, and flat buttocks as if they were being ironed all day long,” jokes Soro Dorcas, spokesperson for the women. “Within our group, there were 11 malnourished children, including five serious cases! Now, thanks to ASNAP, we have no sick children,” she adds.

The women’s work is supervised by technicians from ANADER, and NGOs show mothers how to prepare rich, balanced meals using organic vegetables from their own gardens. “Our skin has changed, we feel good in our bodies. Other women noticed this change and began to join our group, and our membership increased from 18 to over 50 members in less than a year,” says Dorcas, under the watchful gaze of Soro Mariam, a woman in her fifties who was proudly carrying her grandson. “I brought him from my daughter’s village because he was sick all the time, but since I have been feeding him sweet potatoes and other produce from our garden, he is doing just fine.”

In addition, more than 3,000 women received training in stock management, as well as in simplified accounting for marketing and for managing income generated by vegetable garden production. In Komborodougou, the more than 50 members of the Tcheregnime cooperative do not intend to call it quits when ASNAP ends. They have already saved more than CFAF 2 million, and “we will save even more and continue to cultivate our garden using our own funds,” Soro Dorcas says reassuringly.

Irrigation systems to ensure continuous production and nutrition security

In addition to nutrition challenges, the 3,000 households targeted by ASNAP living in northern Côte d’Ivoire are grappling with the effects of climate change. For example, the lack of water in increasingly prolonged dry seasons hampers agricultural activities, causes conflicts between farmers and herders, and threatens food security. This water scarcity has forced thousands of women to abandon vegetable farming, a source of income for them, in favor of cotton, rainfed rice, or maize.

“With ASNAP, we have guaranteed the availability of water for women in the targeted villages; they now have it every day and during all seasons to water their gardens and produce much more,” explains Dr. Ibrahim Bamba, Country Director for the Helen Keller International Foundation, which is responsible for implementing the ASNAP project.

To support year-round production and improve access to water, the project is installing simple, low-cost, easy-to-maintain irrigation systems on community plots managed by women’s groups. Modern irrigation systems have therefore been installed above 20 boreholes to cover a total area of 250 hectares.