Lambaye Women Project (LWP)
Summary
In 2024, Students for Senegal committed to run training in sustainable agribusiness for over 400 women and girls in Lambaye, Senegal, so that they can learn the production and transformation of fish and vegetables. The objective is to teach the use of best practices for sustainable agribusiness to increase women’s skills and income, through a 6-month program that is composed of theory and practice, but also internship to help women get jobs in pisciculture or run their own pisciculture business. Women will earn a certificate in pisciculture, which will give skills in farm management, maintenance, data collection, stock management, horticulture and composting, following rules and regulations in the agrobusiness, quality control of water, and sustainability. This training in the production, transformation, and commercialization of fish and vegetables grow the local economic market and increase women’s income significantly within a year of their certification.
Approach
Students for Senegal organization commits to run training in sustainable agribusiness to over 400 women and girls in Lambaye so that they can learn the production and transformation of fish and vegetables. The objective is to teach the use of best practices for sustainable agribusiness to increase women’s skills and income, through a 6-month program that is composed of theory and practice, but also internship to help women get jobs in pisciculture or run their own pisciculture business. Women will earn a “Certificat de Specialization ” in pisciculture outside the ocean which will give skills in farm management, maintenance, data collection, stock management, horticulture and composting, following rules and regulations in the agrobusiness, quality control of water, and sustainability.
LWP will work with women to participate in training programs in fish and vegetables farming to adapt in this unique environment of overfishing, climate change and food insecurity in Senegal. Training in the production, transformation, and commercialization of fish and vegetables to satisfy the local market and increase women’s income will be available. For each $1.35 invested in tilapia fish women can have a revenue of $2.08 and a net benefit of $0.73 in 6 months. After raising 10,000 fish, women can have a net benefit of $10,775 in 6 months in addition to the skills they learn in the program. This income will go toward buying women a pisciculture kit that will help them raise fish at their home or at their small farm .
Through the Lambaye Learning Center, Students for Senegal built for the community a few years ago and has provided a modern center equipped with classrooms, a computer room, and a library where part of the training can take place. In addition, we have access to over 27 acres of farmland with water available all year round. The farm will be used to do the practice needed for the training in pisciculture and horticulture.
Action Plan
For the entire term of the commitment, women and girls will be trained in how to raise nurseries, compost production, tree planting for wood and bioenergy production and/or processing fish, and horticulture for the local food security and revenue generation.
Alongside experts in the field, the Lambaye Learning Center will help design and coordinate the training programs to teach the best sustainable practices to grow fish and vegetables.
The training will focus on Tilapia and Catfish production, integrating systems combining pisciculture, compost production, and horticulture.
October through November 2024: Selection of women interested in participating, Installation of facilities for fish farming (water tanks and other installations and equipment) ,
November through December 2024: Start Start of classes in fish farming, composting, and horticulture
June 2025: production of mature fish, transformation, and commercialization of products, and start and end of training for the first cohorts and start of new cohorts if funding continues.
How to measure Number of trainees, number of jobs created, quantity of fish and vegetables produced, revenues generated, quantity of fish transformed, number of successful small businesses created.
Background
Just like the father of the founder of Students for Senegal who left his native village Lambaye and migrated to Dakar, capital of Senegal, to look for work, about 60% of men from the villages who migrated to Urban areas are looking for labor (FAO) . Left behind to fend for themselves, with no real opportunities, are women, and their young children.
The concern for each of these women in the village is to earn any form of income to feed and educate their families. However, 42.4% of women are unemployed vs 23.4 % for men. Because of the lack of water during the 9-months dry season in Senegal, some women in the villages around Lambaye, travel long distances to find farms where they earn a meager salary. According to the World Bank, in Senegal, women make up 70% of the workforce in agriculture in rural areas. However, they benefit less from it than male. During the rainy season, women and their young children use their physical labor to grow mainly peanuts, and millet in small family farms. In 2019, a study of the International Organization for Migration (IQM) found that 54% of rural households in Senegal had at least one member who had migrated to an urban area, with a majority being men looking for jobs.
The LWP will provide more opportunities for training, jobs, and more income close to home for women so they do not travel so far away from their families to find jobs. LWP will do this by providing training in sustainable agriculture to have healthy soil to produce healthy nutritious food, fruits, vegetables, and fish, instead of groundnuts.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
Some of the best practices can be found in Senegal through experts and trainers in the field. However, LPW welcomes support from experts around the world who can contribute and welcomes innovation and sustainability in agriculture.
Financial resources are necessary to purchase the equipment needed in horticulture, fish farming, sustainable energy, irrigation, composting, training cost and new technology.
Implementing partners are needed during the project to make sure the processes are well thought through.
Media partners are welcomed to help amplify the work., LPW will share best practices for this work in the region.