Senegal: Women’s Empowerment Through Water & Agriculture in Kolda
In the Kolda region of southern Senegal, a decades-long partnership between the Italian association Donne di Ponte San Nicolò and local communities is bolstering food security and empowering women through sustainable water management and agricultural initiatives. The collaboration, which began in earnest around 2008, has evolved from addressing immediate needs identified by women themselves – specifically, the laborious process of rice cultivation – to encompass a broader range of development projects.
The origins of the partnership trace back to a visit by students and teachers from the Scalcerle Institute in Padova, Italy, who observed women gathering to discuss challenges and solutions with a local spiritual leader. Ivana Bozzolan of Donne di Ponte San Nicolò recalls the initial focus: “We sought to understand the needs expressed by Senegalese women, knowing that projects imposed from outside often fail because they don’t address real concerns. Here, the women needed to manage rice cultivation.”
Early efforts centered on improving water access for rice farming. The region features elevated pathways, roughly 40 centimeters above the surrounding land, which function as rudimentary dams during the rainy season. However, the require for more substantial infrastructure was apparent. Donne di Ponte San Nicolò supported the construction of dams to better retain water for irrigation, ultimately doubling rice yields. The association also facilitated training courses for women on managing slight-scale irrigation systems and provided resources for establishing vegetable gardens.
Beyond irrigation, the project expanded to include wells and milling equipment, relieving women of the arduous task of grinding grain by hand, freeing up time for agricultural work and other pursuits. According to Bozzolan, “The arms of women are the ones that have to provide for everything.”
A key figure in expanding the initiative was Senegalese agronomist El Hadji Ndiobo Mballo, who secured funding from the Veneto Region and other Italian organizations to implement a “revolving credit” program. This program provided women with two female goats and one male goat, with the understanding that a female goat would be returned to the association once a kid was born, to be redistributed to another woman. This initiative successfully eradicated edema from malnutrition among children in the villages and paved the way for further rural development, including the establishment of an agricultural school for young people and storage facilities for seeds and cereals.
The success of the program, as highlighted by Donne di Ponte San Nicolò, stems from its bottom-up approach. “The emancipation of women has made great strides thanks to this aid, which was not imposed from above, but provided tools based on the needs expressed by them,” Bozzolan stated. The association continues to support these initiatives, fostering a long-term commitment to the economic and social well-being of women in the Kolda region.