Senegal : FATICK
In 1999, SOS Faim, in cooperation with GERAD, a Senegalese research and consultancy centre, decided to provide assistance in Fatick, a Sahelian region south of Dakar, one of the poorest areas in Senegal.
The poverty rate surpasses 50% and the average family income is the lowest in the country. What is more, Fatick region receives little assistance from international aid and cooperation programmes. Rural exodus is another problem affecting the region as men leave their villages during the dry season hoping to find work in town, often in vain. Therefore, providing assistance for the region has remained an emergency and a challenge.
Projects to help the local population: Fatick’s Integrated Development Programme (PDIF) has the following objectives:
- Supporting economic activities which provide a decent income, particularly among women;
- Reinforcing rural organizations in order to defend farmers’ interests better;
- Encouraging local actors, including the regional authorities, to work together towards the region’s development.
Microcredits and marketing give results: In this approach SOS Faim works with various partners:
- 10 local women’s promotion unions associating over 138 groups of women. Thanks to them women can obtain a microcredit to start up a commercial or craft activity, small-scale stockbreeding, etc. They also safeguard women’s interest in all dealing with local authorities.
- The federation of cashew nuts growers - we have provided them with assistance in marketing their products.
- Savings and credit network in Foundiougne – this microfinance institution enables farmers and their families to start up new income generating activities (like selling their crops on local markets) or to buy equipment, seeds or oxen.
