Visit to the Ankouamon cooperative’s market garden as part of the ProSAD project

In the village of Koubou, in the municipality of Tchaourou, we visit the Ankouamon cooperative at its market garden. The cooperative’s members – 29 women and one man – have set up an agroecological plot with a variety of crops, enabling them to improve both their diet and their income.

However, one obstacle was holding back their activities: limited access to water. To address this, the Promotion of Sustainable Food Systems (ProSAD) project, with support from the Hubi and Vinciane Foundation and the DGD, facilitated the installation of a borehole on their market garden site. The project also supported members through training in agroecology and production techniques to help them diversify their crops.

The result? Before the project, the cooperative’s members used to work collectively on a plot of around 225 m². Today, the constant supply of water provided by the borehole means that a single person can cultivate the same area, which considerably reduces the workload. The harvests are then shared: some is consumed by the households, whilst the rest is sold at the market, thereby bringing about a sustainable improvement in the families’ economic situation.

We were delighted to speak with these strong, committed women. Among them is Germaine Bah N’Gobi, the cooperative’s secretary.

Read his account below.