USAID/Guinea: Women Give Up Mining for Improved Agriculture

JUNE 9, 2003

Women Give Up Mining for Improved Agriculture

The women's agricultural cooperative of Walikaly village has gotten an unexpected benefit out of learning new agricultural techniques through a USAID-sponsored NGO -- yields are much more productive and profitable, which means they no longer have to go to work in the nearby gold mines.

Fanta Coulibaly, member of a USAID-sponsored women's agricultural co-op in the Siguiri area

When the women of the Walikali village began working with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), they expected to see improvement in their agicultural yields, but didn't know that the "new agriculture" would lead them to change their lifestyles. Says Fanta Coulibaly, "Normally we would go to the gold mines, but we don't go anymore. Now we put all of our energy toward our gardening. We've accepted the idea of working together as a group, and we can see from the yields we have already that our gardening is going to bring us more income this year than going to the mines. This work is also much healthier for us."

Through offering the group good advice on improving the quality of the soil through natural fertilizer, better planting and transplanting techniques, literacy and numeracy classes, and by setting up a micro-credit mechanism to allow co-ops to purchase improved seeds right before the planting season, ADRA has helped the 133 women's agricultural groups in the Siguiri area to have higher, more profitable yields, contributing to food security in one of the poorest regions of Guinea.

Keeping local farmers focused on making agriculture profitable and not gambling on revenue from the gold mines is part of ensuring food security in the region. Says Micaël Sanchez, ADRA Project Manager in Siguiri, "In the mines, people are never sure whether they'll find something or not -- they might work for days and not find anything. Women also risk losing their lives in an instant -- there are villages in which cave-ins and other accidents have taken the lives of many people."

plate of vegetables produced by using improved seed varieties

An example of vegetables cultivated by women's agricultural co-ops in the Siguiri area using improved seed varieties.

Beneficiaries know best how they can make a living, and will choose the options that they determine to be the most profitable at any given time, taking into consideration how they may best provide for themselves and their families. In Guinea and in Sierra Leone, mining is often a viable and profitable economic option, and is often done by farmers before and after the labor-intensive cycles of agricultural activities. Mining, although hazardous to miners' health and environmentally destructive, cannot be discouraged unless better options are made available. Says Sanchez, "One of our victories here in the Siguiri area is that we've noticed in talking to our women beneficiaries at agricultural fairs that a lot of them have abandoned mining activities in favor of gardening because higher yields are giving them better financial revenues."

Says Couibaly, "Our new gardening is helping us to take better care of our families. We are better able to support our husbands. The food we eat at home is of a better quality, and we are better able to clothe our children and provide for our own financial needs."

women in a USAID-sponsored agricultural co-op in Bankon village, Siguiri area

Women in the Walikaly women's agricultural cooperative sponsored by USAID through ADRA, a faith-based organization.

Story and photos by Laura Lartigue