From seeds to success: women's empowerment in Mali

Women are fifty percent of our world’s population, investing in them through education and financial empowerment is a vital part of reaching sustainable development. In Mali, amidst the backdrop of insecurity and climate change, a project of the Orange Knowledge Programme helped Malian women to improve their lives and uplift their communities. By supporting 716 small enterprises of women, and training 1004 women on agricultural opportunities, the project is a groundbreaking example of female empowerment.

Project DJAM
Women of the Pays-Dogon and their families are currently going through a difficult period due to insecurity and climate change. Around 70% of women in Pays-Dogon have small farms and their living conditions are unstable. At the same time, Dogon women are catalysts for change, with strong self-esteem and eager to take control of their own destiny and strengthen food security in Pays- Dogon. Under the name of 'Project DJAM', multiple implementing partners from Mali and the Netherlands embarked on a collaborative journey in January 2020. Their main aim? To fortify food security in the Pays-Dogon region of Mali through a holistic and inclusive approach to agricultural development. The project blended educational, capacity-building, and technological interventions to foster sustainable food security and prosperity in the region. Knowing the potential of youth and women, a substantial part of the project was focussed on reaching sustainable development through inclusivity.

Training for women
Project DJAM included the development and implementation of a comprehensive training-the-trainers programme in agriculture and irrigation, specifically tailored for women's groups in Pays-Dogon. By equipping women with specialised knowledge and expertise, the initiative fostered female participation in agricultural activities, thereby amplifying the region's agricultural productivity and resilience.

The training initiative reached more than 1000 women from different women's groups, exceeding the foreseen target. By training women in various modern agricultural techniques and entrepreneurship, women's groups were professionalised to create income for themselves and their families while also boosting local food resilience. The positive results of DJAM where confirmed by its trainees: 281 women reported that they had improved and almost doubled their yields this year the same area of land compared to the year before, as a result of the new techniques they had learned during the training.

“Thanks to DJAM there has been a lot of increase in know-how, several kinds of project activities were suggested to us to increase our knowledge. We are not worried about food.” - Tènin Dolo, from Baroukou in Mali.

A bright future
The training concept was only one of the many elements of the project DJAM. To reach even more impact, new curricula were developed. Both formal curricula for Lycée Professionnel Sangha and non-formal programmes for Association Dogon Initiative have significantly strengthened women's groups in Pays-Dogon. Staff of the Association Dogon Initiative now possess skills to support and train local farming communities in Pays Dogon and develop annual training programs for women's groups in the areas of agribusiness and entrepreneurship. Besides strengthening women, the project also strengthened local youth through a the updated curriculum of new courses focused on agriculture and irrigation at of the Lycée Professionnel Sangha. These updated curricula are expected to reach thousands of women and aspiring youth in the upcoming years through knowledge sharing.

Through Project DJAM, women in the Pays-Dogon region have not only enhanced their resilience to food security but have also emerged as leaders driving positive change within their communities. The project's impact extends far beyond its duration, leaving a lasting legacy of empowerment and sustainable development in Mali.

Photos and video by 'Projet DJAM' by Yamarou Photo.