Lands of Hope

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Lands of Hope: Grow for a better life

Fouta, SenegalDakar, Senegal
Year Founded:
2014
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Start-Up
Budget: 
$10,000 - $50,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Lands of Hope is intended to improve lives, primarily of women in rural areas. By providing each of them a micro plot of land to grow food they will be able to insure their daily spending, cater their needs and those of their families.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

What if the 50.6% of people living in extreme poverty decrease by 10%?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

In senegal, poverty and misery define the daily life of the major population mostly in the rural area. Indeed 50.6% of the population live in extreme poverty. 6 out of 10 are cultivators but despite average harvests, they live with less than 1$ a day. So without revenue and resources most of them migrate with their children to the city for begging and this leads to overcrowding and many other consequences in Dakar.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

As much as micro gardening is a promising sector in senegal this project as solution will have a significant impact in the way of living of these population. Indeed it will improve their quality of life and they will be able to send their children to school giving them a new future. There are many land in these areas and because of a lack of resources and support, populations don't exploit them. So by arranging micro plots of land and providing them seeds, fertilizers and water they will be able to grow food for their own consumption or sell them in order to have income. This project will help to reduce poverty while tackling the issues of food security.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

There was a widow, Fatou, living with her 4 children in a small village. She was left with nothing after her husband's death. She was really desperate. When we heard about it through one of her relatives we proposed her to contact the person in charge of land allocation in this area. There were some lands in these areas,about hundreds of hectares but they were unexploited. So after many procedures, she received a micro plot of land just 5 acres. She planted vegetables to provide nutrition and income . And now she passed from jobless to a land owner, from starved to food secured. With her generated income, she sent her 4 children to school. So just imagine the impact of such achievements deployed by a hundreds of women.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

Hayoo saare mawnde, located in the region of Fouta, is a village of 1500 inhabitants. Their main activities are agriculture, breeding and wild fruits trade. Women there walk 10 km every day to pick “jujubes” and “Balanites aegyptiaca” in order to sell them at the weekly market at a profit not more than 4$. It's not profitable and it's extremely tough. Men own most of fileds on rural areas but it's well known that women do most of the work. As they are motivated, dynamique and have the experience, it will be more profitable if women have their own field. So we grouped 300 women in an EIG (Economic Interest Group) and arranged them one hectare of land to grow food. Each family revenu will increase and they will be able to have a daily expenditure and meet they children needs. Also women and youth won't need to leave their village as they have their own job.

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

Most of people living in extreme poverty are in rural areas. Replicating this project in 10 other villages will considerably decrease poverty rate and in this way tackle food security issues. Agriculture needs a lot of equipments which are very expensive. In the first 2 years, we will select 2 villages in the same area so that they can lend each other equipments untill they have enough funds to buy their own.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

If these women start the activity, it will run itself. No need to ask for funds to start another campaign they will reinvest a part of their precedent gain in the exploitation. Also the creation of a village bank will surely help them to manage their finance. Regarding the financial sustainability of the project, we a have plan consisting in: -Service provisions -Grants and awards - Crowfunding -Find partners that will support us

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

NGOs are the main actors addressing this issue. The fact is that they don't follow the projects. Generally, they implement a project, help the population but after people there can't do the follow-up for exemple how to do the maintenance of the power drilling. We don't want to do the same mistakes. In each selected village our team will give training to the population and explain them how to use and do the maintenance of equipments. Also we will put them in touch with a specialist in agriculture. And for each project a team will be dedicated for the follow up.
Team

Founding Story

One day I explained to a friend that I ve met 2 women who left their village to come to Dakar with their children. My friend Fatima who is a native of a village told me that it's quite usual to see that. Many women leave the village with their children to come to Dakar. Most attempts to find a job, but ends up in prostitution or begging in the streets. So I thought, since there a lot of idle land over there why not revitalize agriculture while providing work for these women? They will no longer need to come to the capital nor beg to meet their needs.

Team

We are 12 permanent members in the team including the ally. As we, all 11 members, are students we just work on the project part time. We have divided the team into 2 big parts: 7 persons entirely dedicated to the project like evaluate the target needs, training, visit the target each 2 month etc. And 4 persons for the funding system. The ally is here to guide us, advise us and put us in touch with some partners.
About You
Organization:
Lands of Hope
About You
First Name

Sira

Last Name

Camara

About Your Project
Organization Name

Lands of Hope

How long has your organization been operating?

Project
Organization Country

, Dakar

Country where this project is creating social impact

, Fouta

What awards or honors has the project received?
Funding: How is your project financial supported?

Individuals, Foundations, NGOs, Businesses, National government, Customers.

Supplemental
Please list your date of birth (YYYY/MM/DD)

1992/11/26

Please tell us how leadership training would help you to make an even greater impact on the social innovation field.

This training will enrich my skills especially in communication so I can deal with different cases during the replication of this project. I will be able to convince people to get back to lands with my innovative ideas and have them involved in the development of agriculture and thus the development of our country.

Please enclose a short personal biography.

Every morning at around 5 am, while everyone is sleeping or get prepared for prayer, two women carrying three children and a baby walk toward the main street in order to ask for charity. The first time, I saw them through my windows, the baby's cries woke me up. It was 5h 10 am. And after on my way to schhol, I saw them again begging in the main street, I was surprised to see them here. I told it to a friend and she said that there are some women who leave their villages with their children to come to dakar, the capital. What are they doing here? Begging and prostitution! Rare are those who find a job in dakar. One day i talked to these women. One is a widow and and the other has been repudiated. Left with nothing, they were living in a decrepit building near to my district. My questions were: are these enough reasons to loose your dignity by begging in the street or prostitute yourself? Don't you want your children grow up in excellent conditions and be educated? Women are pillars of a community, they give birth, raise kids, unify the family etc. My name is Sira Camara, senegalese and student in master Finance. As a young and educated woman, I won't be a spectator and let these two women and all those who are in the same case helpless. I will use the little knowledge and experience i have acquired in school, little networks I have, to support them and give them hope.