On Tuesday, March 31, we took a small jet plane to fly to Zinguinchor - the largest town in southern Senegal. From here we will travel to community-based organizations in Casamance.

It was only a 50-minute flight but when we landed in Zinguinchor we sensed immediately that we were in a tropical, rural area. The humidity hit us as soon as we left the plane. Seynabou, the director of USOFORAL, an organization that we're meeting with, came to welcome us at the airport. It just so happened that we had also flown with a couple of members of USOFORAL on the same plane.

Once we settled in into our new lodging we were ready to go visit the first organization in Casamance, AJAEDO (Association of Young Farmers and Animal Breeders in the Oussouye Division of Casamance).

We drove for an hour into Casamance-Basse. This is a region that has suffered from many years of conflict waged over independence for Casamance. As with many conflicts between government and rebellion forces, those who suffer the most are civilians. On our drive to Oussouye, where AJAEDO is based, we were told about how these same roads were quite dangerous at one point and car hijackings were the norm. Nowadays, the region is stable and displaced community members are beginning to return to Casamance, which happens to be the richest in natural resources.

When we arrived we met with Paul Emmanuel. Paul is the Coordinator of Programs at AJAEDO and he told us a bit about AJAEDO and its work.

AJAEDO works with 392 members represent community groups. There are 21 groups in total, 12 women groups and 9 male groups. Each group has a representative that sits on AJAEDO Board. As a result the women hold the majority on this Board.

AJAEDO provides skills-building and technical assistance to women in agriculture, sewing, soap making and pottery. Three years ago they introduced a microcredit program. Since then they have had good results as the women are now able to access financial support. Many of them have taken at least two microcredit loans since the launch of the program.

AJAEDO is an organization that is regularly monitoring and evaluating their activities. Every 15 days the coordinator sits down with the supervisors and group promoters to create an action plan. At the end of the 15 days they then evaluate what they carried out and see if they followed their plan or not. AJAEDO also accompanies the groups to see where the priority needs are and facilitate discussions for community members to find solutions to problems. Once they've identified the solution, the coordinator in turn helps them find financial support for them.

AJAEDO showed us round their office, which includes a conference room, dormitories, a small vegetable garden and an extra room that serves as the base for a community radio, which promotes a dialogue among the multiple ethnic groups in Casamance. Right next to the radio office AJAEDO has a space that they hope to convert into an IT Center to Internet access to community members.

There were several young men hanging out at the community radio station and I asked them why weren't they talking on the radio. "Our electricity has been cut off," they answered. We took the opportunity to talk with them about their music that includes hip-hop, and mbalanx. The men demonstrated by dancing and singing their favorite songs. We didn't think it was necessary to return the favor.

Paul, the coordinator, told us a bit about himself during the tour of the office. He comes from Casamance and lived in this area until he moved to Dakar for his university studies. He has now returned to Casamance and wants to support his fellow community members in improving their livelihoods. His hope for Casamance is that the region becomes what it was before the conflict started, a beautiful, peaceful environment where the society is non-hierarchical and all people are considered equal. Many people have come back to Casamance to revive this tropical land once again.

Photo: IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, with AJAEDO staff.

Labels: AJAEDO, Casamance, microcredit, Senegal, Sustainable Agriculture, Women

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