First harvests in the village garden of Dimbo, Eastern Senegal.

Around Dawady, the vegetable gardens set up in the surrounding villages are beginning to yield their first harvests.

Under the coordination of Malik and Abdourahmane, who are in charge of the Dawady community garden, women from the five villages involvedvhave been supported throughout the cultivation process. This programme is supported by The Ivory Foundation and the Marie-Pierre Crosnier Mangeat Foundation.

After installing fences in the middle of the year, structuring the growing beds and preparing the nurseries just before the rainy season, the first harvests are a great success. Black Beauty aubergines, heirloom tomatoes, okra and cucumbers, grown from organic seeds provided by Agrosemens, are yielding promising results and encouraging the continuation of the experiment.

Some of the harvested fruit will be used to produce local seeds, enabling the women to replant their crops next season and gradually achieve seed self-sufficiency.