Fati Zongo is the mother of 9 children and grandmother of 15 grandchildren. She lives in Noungou – in the commune of Loumbila – some twenty kilometers northeast of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Together with the other members of the Nerwaya group, she gardens, sells vegetables and takes small steps away from poverty. Her secret? A solar-powered water pumping system financed by Solidar Suisse.
Loquacious by nature, Fati Zongo is nevertheless rather shy when it comes to money. Getting her to tell you how much she earns from vegetable production requires patience and strategy. “I got 2 million 640 F CFA from the sale of my vegetables three years ago”, she finally whispers.
That was in 2013. A blessed year for this mother of a large family and her 21 other comrades in the Nerwaya group. That year, the group received support from Solidar Suisse, through the Manegdzanga association, a structure with which the group is affiliated. The group received solar panels to power the system for pumping and transporting water from the dam to the plots under cultivation. This windfall will change the working and living conditions of the women.
Solar power, a new energy source for women producers
Prior to the acquisition of the solar panels, the group’s fuel bill averaged 528,000 francs. “To run the motor-driven pumps throughout the season, we had to buy 660 liters of petrol,” says group treasurer Mariam Compaoré. The seasonal production cycle requires around thirty watering sessions. For each session, the machines consume 22 liters of petrol, or 1 liter per plot. For each woman, the seasonal expenditure amounts to around 24,000 F, at 800 F per liter of petrol.
Since the acquisition of the solar panels, the need for fuel energy has been cut almost threefold. “We now only use fuel when the sun isn’t shining,” confides Zarata Ouédraogo, a member of the group. The lower the level of sunshine, the less power the motor pumps can generate to pump water from the dam to the plots. Over the course of the season, the women now only need to use petrol about ten times. For the 2015 season, they only needed 246 liters of gasoline, which cost each woman 8,000 F and the entire group the sum of 176,000 F.
Improved working conditions
Prior to the donation of the solar panels, Solidar Suisse and its local partner had already provided substantial support to the women in 2008. “Initially, we had two motor-driven pumps, around thirty fittings, seeds, pesticides, fertilizer, wire mesh and cement to fix the water pipes. Our benefactors even sent a tractor to plough the land before we proceeded to divide up the area,” says group president Salamata Konseibo. This support has helped the women enormously. “Back then, the work was hard. To water the vegetables, you had to repeat the journey from the watering point to the perimeter several times. And all this for a modest result at the end of the season, as only the bravest managed to obtain 5 x 25 kg bags of onions.
According to Fati Kaboré, a member of the group, to get 50,000 F, you had to show perseverance and hard work”.
The market gardeners are now able to make a profit from their labor. “Today, our working conditions have improved and we earn a lot more,” says group member Fati Kaboré. During the last campaign, the group obtained 320 50kg bags of onions. The sale of this stock brought in over 30 million 400 thousand F for the group and its members, at an average price of 95,000 F per bag. Prices, depending on the season, vary between 75,000 F and 110,000 F if the sales period is well chosen.
More solar energy and fewer plant diseases to keep growers happy
However, the women are encountering difficulties in implementing their activity. In fact, vegetable infections, particularly onions, undermine the work of these brave ladies. Botytris, for example, caused a loss of over 500,000 F during the 2015 season.
Burkina Faso is a Sahelian country, and the effects of climate change are having a considerable impact on the living and production conditions of many populations. The use of renewable energies appears to be a solution that can help reduce the vulnerability of poor populations, and this is what Solidar Suisse is working towards.