Two women managing reserves at the Moujia grain bank. © CARE After a severe food crisis in 2010, women founded an association of community grain banks to prepare for times of hardship – but other factors still hamper their efforts.
Last year parts of Niger were affected by a devastating food crisis. The village of Moujia in the center-west of the country was typical of the areas worst affected.
Drought and parasites had destroyed all the crops. Alhou Abdou’s household, six children, his wife and himself fought day after day to feed themselves. Even though they decreased the number of meals they ate and portion sizes, they often went hungry.
Support
CARE provided 100 kilograms of grain to Alhou’s family through large-scale free distribution, in cooperation with Niger’s government and the World Food Programme (WFP). Other households in the village received the same support. But in addition back in 2002 CARE had worked with the women of the village to start a small grain bank - so their families would be able to eat in further times of hardship.
The women’s small grain bank has had a huge impact on the entire community. Inspired by this victory, and knowing that food crises tend to appear regularly, in 2010 the women were motivated to expand their idea, and build a regional “association of cereal banks”.
The cereal banks came out of the Matu Masu Dubara (‘clever women’) network of savings and loans groups. Managed by locals, they enable a huge range of projects: training and equipment for nurses, literacy and encouraging girls’ education, environmental protection through tree planting and management, grain banks, and recently politics, with women elected to influence local and national decision making.
A useful resource every year
Alhou’s wife Hadja belongs to the group in Moujia. Their grain bank is a useful resource every year. Even when crop yields are good, more than 60 percent cannot meet their food needs with their harvests alone. In a year of crisis, like 2010, even the Moujia bank couldn’t withstand the high demand.
So they and 19 others formed an association: a storehouse large enough to come to the aid of smaller cereal banks when their stock runs low.
“Each of the 20 groups contributed a total of 1,000,000 CFA Francs, or 2,100 USD, to buy start-up stock. CARE helped with the construction of a store and management training for women. WFP contributed 27,000 kilograms of cereals. It was a real pooling of resources,” explains Mérido Moussa, director of the Matu Masu Dubara women association in Moujia.
“The women are so clever,” whispers Alhou Abdou, looking lovingly at his wife. “Normally the grain set aside would have been enough to fill the gap left by poor yields. But we’re still facing hard times this year because our brothers had to come home from Libya.”
Returning migrants
Thousands of migrants have returned from Cote d’Ivoire and Libya after losing their jobs due to the political unrest. They came home to extreme destitution. “150 young people from this village had to flee Cote d’Ivoire and 50 others came home from Libya empty-handed, whereas previously they were the principal source of income,” explains Mahamadou Abdou, the local Imam.
CARE Niger is committed to respond to the urgent challenges of this situation, while continuing to contribute to ongoing resilience of families in Moujia and in hundreds of other communities.
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Read more stories from the West Africa Food Crisis:
Niger: "food is the most basic need"
Mali: More than 235,000 people displaced by conflict
Staff blog: West Africa food crisis - the women of Maijanjaré - 30 March 2012
Staff blog: Mali and Niger - the worst time for refugees - 15 March 2012
Mother in Niger: I don't want to lose another child - 10 February 2012
Staff blog: Hunger comes calling in the cities of Niger - 24 January 2012
Millions face food crisis in Chad and Niger - 19 December 2011
Niger food crisis: hope and worries in Moujia - 26 October 2011
