Afiri Women’s business Program declares food independence by 2025

Afiri’s Women’s Program is the village’s first new business venture, pioneering their goal of expanding the village’s economy to include clothing and fresh vegetables as goods that will travel across their bridge to nearby markets in Cameroon. With the leadership of Nadine Tecla, Afiri’s Director of Community Development, and Moussa Mboussi, Director of Economic Development, they have taken control of the village’s development plan.

The Women’s Sewing Service has three foot-powered machines, and many women trained in how to operate them. The Food Independence Vegetable Garden has 25 acres of irrigated land where they can grow enough crops to feed the village and sell the rest to invest in the village’s future.

The Women’s Program is also Afiri’s first step in becoming part of the regional economy – they plan to employ up to eight women from nearby villages to work in the new garden, and join in the sewing service as it expands.

Sharing the economic benefits of their creativity and hard work with their neighbors shows the true spirit of the people of Afiri, now and into the future.

Sewing Service

In the summer of 2023, the women of Afiri turned a modest grant of $3,000 into the start of something big. They bought three foot-powered sewing machines, tables, supplies, and fabric and immediately went to work. First, they repaired existing uniforms for Team KKO’s cacao farmers and made new ones for the farm’s growing workforce. Then they began making clothing for everyone in the village, from the youngest children to the oldest adults. Now, they are selling clothing in the markets of Awae, the nearest town.

And they didn’t stop there. They decided – ahead of schedule – to contribute a portion of their earnings to buy seeds and tools for the Women’s Food Independence Garden, a more ambitious project they invented on their own.

Women’s Vegetable Garden

At the same time, with foundation grants totaling $35,000 and another $25,000 contributed by Team KKO, they began their vegetable garden, creating an irrigation system to produce crops year-round, regardless of season or drought. This system, a study in creative engineering, features an uphill reservoir near one of the village’s wells, a series of pipes and pumps that lead downhill to 10 hectares (about 25 acres) of irrigated land, and more than 50 sprayers.

The Women’s Vegetable Garden’s ambitious goal is to make Afiri food-independent by the end of 2025.

Crops include cassava root, peanuts, potatoes, yams, and vegetables such as corn, lettuce, beans, and more. Planting is already underway, with harvests beginning 3 months after each planting. The garden is big enough for Afiri to hire women from nearby villages to join the project. Their harvest will feed the village. Surplus crops will be sold to generate revenue as the village’s first step toward self-sufficiency.