Afiri Women’s business Program declares food independence in 2024
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 sewing service has three foot-powered machines, and three women trained in how to operate them. The vegetable garden has 15 acres of irrigated land where they will grow enough crops to feed the village and sell the rest to invest in future ventures.
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 tend to their new garden.
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.
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 Vegetable Garden, a more ambitious project they invented on their own.
Women’s Vegetable Garden
At the same time, with a larger initial grant of $28,000, they began their vegetable garden, creating an irrigation system so the garden can 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, and a series of pipes and pumps that lead downhill to the 6 hectares (about 15 acres) covered by the system’s spray heads.
The Women’s Vegetable Garden’s ambitious goal is to make Afiri food-independent by the end of the year.
Crops include cassava root, peanuts, potatoes, yams, and vegetables such as corn, lettuce, beans, and more. Planting is scheduled for spring 2024, with harvests beginning 3 months later. The garden is big enough for Afiri to hire women from nearby villages to join the project. Their harvest will feed the village, and surplus crops will be sold to generate revenue as the village’s first step toward self-sufficiency.
