Mr.
Georges Yawodjin Agbemadon
Centre
Regional Pour l’Eau Potable
Et
l’Assainissement a faible Cont
Route
de Peres Mariste a Hann
B.P:
2041 Dakar
Water
and Sanitation (WASH)
RAWDP organizes workshop for youth
RAWDP will organize a food security workshop for youths in Casamance in a bid
to mobilize urban youths to agriculture. Hitherto, youths here are reluctant to help
with digging and hoeing, even during the holidays, forcing some families to pay
day workers to do the job. "I cultivate a much smaller area than in the
past, because I have to pay people to work my land" said farmer Catherine
Badiane, in her 50s, who lost her husband years ago. "Each year I pay
people to work my land. My sons, most of
who live in Dakar, refuse to come back to
Casamance to farm. When I ask them to
come, they say they are busy. . . My produce is not even enough to cover myself
and my grandchildren for eight months. I
really should be able to feed the family year round by farming. I have had to start trading in Ziguinchor [Casamance's main city] market so we can get
by. This year there was plenty of rain, but I did not grow much; I just cannot
afford the workers."
Poverty levels in Casamance are among the highest in Senegal at more than 60
percent, with nearly half of households vulnerable to food
insecurity, according to a 2007 UN World Food Programme (WFP) study.
Despite poverty and unemployment in the region, finding non-family members to
work the farm is not always easy, residents said. To reverse this trend, RAWDP is organising the
workshop.