There are virtually no men left in the villages of the Matam region, in north-eastern Senegal. They have gone, they have emigrated in search of work and less inhospitable, less impoverished places. Because resources are scarce here, water is lacking and desertification is striking the entire Sahel area. El Niño last year also dealt a severe blow to the rainy season, which proved to bring too little rainfall to replenish water supplies. An increasingly dire situation, one that can only be countered with concrete assistance and the transfer of knowledge.

Reducing migration

This is the goal set by Green Cross Italia, the Italian branch of Green Cross International, the environmental NGO founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, with the project "Energia per restare", aimed at creating opportunities for life and work for young people and women, reversing the trend and thereby helping to curb irregular migration. The project is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and carried out in partnership with Enea, Fafd and Cultivert. In the local language the initiative is called "Hadii Yahde" and plans to install "water pumping systems, powered by photovoltaic panels, which will make it possible to save over 2,700 litres of diesel per year", as well as providing "seeds for the cultivation of 37 hectares of land", to be farmed using new agricultural techniques based on crop rotation and the preservation of soil fertility.

Precisely in order to combat progressive desertification. Local agricultural production in Senegal is in fact inconsistent: in some years it falls by as much as 50/60 per cent, while the soil is subject to progressive depletion due to climate change, desertification and the shrinking of the rainy season. Together with the beneficiaries, Green Cross is putting systems in place to address this emergency.

The 5 villages in Senegal

The local communities of the villages of Ballel Pathé, Sinthiou Diam Dior, Koundel, Sadel, Woudourou and the towns of Matam and Ourossogui will benefit from the project. A catchment of 22,000 people, led by around 2,000 women who will take an active part in the project. "We set in motion the energies of women who want to continue to live and work in their own land," said Elena Seina, coordinator of Green Cross's Africa projects, in a press release. "Women are the soul of these villages. If we improve their condition, we help give a future to this country and create opportunities for their children. In this way we will have planted a small seed against irregular migration."

Providing the tools, the knowledge, the technology. This is probably the only way to improve the quality of life in Senegal's rural areas, with an economy on its knees and where 15 per cent of the population lives in conditions of food insecurity. And it will be women who do it.