Since 2012, Diante Bou Bess Association has offered farming and nutrition training to 120 Senegalese women in the Polyvalent Training Centre of Sandiara (Senegal). During this time, Diagrama Foundation professionals have collaborated in the technical development of the programmes.

This project of food sovereignty reinforcement and training in ecological farming techniques and trading, includes the implementation of a drip system in 5 hectares of the farmland and the installation of a 50 m³ water tower.

The experience shows that this training turns out really beneficial, because it has favoured the diversification of products and the efficient use of resources in an area where agriculture is the main economical activity. Besides, the courses promote the self-autonomy and the entrepreneurship of those students who wish to enter the sector starting their own farms independently.

The programme, that contains theoretical and practical modules, approaches aspects such as Field Management and Preservation; Plague Prevention; Food Preservation and Sale; Irrigation Techniques; and Use of Farming Tools, among other subjects.

Diagrama Foundation also provided logistic support to install a complete kitchen – with furniture, cookers, oven, extractor, sinks and fridge – in the School of Health of the Polyvalent Training Centre (PTC) of Sandiara. The kitchen is used not only for nutrition and healthy life habits courses, but also to provide diner service to the children of the women who work in the farming lands of the School of Agriculture of the PTC.

After the kitchen being installed, Diante Bou Bess Association hired a nutritionist in order to carry out a new edition of the nutrition courses, which content was developed with the technical support of Diagrama Foundation. The aim is to raise awareness among Sandiara folks, especially pregnant women, mothers and children, about the importance of having an appropriate alimentation and healthy life habits that allows them to improve their quality of life.

This type of courses started being developed in 2013 and have always been welcomed by the partakers and the local authorities. The mother and children and children attending the workshops will learn about new foods and different ways of cooking the products in a healthy way – in the area it is very common to use saturated fat in the kitchen-. Besides, a track (size, weight…) will be kept on the children who attend the workshop to assess the impact of the recommended diet, so that the improvement may be rated.