Musolula Gardino – a community garden in the Gambia
The village of Boraba in The Gambia is around 250 kilometres or a five-hour drive from the capital of the West African country. It is mainly women, children and old people who live here, as many young men migrate to the city or abroad to earn money. The infrastructure in Boraba is poorly developed: There are no structures in the village to enable shopping for food, nor is there any electricity or flowing water. There are practically no opportunities for women to generate income in Boraba, and many have only a rudimentary school education.
Training courses in organic horticulture form the basis of the project.
Nyodeema Foundation e.V. – together with the village community and supported by the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation – is realising a community garden: the organically cultivated Musolula Gardino.
This improves food security in the village. The women can sell any surplus to generate their own income and become economically independent. This strengthens their position and reduces gender inequality. They receive training in organic vegetable growing and beekeeping, and the project also benefits the children’s education in the long term.
Beekeeping is another mainstay of the women’s project and also benefits the fruit and vegetable garden.
Our support
The women were involved in the project from the very beginning and played an active role in shaping it. Today, 100 women from Boraba benefit from the community garden. “The garden is changing our living conditions,” explains villager Kunkung Jamba. “The garden provides us with healthy and good food that gives us strength. We want to grow our own food so that we can live healthily.”
At the end of 2023, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation approved funding for the community garden, and the measures funded were implemented the following year. This included building a fence to protect the one-hectare garden from stray animals. Our funding was also used to finance beekeeping equipment (30 protective suits, 20 bee boxes, beekeeping and honey production equipment) and to build a garden shed (storage for tools, room for processing honey, toilet).
Other measures in the first year of the project include training in organic farming. 10 women took part in the training courses and have the task of passing on their knowledge to 10 other women each. They will continue to be accompanied by the agricultural expert for a year. Basic accounting and self-organisation skills were also taught.
30 women received training in beekeeping and honey production. They are also continuously accompanied by the beekeeping expert throughout the first year. 20 bee boxes were installed, some of which have already been colonised by bee colonies. In addition, 100 fruit trees were planted and finally a well was drilled to enable irrigation of the vegetable garden.
Support from the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation
2023 Establishment of the Musolula Gardino community garden in Boraba, the Gambia
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The surpluses from the community garden allow the women to generate income in an environment where they otherwise have no entrepreneurial opportunities.
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Self-sufficiency with a wide variety of fruit and vegetables improves and expands the nutritional basis of the families in Boraba.
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The women organise themselves, manage the community garden and the surpluses, which strengthens the women's self-determination.
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Organic cultivation methods, the integration of different tree species in the garden and beekeeping strengthen the ecosystem.
