USADF Signs Three Grants to Support Women's Groups in Senegal:

WASHINGTON - August 17, 2009 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 17, 2009 – The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) has signed three grants to support women’s groups in Senegal.  The grants will benefit GIE Wakilaré (Bandafassi), GIE Dado Ligo (Salémata), and Koba Club 1 (Kédougou).

 After signing the grant, USADF President Lloyd Pierson stated, “By directly funding these grassroots groups, USADF is helping to support women in Senegal by creating income generating opportunities to help lift them out of poverty.”

Located in Kédougou, Koba Club 1 is a group of 25 women who specialize in the process of agricultural and forest products.  The group has identified an opening in the market for pre-cooked fonio, a highly nutritious food.  Producing fonio is a labor intensive activity, produced in small quantities, which limits people’s access to it.   Senegalese are looking to fill the national cereal production gap and Koba Club 1 sees producing fonio as a way to meet the demand, while raising members’ income levels. The 24 month grant will finance the purchase of equipment working capital to buy raw materials, training, technical assistance, and administrative costs.

GIE Wakilaré is a group of 38 poor women who process and market agroforestry products in Bandafassi.  The women have received training through USAID and currently sell products in local markets and to a Dakar based company.  The women cannot meet the market demand due to several limitations.  The two year grant will fund modern equipment, working capital, and training.  Salémata is a women’s led economic interest group who process traditional forest and farm products including fonio, baobab, and shea butter. 

Located in Salémata, near Kédougou, some 225 members work to obtain decent revenues for hundreds of families and have recently identified a market in Dakar.  The twenty-four month grant will finance equipment to improve production capacity, supply raw materials, and provide training and technical assistance. 

USADF established programming in Senegal in 1987. Senegal’s current portfolio stands at eleven investment projects totaling more than two million dollars.  For more information about the portfolio, please visit the country’s quick source page at http://www.adf.gov/USADF-QuickSourceCountryPortfolioPage-Senegal.htm . 

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is a United States Government agency dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunity in Africa. Currently USADF operates in 20 African nations.  Over the past 25 years, USADF has funded nearly 1,500 projects representing in excess of $150 million in support of African enterprises and local African communities.  For more information on USADF, its programs and application guidelines, visit www.usadf.gov.
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