## July 2004 Series No 1 

**EVALUATION OF THE ADRA/GUINEA TITLE II FUNDED WOMEN'S**

**GARDENING PROJECT IN SIGUIRI**

## 

## 1. Introduction

Guinea is classified by the UNDP as among the poorest and least
developed countries in the world. The country remains a Low Income Food
Deficit Country, ranking 162th out of 174 countries in terms of quality
of life (in the UNDP 2000 Human Development Index). Approximately 40% of
Guinea's population lives in absolute poverty with less than \$300
annual per capita consumption, and 13% live in extreme poverty with less
than \$175 annual per capita consumption.

Groups most affected by poverty are small farmers, youth, and most
especially, women, who paradoxically play an important role in
agricultural production. Around 55% of subsistence farmer households are
considered very poor, contributing to 68% of national poverty (Ministry
of Planning and Cooperation, Republic of Guinea, March 1999). Specific
prefectures where poverty was identified as dominant are: Mandiana,
Siguiri and Dinguiraye in Upper Guinea; Mali and Koubia in Middle
Guinea; and Telimele in Lower Guinea (Guinea Ministry of Agriculture and
Animal Husbandry, and FAO, October 2001).

The Siguiri Prefecture --Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA)/Guinea's intervention zone - is one of the poorest regions in
Guinea. The Siguiri prefecture is characterized by a unique rainy season
for four months (June through October each year). Total rainfall ranges
from an average of 1,400mm in the south-west to 1,100 mm in the
north-west of the prefecture. The principal crops grown in Siguiri are
cotton, irrigated rice, corn, and groundnut. Agricultural productivity
in general in Upper Guinea is low; average on farm yields are 1,380
kg/ha for irrigated rice, 650 kg/ha for corn and 720 kg/ha for groundnut
(Enquête Agricole Nationale, 1996). Participatory rural appraisal (PRA)
carried out by ADRA in 1999 indicated that food storage during the
*soudure* period was still more acute in Siguiri prefecture, where 75%
of households were unable to meet their food needs throughout the year
and suffered at least some level on intake restriction for an average of
5.5 months each year. Siguiri's isolation from the rest of Guinea limits
the population's access to improved technology and agricultural
services. Reasons for food shortage in Siguiri prefecture is related to
an inability to produce and stock enough food to meet needs throughout
the year; a shortfall in production due to a significant levels of
post-harvest loss during storage (10-30% for corn and rice , 50% for
groundnut). Households' food supplies are often further depleted by a
need to reimburse food loans or cash taken to meet food need priori to
new harvests. Such loans are often associated with usurious rates of
interest which result to reduce the household's capacity to retain
sufficient food. Siguiri's household food security problems are also
related to a food production deficit. Factors contributing to poor
productivity are lack of well organized extension services; difficult
access to agricultural input supplies by farmers; limited working
capacity linked to the lack of farm equipment; low fertility of soils.
Agricultural productivity in Siguiri is also negatively impacted by gold
mining activities. Income diversification is affected by the limited
access to economic opportunities or businesses. Importation of materials
into and exportation of produce from the region is made difficult by
poor road infrastructure that worsens during the rainy season

Gold mining is a traditional activity practiced in the *Mandé* region
(border region between Mali and Guinea), near to Siguiri, by both men
and women. Although there is an industrial gold mining company, most of
the population is involved in artisanal, manual extraction between
February and June. For certain villages, the active population
temporarily moves to the gold mining zone during the off-season. This
active population will not return to their farms until late June for
land preparation and planting. The optimal time to prepare land is in
May, so the late return of the population to faming affects agricultural
production. According to a ADRA survey, gold mining is the main
off-season activity for the majority of Siguiri's active population of
women. The income generated from the gold mining in Siguiri is very low,
and cannot assure the household's food subsistence during the hungry
season.

ADRA's "Projet d'Augmentation des Resources Alimentaires (PADRAS)" DAP
approved by FFP in 2000 addresses the lack of food security in the
Prefecture of Siguiri by improving food availability through increasing
agricultural productivity and improving food access through
micro-finance and income generating activities. Also, the PADRAS project
addresses the population's limited access to credit by providing two
types of credit. The first is available to farmer's groups to obtain
oxen and plows. The second source of credit is opened to women's groups
to engage in income generating activities including vegetable garden
production, and small trading. In 2001 and 2002, a total of 28 groups
made up of 797 clients were supported by PADRAS to cultivate
approximately 43 hectares of land.

The objective of this case study is to evaluate the impact of women's
gardening activities in Siguiri, which have been supported for the last
two years by the PADRAS project. In 2003, PADRAS supported 1,600 women
on gardening activities. Given the high involvement of Title II CSs in
women gardening activities as means to achieve food security in West
Africa, the fundamental question for decision makers is how sustainable
are these activities? Do these activities contribute to the women
beneficiaries' household food security? What are the production
constraints that Siguiri women face with gardening activities? These are
some of the key questions that this case study will try to answer.

2\. [Importance of women's gardening activities to food insecure
households' food security some evidences from West Africa]{.underline}

Traditionally, gardening is a women's activity in West Africa, and
production is used to help households achieve auto-consumption. In the
Office du Niger zone in Mali, gardening activities were promoted as an
income generating activity for women in addition to irrigated rice
production (for household food consumption). In 2000, the Office du
Niger zone had 7,000 hectares of gardens, and half of these surfaces
belonged to women (Chohin-Kupper - 2002) (Note that men are becoming
increasingly interested, especially when gardens are an income
generating activity.) The gross income from the off-season gardens in
Office du Niger was estimated at 12 billions F CFA or \$20 million in
1999. Michigan State University (James Teft and al -- 2002) reported
that average monthly expenditures of women in the Office du Niger zone
are two to four times higher than that of other women in other regions
in Mali. According to the authors, income earned in horticulture
production by women appears to be a primary factor differentiating
higher expenditure levels for women in the Office du Niger zone.
Furthermore, the results of this study show that both household and
mothers' incomes are positively and significantly correlated with
improved children's nutrition (higher Z-scores). The prevalence of
stunting is significantly lower for children of mothers in the highest
income quartile (24%) relatively to the levels for the three lower
income quartiles (38-40%). The study concluded that a mother's income
might need to reach a certain level before it can have a major impact on
reducing children's malnutrition.

In the Zondoma province (Burkina Faso) Africare implemented 16 gardens
around hand- dug wells for 725 women farmers, funded by FFP under a 2000
DAP. These gardens are manually irrigated from underground water using
hand-dug wells. The depth of these wells can reach up to 20m, which
negatively impact the productivity of gardening activities. During the
project mid-term evaluation, the first three gardens implemented were
evaluated in terms of impact on household's food security. The
evaluation found that gardening activities in Zondoma are financially
profitable. The net income per woman beneficiary varies from 30 000 FCFA
(\$50) to 36,000 FCFA (\$60) in three months of activity. In cereal
equivalent, these incomes correspond to 200 -- 241 kg of cereal per
woman beneficiary. These cereals can cover 25 -- 31 days of household
food consumption (14 persons per household food need, 190 kg/pers/year
as consumption norm in Burkina Faso). For certain food insecure
households, during the months of April-May where household food
availability is low, cabbage leaves from gardens are mixed with cereal
flour for household consumption. These cabbage leaves reduce the
quantity of cereal to be used for household daily cereal consumption.

In year 1994, CRS/Burkina Faso implemented a market garden in the
Lelesge village which is a food insecure village situated at 20 km from
Ouagadougou the Burkina Faso capital city. The Lelegse market garden was
implemented through a local NGO with a private funding (59,230,000 FCFA
or \$100,000). The total surface of the garden is 13.5 hectares (7
hectares for men and 6.5 hectares for women). The garden is irrigated
from the water of a dam using a motor pump for irrigation. A total of
332 individual farmers have benefited a garden plot (375 m2 per
beneficiary) while a village management committee has been created and
trained for the garden management. This dynamic committee plays the role
of interface between farmers and the project's clients. In four years of
activity, the impact of the Lelegse market garden is great for
beneficiaries. For example from 1995 to 1999, the Lelegse garden
produced 100 -200 Mt of vegetable products (onion and cabbage) per year.
The majority of this production has been exported to Ghana, Togo and
Benin. The average net income per beneficiary was evaluated at 37,427
FCFA (\$62) in 1997/1998. This net income was estimated to 115, 398 FCFA
(\$190) per beneficiary in 1999/2000. During the same period the net
income for women was 130,000 FCFA (\$217) per beneficiary. Mr. Ouedrago
is one of the Lelegse market garden beneficiaries. Mr. Ouedrago is head
of a household with 9 persons. His rainfed cereal production is
estimated at 500 kg per year during these last three years that can
cover only 5 months his family cereal consumption. During the year
2002/2003 campaign, Mr. Ouedrago's net income from its 375 m2 of market
garden plot was 200,000 FCFA (\$333) in three months of activities. He
spent 100,000 FCFA (\$166) to buy 700 kg of cereal for his household
food consumption. The reaming income was used for children' school
expenses and household members' health costs.

In Dogon Doutchi (Niger), where the seasonal exodus of men is very high,
as food is so scarce they migrate to the cities in search of work, women
use gardening activities as a food insecurity coping strategy. During
the off-season women grow a mix of vegetable crops (onion, okra, tomato,
eggplant), however the dominant gardening crop is cabbage (yield is
about 25- 30Mt/ha). Part of the cabbage production is consumed during
the off-season, the rest is dried and conserved for the hungry season.
During the months of July and August when the price of food is very
high, food insecure women will boil their dry cabbage leaves for
household consumption, providing an important safety net for the
families.

## 3. Objective

Evaluate the impact of woman gardening activities in Siguiri Prefecture

*Specific objectives:*

1)  To evaluate the profitability of women gardening activities in
    Siguiri Prefecture,

2)  To identify the production and marketing constraints that women are
    facing in gardening activities

3)  To make recommendations for women gardening sustainability in
    Siguiri.

## 4. Methodology

Two sets of questionnaires were used to collect data: one administered
to individual women, and another administered to a group of women. Eight
women's groups (1 group per sub-prefecture) out of 28 were interviewed.
In each group, 6 individual women were randomly selected so that a total
of 48 women were interviewed. The project field agents administered the
questionnaires. The first data compilation was done by the project M&E
specialist using the Excel program. These data were imported into SPSS+
for statistical analysis. Simple frequency analyses were used to
describe the beneficiary women and their gardening activities. The farm
budgeting technique was used to evaluate the profitability of Siguiri
women's gardening activities.

5\. [Findings]{.underline}

*Organization of Siguiri women's gardening activities*

In the Siguiri prefecture, PADRAS is promoting women's gardening
activities in all its intervention villages through its micro-finance
and agriculture components. The project'strategy is to support clients,
mainly women, to undertake gardening. Women were organized groups (25-30
women per group). An elected management committee manages each woman's
group. The management committee constitutes the link between women
beneficiaries and the PADRAS. The experience and quality of women who
are managing these committees have a direct impact on the success of
these women's enterprises. The management committees facilitate loan
management (distribution, reimbursement, loan guarantee) and extension
activities (crop demonstrations). In 2002, PADRAS provided \$36,080 to
Siguiri women's groups as loans for the purchase of improved seeds and
small tools such as hoes. Part of the loans was also used for the
construction of fences, digging of wells and for the payment for labor
that women are unable to perform. The size of the individual loan was
100.000 FG (\$50) per woman beneficiary. The interest rate is 2% per
month. Each individual loan is guaranteed by women's solidarity groups.
Members of the same group work on the same piece of land. The average
size of these lands is 1 hectare per group. Individual women, in most
cases, have her own plot and plant the vegetables of her choice. In some
cases, women are working collectively together on the same piece of
land. The collective production is sold and the revenue is distributed
among members. For individual plots, each individual woman is
responsible for selling her own production.

These women organizations could serve the bases for the development of
women activities (peanut or rice production, shea better processing) in
Siguiri. That requires from the project efforts of capacity building for
these young women institutions.

### 

### Socio-economic characteristics of women participants

# 

# The socio demographic characteristics of women respondents reveal the average age of women participants is 40 years old. The majority of these women are married (92%), while 8% are considered widowed living with small children. Women respondents are illiterate (94%), and they cannot read or write even in their native language (adult literacy). This low literacy rate has implications on their participation in gardening activity management. In many cases women's groups refer to men to record their loans, to calculate the loan interests and payments etc. 

# 

# A mean of 6 children live with each woman, and there is an average of one under-five child per woman. The under-five children's mortality rate computed from the data collected is estimated at 249 per 1000. That seems to be too high. The under five children's mortality rate was 345 per 1000 in 1970 in Guinea. This rate was estimated at 172 per 1000 in 2000 (UNDP report). On average, each woman respondent has 2 children in school. Two students out of three in Siguiri are boys. 

# 

### Activities practiced by Siguiri women

Economic activities practiced by Siguiri women differ according to
seasons. In the rainy season, agriculture is the main economic
occupation of women. Beside their participation to household crop field
activities, each woman owns some plots of land (1-2) for crop
production. According to the survey results, peanut (83% of women said
they cultivated them) and rice production (40%) are most important
agricultural activities practiced by Siguiri women during the rainy
season. Total productions per woman for these crops are estimated at 10
sacs for paddy rice, and 6 sacs for peanut. In general, the productions
from these activities belong to women and are principally used for
household consumption. In some sub-prefectures (Banko -- 17%, Franwalia
-- 83%) shea nut collection constitutes another important source of
income for women. These nuts are transformed into butter for household
consumption or selling. The production of shea butter per woman in
Suiguiri was estimated at 48 kg per year. Before the PADRAS'
intervention, during the off-season (see Graph 1) interviewed women were
busy with the artisanal gold mining (44%), vegetable gardening (25%),
and the small trading (8%). With the project's intervention, all women
respondents are practicing gardening activities and have abandoned gold
mining activities. This is a great achievement of the ADRA project in
Siguiri that should be consolidated.

**Graph 1**: Off Season Activities Practiced by Gardening groups of
Women

![](media/image1.wmf)

### Woman gardening crop production system

Onion, tomato, traditional eggplant, okra, cabbage and lettuce are the
main vegetable crops planted by Siguiri women. The importance of each
crop in the Siguiri women's gardening production system will depend on
its profitability (market and price) and degree of risks (attack of
insects, post harvest conservation). According to Graph 2, onion (35%)
and eggplant (38%) are the two most important vegetable crops cultivated
by women in Siguiri. These are the two crops with less post harvest
losses and can be considered as main cash crops. Tomato and cabbage are
also grown in Siguiri. The other vegetable crops include okra, potatoes,
lettuce and pepper.

**Graph 2**: Importance of Vegetable Crops Produced

![](media/image2.wmf)

These vegetable gardens are manually irrigated from hand-dug wells (3-6
m depth) that limits the size of individual women's land plot. The
average size of the individual plot of land is 250-300 m2 per woman. The
principal fertilizer used by women is organic manure (compost prepared
by women). They are not authorized to use chemical fertilizer or
pesticide. These restrictions affect the profitability, as one can see
in the yield analysis section. For the moment the use of traditional
methods of fighting against insects is not efficient. For some of the
physical work, children and husbands helped women. For the 2002
campaign, each participant woman hired 2 workers (these young men are
from the village or other villages) on average and spent 38,969 FG or
\$20 for wage for four to six months of activities.

#### *Profitability of Siguiri women gardening activities*

Profitability is one of the conditions determining the sustainability of
interventions in the agricultural sector. It is essential to induce
farmers to make costly investments in physical infrastructure and to use
fertilizer and manure. The purpose of this section is to estimate the
financial return associated with the Siguiri women's gardening
activities. Findings from this analysis will be used by the project
field agents to advise women on how to improve the profitability of
their activities.

Profit is revenue less cost; in turn, revenue is output multiplied by
price. To increase the farm profit a decision maker should examine the
determinant of the profit components (output, crop price, input quality
and price etc.). Given the lack of disaggregated data from this survey,
the profitability analysis is based on outputs (yield, revenue, and
expense costs analysis). The survey was retrospectively done and we were
not able to collect the production data (individual plot yield, selling
price). In the future, the evaluation data collection should be done
during the production and commercialization period.

##### Yield data analysis 

As one can see on the graph 3, yields from demonstration plots are above
farm yields (using traditional techniques) for most crops. Even though
this performance favors demonstration plots, for some crops the yield
from demonstration plots is below the national or regional average farm
yield, i.e. the average yield for onion (Texas variety - demonstration
plot) in Siguiri is about 16.8 Mt/ha. In Guinea the average yield for
the same onion variety is above 20-25 Mt/ha. For a FFP-supported
OIC/Guinea project in the Mamou area, the average yield of onion
recorded from farmer fields is 25 Mt/ha. For tomato, the demonstration
plot yield is also below the national yield. For certain crops (okra,
pepper, eggplant) there is no difference between the demonstration plot
yield and control yield. Farmers are still using traditional variety of
seed for these crops. This low yield can be explained by: (1)
inexperience of many women in gardening activities, since they are at
their first or second year of activity, (2) efficiency of local methods
of plant protection, (3) lack of irrigation water at certain period of
year, and (4) lack of close monitoring of women's gardens by the project
field extension agents.

However, there is a huge possibility to increase the Siguiri women's
gardening crop yield. This can be done through the introduction of
improved variety of seed (Okra, pepper, eggplant) or to improve the
actual production system, including better pest control (tomato, onion,
eggplant). Collaboration with the Guinea's market vegetable gardening
research center could help the project to control pests.

**Graph 3**: Gardening yield for FY 02

![](media/image3.wmf)Source: ADRA/Guinea -- FY 02 CSR4

##### Gross revenue

The average gross revenue per woman was computed from women
beneficiaries' declaration concerning the total value of vegetable
products sold during the 2002 off-season. This value doesn't include the
value of products auto-consumed. The average computed gross revenue is
estimated at 275 000 F G (\$139) per woman in Siguiri (CV= 35%). This
mean varies according to sub-prefectures. In Siguiri, urban commune or
Maleah the average gross revenue per woman is between 350 000 FG (\$177)
and 400 000 FG (\$202).

##### Expense Costs

The costs associated with these activities are input (seed, organic
manure), hired labors and product transportation costs. These expense
costs don't include the family labor remuneration.

In Siguiri, each woman participant is spending 96 776 FG (\$49) as total
variable costs for gardening activities. Hired labor and product
transportation costs are the most important expenses. They represent
respectively 40% (38 969 FG) and 29.4% (28 533 FG) of the total
expenses. The high transportation cost can be explained by Siguiri's bad
roads. The only way for women to get to market with their products is by
donkey cart. For some physical works (land preparation, digging wells
etc), women are hiring men labors. Given the high cost of this labor,
the project field agents should advise women to reduce the number of
labor to be hired. The cost of seeds represents 17% (16 200 FG or 580
000 FG/ha - \$292/ha) that seems to be also high.

*Performance indicators*

Net Income

The net income is the total gross income per woman less total expenses
(variable and fixed costs). The fixed cost concerns only the loan
interest. We don't have information on the depreciation cost of
equipment and infrastructure. The net income calculated should cover the
depreciation expenses, remuneration of family labor (woman and family
member who helped her).

The average net income computed is 162 404 FG (\$ 82) per woman
participant in three months period. This result shows that Siguiri
women's gardening activity is financially profitable. The average net
income varies according to sub prefectures. It is 87 667 FG (\$44) in
Banko against 246 400 G F or (\$124) for woman producers in the Urban
commune. According to the graph below, close to half of Siguiri women
gardeners obtained net incomes varying from 100 000 (\$50) to 300 000 GF
(\$150) from 2002 gardening activities. Among these woman gardeners, 6%
got more than 300 000 FG (\$150) on average as net income. Compared to
woman gardening income from Burkina Faso, Siguiri women's gardening
activity is more profitable. The average income per woman for gardening
activity in zondoma is about \$ 50 that corresponds to 200 kg of cereal
in Zondoma.

**Graph 3**: Repartition of Woman Respondents according to Net Income

![](media/image4.wmf)

The variable cost ratio is another indicator used here to evaluate the
performance of Siguiri women's gardening activities. This indicator
tells us what portion of the gross income is spent to pay the variable
costs. In the Siguiri case, on average, for each 100 FG of gross income,
35 FG was used to pay back the variable cost. This indicator varies
according to the sub prefecture. In the urban commune, the variable cost
ratio is 25% against 53% in Niagassola (the most isolated sub prefecture
of Siguiri). Based on this result one can affirm that off-season
vegetable gardening is a profitable enterprise in Siguiri. However, that
should not hide the risk factors of this activity as women respondents
pointed out in the production analysis. The risk factors relate to
gardening in Siguiri are: water availability, farm gate price
variability for vegetable products, inefficiency of pest control and
high post harvest loss. These factors will limit the sustainability of
Siguiri women's gardening activities.

[5. Production constrains]{.underline}

The following constraints were mentioned by women respondents as the
most important factors affecting vegetable garden production in Siguiri:
Irrigation water, financial difficulties, access to input, difficult of
selling products, post harvest losses.

Irrigation water: the lack of sufficient water for irrigation was
presented by all women respondents as the most important production
constraint. In Siguiri, vegetable gardens are manually irrigated from
wells (5-6 meters deep). During the months of March and April, these
wells become dry so they can't irrigate.

Financial difficulties: 75% of women mentioned the lack of financial
resources as a constraint in vegetable crop production in Siguiri. This
problem exists at different levels. For 25% of women respondents, part
of the loan received was used to buy food that reduced their capacity to
invest more in gardening. For others, the problem was that they have to
pay interest on the loan before selling their products.

Input access: This constraint is related to financial difficulties in
buying inputs. For the moment, the project supplied farmers with seeds.

Vegetable product market and post harvest loss: These two constraints
are linked and concern almost all rural market garden products in West
Africa. In fact, gardening activities occur in West Africa immediately
after rainy season activities where the ground water table level is not
too deep. The harvests of these market gardens happen in January --
March and get into the market at the same time. The consequence is
markets are saturated with vegetable products and prices become very
low. Producers do not have appropriate technologies to conserve their
production to sell at a later time. The Siguiri women's gardens are not
exempt from these difficulties. In Siguiri, eggplant and onion are the
most important market vegetable products (75% of garden land). Eggplant
grown is a local variety adapted to local conditions. A certain number
of villages have specialized in eggplant production. Production was sold
to clients in the gardens (farm get). With the development of eggplant
production in Siguiri (the project's intervention), the eggplant market
moved from villages to the Siguiri market. Producers have to transport
their production into Siguiri market involving high transport costs that
reduce their profit margin. Onion production was introduced by NGOs. The
variety grown is TEXAS with a very high yield. However, the conservation
of this production is very difficult during the hot season. The post
harvest loss rate can reach 50-100% of the total production. That
explains the high variability of the onion price (100% of increase of
onion market price three month after harvests).

[6. Impact on household food security.]{.underline}

For the PADRAS project, "increasing the amount of disposable cash
available to women will have the effect of increasing food access at the
household level and maximize food utilize through enhanced household
access to basic health and education". These assumptions are correlated
with our finding on the use of income generated from Siguiri women's
gardens.

*Buying food during the hungry season is the principal use of Siguiri
women's gardening income*

For more than half (52%) women interviewed, income from their gardens
was used to buy food during the hungry season when on-farm food stocks
were depleted. In Banko and Niagassola communes where women's generated
income is low (more than 70% of woman has less than 100,000 FG) the
project loan repayment was the priority of their gardening income use.
However in the Maleah commune, where 83% of women have between 200 000
and 300 000 FG as gardening income, all woman respondents affirmed that
the principal use of their income was buying food for household
consumption during the hungry season. That means, in Siguiri, if women
have income, the principal use is to increase the household's food
access. Loan repayment was cited by 30% of women as their principal
income use. For 19% of women the primary use of their income was buying
the daily condiments for the household consumption. In the Siguiri urban
commune where food insecurity is not acute, like in the other communes,
women (100%) are mainly using their income for buying condiments.

According to the table below, women pay more attention to household food
security if they have high income. For women with less than 100,000 FG
as gardening income, have as a priority to pay back their loan (60% of
women). However, for women with more than 100,000 FG, the principal use
of their income is household food consumption (cereals and condiments).
This finding suggests that the project should devote more resources and
time for women's income generating activities in order to achieve its
strategic objective.

  ----------------- -------------------- --------------- ----------------- ---
  Table:                                                                   
  Repartition of                                                           
  woman respondent                                                         
  according to the                                                         
  primary use of                                                           
  gardening income                                                         

                                                                           

  Income class      Buying food during   Daily condiment Loan repayment    
                    hungry season        price                             

                    \%                   \%              \%                 

  \< 50,000 FG      40.00                                60.00             

  50,000 and        33.33                                66.67             
  100,000 FG                                                               

  100,001 and       37.50                37.50           25.00             
  200,000 FG                                                               

  200,001 and       62.50                37.50                             
  300,000 FG                                                               

  \> 300,000 FG     50.00                50.00                             

  Total             52.08                18.75           29.17              
  ----------------- -------------------- --------------- ----------------- ---

The president of the Condeya village women gardening group is one of the
ADRA clients in 2003. She said "I am a household head of 8 people
including 5 children. My husband is sick. I am taking care of the
household. In 2003, I received a loan of 100,000 FG (\$50) from ADRA to
do gardening activities. After selling my vegetable products (70% of
production total), my total gross income was 750, 000 FG (\$150). This
income allowed me to reimburse my credit and buy 10 sacs of cereal (5
sacs of rice and 5 sacs of corn) for my household's food consumption.
The remaining income was used to pay school expenses for my children and
buy cloths, for my family. Thanks to ADRA"

*Basic health and education of children are where Siguiri women are
using their gardening income.*

Per priority order, women cited buying medicine for children as the
third highest expense category where they are spending their gardening
income. However, for 19% of woman respondents buying medicine is the
second highest expense category for gardening income use. For some
women, part of their gardening income was used to pay children's school
expenses.

*Directly or indirectly, the Siguiri women's gardening activity has
contributed to development of the local economy and household food
security.*

The Siguiri women's gardening groups have contributed to maintaining
youths in the villages. During 2002, women gardeners mobilized 1500
young men for gardening activities. They paid to these young men 31
million FG (\$15,686) as salary. More than half of this amount was used
to buy food for these young men's families. For transportation of the
production from villages to markets, women have mainly used donkey carts
that belong to other villagers. On average each woman paid 28,500 FG for
transportation costs. The Siguiri women's gardening activities' total
contribution to the local economy (transportation costs) in 2002 was
estimated at 22.7 million FG (\$11,472).

For a total investment of \$36,080 (loan) in 2002, the Siguiri women's
groups paid back their total loan, and distributed to woman participants
a total of \$ 65,372 as net profit from their gardening activities. The
Siguiri women's groups contribution the local economy (salaries and
transportation cost) was estimated at \$ 27,150. The loan interest paid
in 2002 is estimated at \$ 6,385.

[7 Conclusions/Recommendations]{.underline}

In two years of activity, PADRAS has supported 1,643 individual
gardeners (1416 women and 227 men) comprising 55 women's associations in
8 sub-prefectures of the Siguiri prefecture. The present study has
concerned 48 randomly selected women from 8 women's groups in the
Siguiri prefecture. The study's findings reveal that women's gardening
is a profitable enterprise in the Siguiri prefecture. The net income per
woman participant varied from 87,000 FG to 246 000 FG according to
communes. The average net income was estimated at 162 000 FG per women.
This average should not mask a group of women who are not making much
profit from these gardening activities. The study found that for 15% of
participant women, net profit is below or equal to 50,000 FG (\$25). The
profitability of women's gardening activities in the Siguiri prefecture
is highly associated with irrigation, water availability and a good
economic environment (existence of a market, good road, good input
credit system etc.). The success of the Siguiri women's gardening
activity is linked in part to the Siguiri women's group organization and
the PADRAS's financial support (micro-finance program) to this activity.

Even though the gardens are basically successful, since their beginning
two years ago, the Siguiri women gardeners are facing some constraints
that limit the development of gardening activities in the Siguiri zone.
Followings are some of these constraints:

-   Availability of irrigation water

-   Lack of appropriate technology of pest control

-   Bad roads in the Siguiri prefecture

-   Lack of adequate post harvest technologies for vegetables products

-   Insufficiency of vegetable markets.

All these factors are affecting the Siguiri women' garden crop yields
and gardeners' profit.

**Recommendations**

1.  **Given the constraints identified for the development of gardening
    activities in Siguiri, PADRAS should start a market study for
    Siguiri's vegetable products. The results of this study should be
    integrated into a general development program of women's gardening
    activities in Siguiri.**

2.  **PRADRAS should look for the development of other woman's
    agriculture income generating or production activities in Siguiri --
    i.e development of peanut and rice production/processing shea better
    processing.**

3.  **The general development plan of Siguiri women's gardening
    activities should consider the social responsibilities of women. For
    that, PADRAS should work on how to reduce women's daily work -- i.e
    promotion of cereal/shea nut milling machines, loan for
    transportation means for woman's groups etc..**

4.  **Given that the Siguri women gardeners are married women and have
    on average one under-five child, PADRAS should reinforce the synergy
    between its activities and the USAID funded nutrition program in
    Siguiri.**

5.  **For the sustainability of these gardening activities, PADRAS
    should find alternative least cost technologies for irrigation. Drip
    irrigation might be a possible solution, and the FFP project's
    experience in Cape Verde can be a case study for PADRAS.**

6.  **Post harvest losses and pest attacks have been mentioned by women
    gardeners as a major constraint for gardening activity development
    in Siguiri. PADRAS should work with the Guinea agricultural research
    centers to find appropriate solutions.**

7.  **Lessons learned from Siguiri women's gardening activities have
    revealed that women's income in food insecure zones is principally
    used for food household security (buying food for household
    consumption, cost of medicine, children's school expenses). The
    implication of this finding is that more resources should be
    committed to women's production and income generating activity
    development.**

8.  **PADRAS' micro-finance component should capitalize these findings
    and models its loan distribution to women in function of their
    reimbursement capacity. Woman's groups should be encouraged for more
    saving to support PADRAS' micro-finance activities.**

9.  **In the future, the project should monitor a sample of women for
    economic studies (yields, production, input/output prices,
    production costs etc.) of women's gardening activities in Siguiri.**

[References]{.underline}

\- Adventist Development and Relief Agency FY 2000- 2004 Development
Assistance Program Proposal.

\- Adventist Development and Relief Agency FY 2002 CSR4

\- "Appui à l'élaboration du rapport de la République de Guinée pour le
sommet mondial de l'alimentation, cinq ans après," a paper prepared by
the Permanent National Committee for the World Food Summit, Ministry of
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Republic of Guinea, and Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,

\- "La Pauvrété en Guinée: Un Profil Très Haut" based on "Etablissement
d'une carte de la pauvrété de la République de Guinée" by the Ministry
of Planning and Cooperation, Republic of Guinea, March 1999.

\- OIC International FY 2002 -2006 Development Assistance Program
Proposal

\- The Zondoma Food Security Intiative project mid term evaluation
report Africare Burkina Faso -- 2002.

\- Understanding and reducing child malnutrition in Mali: Interim
Research Findings for the project linkage between Child Nutrition and
Agricultural growth (LICNAG) -- James Teft and Valerie Kelly MSU October
2002 - Policy Synthesis paper number 60.