With financial support from the Presbyterian Disaster Asistance
(PDA), the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) and the United Methodist
Committee On Relief (UMCOR), RELUFA launched its Food
Sovereignty Program in January 2006.
Eighteen villages in the
District of Mokolo were identified for the establishment of a
Community Grain Banking system. Each of the groups made a storage room
available to serve as their village granary and secured its door with
three locks. They democratically chose a management team of six persons
among whom they elected the treasurer. On an ongoing basis, RELUFA
provides the needed sensitization and training activities through
community workers of network member organizations ADERSA and ACD-Sahel.
The operations are supervised by the coordinator of ADERSA.
Since
the start of the 2006 harvest season, this team has gone out to buy
bags of sorghum from small farmers in the villages and stock them in
the granaries of the eighteen participating communities. At the time of
food shortages these stocks will be sold against an agreed upon price
or on credit to needy families within the respective groups. Surpluses
will be sold outside the community at the market price. The money
earned on the sale of this supply serves as working capital to buy up
cereals from the community at the next harvest and to reconstitute the
stock in their granary. At the same time, families that borrowed food
from the cereal bank pay back in kind.
While at last year's
harvest a 120 kg bag of yellow sorghum costed between
10,000-12,000FCFA, this year the price has gone up to 16,000 FCFA, i.e.
an increase in the market price of about 40% in the market price.
RELUFA has subsequently needed to adjust the number of bags provided to
the communities from 100 to 60 per granary. The women's group of
Tchembi has been the first to receive its stock. The operations have
since continued to ensure the purchase for each of the granaries before
speculators will have exhausted the supplies.
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Pictures of the first 18 village granaries
Women of Tchembi village with their community workers of ACD-Sahel.
The first stock for Tchembi's community granary identified at the village of Noubou.
RELUFA's National Coordinator, Valery Nodem, and Task Force leader Elias Gondji of member organization ADERSA calculate to adjust the number of bags to be purchased for each granary.
Unloading the stock at Tchembi
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