When adapting to climate change starts in the kitchen and in micro-gardens

The FAO project Food Security and Agriculture: Accelerating Adaptation (SAGA 2), in financial and technical partnership with the Government of Quebec and together with civil society partners SUCO and GRAIM, is working with women groups in Senegal to strengthen food security, incomes, and the sustainable management of natural resources as climate change intensifies.  

In Chérif Lô, in the Thiès region, as in many other municipalities across Senegal, the effects of climate change are visible in the fields but felt just as strongly in the kitchens. Irregular rainfall, depleted soils, and scarcer firewood are reshaping daily life, from buying vegetables to preparing meals.  

In the villages of Chérif Lô, Keur Massamba Gueye, and Keur Ngoré, three women’s groups have decided to build on their skills around three simple adaptation solutions: growing vegetables in micro-gardens, producing fruit trees in community nurseries, and cooking with less firewood through improved cookstoves. To mark World Environment Day, dedicated to climate change, their experience shows how nature can inspire concrete responses.

Starting with local needs, not ready-made solutions

Before any training began, the project first sought to understand local needs. In the three villages, women’s groups identified their main constraints: declining vegetation cover, growing pressure on firewood, limited access to fresh vegetables, lack of cultivable space, and the need for farming practices better suited to changing climate conditions.  

The activities were designed around these discussions. The approach focused on training women as trainers, so that they could master the techniques, replicate them in their own households, and pass them on to others. In total, 159 women trainers, including 56 young women, were trained across the three villages. 

Vegetables within easy reach  

Micro-gardening responds to a simple question: how can women grow vegetables when access to land is limited, soils are degrading, and markets are far away? In the three villages, 30 community micro-gardens were set up, ten in each locality. On tables, in pots or using recycled tyres, the women grow mint, lettuce, aubergines, chillies, and spring onions.  

For Djeumb Diop, from the village of Keur Ngoré, the change is first felt in the cooking pot. “We hardly need to go into town anymore,” she says. “Almost everything we need for our meals can be found in our micro-garden.”  Her neighbours share the same view. Mané Diop says: “Before, we used to buy all our vegetables in town. Now, most of them are available here.” For Khoudia Diop, this initiative has opened up new possibilities: “We never thought it was possible to grow vegetables on tables, in pots or tyres, and that it could actually work.” This technique reduces food expenses and can generate income from the sale of surplus produce.

View of micro-gardening activities carried out in the project © FAO / Lala Ndiaye

Trees that nourish and protect

Less firewood, more time 

Faced with deforestation and the scarcity of firewood, improved cookstoves help reduce pressure on trees while also limiting smoke exposure for women who cook. 51 women were trained to build them and 45 stoves were produced. For Sokhna Diop, who prepares and sells local couscous, the impact is immediate: “I need very little wood to make my couscous. I now save a lot of time to get on with other activities.” She also sees a benefit for the environment: “Because the need for wood has decreased, it is a great advantage for the trees, which will be preserved.” 

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