She Grows
Working with 1,000 women in Mali to grow sustainable businesses.Why is this project needed?
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world where women have few opportunities to earn money. Most women depend on what they can grow on their land for food and income, but the climate crisis is making this even harder.
To make matters worse, women living in Mali have less access to healthcare, education and jobs. They are also prevented from managing the trees and land they rely on.
Our aims
This project is supporting 1,000 women with the tools and training they need to earn an income from tree products. Women work together in co-operative enterprise groups to process and sell tree products, which will help them gain financial independence.
These women will also learn how to care for trees, helping local forests thrive, and increasing the number of women making decisions about the use of local natural resources.
How will we achieve this?
- 10 land agreements will be made to grant women access to land
- Training on gender awareness will take place for local authorities and stakeholders
- We will train cooperative members in how to restore degraded land through soil and water conservation techniques
- Planting of 5,000 trees on land granted to cooperatives
- Developing 40 VTEs (Village Tree Enterprises), including development of tailored Business Development Plans
- Establish 3 shops to sell tree products from
Our progress
The project kicked off around the time that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. We adapted our project to provide essential information on the global health crisis to the people we work with, including how people can prevent its spread.
As of August 2022:
- 10 women's cooperatives have been created, registered and granted access to land
- Members have been trained in advocacy, land rights, and soil and water management techniques
- We have measured increased of women in decision making positions in natural resource management (now 50% compared to 20% at the project baseline).
- Co-operative members have received training in seedling production
- 4 apiaries established for the production of honey
Our partners
This project has been made possible thanks to match funding from the UK government through UK Aid Match.
