Countless projects across the development sphere have well thought out plans on paper, but they aren’t able to stand the test of time. Andando does things differently in many ways, but we are not immune to one of the fundamental principles of development work: we are fulfilling needs which are beyond the means of our partner communities. So how does a community sustain a project over the long-term which they could not afford to do on their own?
Mboyo Walo Garden celebrating reaching their savings goal.
Unlike schools and health posts, Andando’s gardens have no government support to keep them going, instead they rely on savings from sales to cover future costs. This system has worked well for over a decade, but we noticed after the pandemic that garden savings started declining and were no longer sufficient to cover the larger infrastructure elements, like a solar pump.
Nguendar village leader explaining the new cost-sharing agreement to the other garden members.
Nothing about us without us.
This concept is paramount to our approach, and it was only through discussions with our garden partners that we found the cause of the problem and identified a path forward.
Nguendar garden leaders posing for a picture after signing the new 50/50 cost sharing agreement.
There were actually a myriad of contributing factors, from difficulties with the current bank, to rising seeds costs, to a general lack of understanding about maintenance and the costs involved. Together we helped the gardens change to a different more accessible bank, established our seed production program to reduce costs, and hired a new maintenance technician to help repair infrastructure and train the women in basic preventative maintenance.
Maintenance Technician Hamath repairing a solar pump controller. This new staff position supports garden participants in long-term care of garden infrastructure.
In addition to these improvements, we also agreed to sign a 50/50 cost-sharing agreement for future repairs with any garden that achieves at least 1,000,000 CFA (about $1,700) in savings. So far five gardens have exceeded this goal with many more well on their way!
Mbantou Croissement, Andando’s first garden in Podor, was the first to sign our new 50/50 cost-sharing agreement.
We congratulate these women on their amazing accomplishment and are proud to meet them as equal partners in the long-term sustainability of their gardens for years to come.