Welcome, and thank you for joining us!
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Women’s cooperatives, Benkadi, are central to rural life in Mali. These collectives gather to plant, weed, harvest, dry, and process food together. In addition to serving as work units, the Benkadi are social safety nets, sources of solidarity, and a foundation of community life. A garden is a project large enough to require collective effort — it succeeds because the women work on it together.
The president of the women’s cooperatives and associations of Siby, Djenebou Koné (pictured above, center, in blue), described the impact of community gardens during the inauguration of the CAAS Complexe Agricole:
“The income from selling our produce enables our children to attend school.”
“By providing healthy food and funds for medical treatments, the gardens become a form of preventative health care.”
“Our young women can now receive a dowry, which means a stronger start to married life.”
The CAAS management team has identified five highly motivated women’s cooperatives, each with around 40 members who have either completed the six-month CAAS training or attended a focused three-day workshop. These groups are ready to establish their own gardens, building on the proven success of the twelve community gardens CAAS already maintains in the Mandé. With long-term on-site guidance from our head agronomist, Alassane Boré, CAAS aims to invest in five new cooperative gardens over the next two years. For each garden, CAAS will invest in:
- preparing the site
- drilling a well
- installing a solar-powered pump with a water tower and distribution system (approximately eight taps)
- fencing the land to protect it from grazing animals
For the Benkadi, investments of this scale are simply out of reach. But your donation of any size will help the women of the Mandé build food security, income, and resilience for their families and villages, while ensuring that the knowledge gained at CAAS continues to flourish throughout the region.
> Read more about the community gardens
* Donations by bank transfer
CAAS gGmbH Sparkasse Heidelberg
IBAN: DE55 6725 0020 0009 2863 81
BIC: SOLADES1HDB
Purpose: Community gardens
Please include your mailing address and e-mail address with your donation so that we can send you a donation receipt by the beginning of the following year. If you live in an EU or EEA country other than Germany, your donation may also be tax deductible there. CAAS gGmbH cannot make any guarantees, as this depends on individual legislation.
* Note for our Supporters in the United States
Our friends and supporters based in the United States can support our activities through a contribution to the American Friends of Centre Agro Alimentaire Siby (CAAS) gGmbH at Myriad USA, a U.S. public charity within the meaning of Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donors may be eligible for a U.S. income tax deduction for their contributions to the extent permitted by U.S. tax law. In accordance with U.S. tax law, Myriad USA retains complete control and discretion over amounts contributed to the Fund. To contribute to the Fund, here is how to proceed:
Gifts by check: Make the check out to Myriad USA, write American Friends of Centre Agro Alimentaire Siby (CAAS) gGmbH in the memo section of the check, and send it to Myriad USA, 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2400, New York, NY 10176.
Gifts by credit card: CAAS on every.org
Gifts by wire transfer or to contribute other types of property: Contact Myriad USA at: email info@myriadusa.org, phone (212) 713 7660.
Thank you so much for your support!
