Chad, Region of Guéra, Mongo.
From January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015
Lack of food security is a widespread condition in the entire Sahel belt in Chad, including the region of Guéra where ACRA has been working for years. The area is characterized by recurrent droughts that condition the cultivation of millet, sorghum, peanuts, primary resources for livelihood and a staple diet. In the absence of storage facilities, families are forced to sell most of the cereals they produce at the time of the harvest, when prices on the local market are lowest. Profiting from this are the traders who purchase stocks in great quantities to then sell them in periods of shortage, at maximum prices.
Cereal Banks were created to solve these problems, a system that enables to improve storing of agricultural products to then trade these in more advantageous periods. Every year, in fact, towards the end of the dry season (June/July), when there is a shortage of cereals on the local markets and their price is no longer accessible to families, the CB funds the launch of the new agricultural campaign through a loan "in kind", that is in sacks of cereals. With the "loan" received, farmers can feed their families while cultivating their land. The CRs are the result of many years experience gained by local actors connected to the Catholic Church in Mongo, in particular in the person of Father Franco Martellozzo who first experimented this model in 1984 and which was developed in the course of the years until the constitution in 2011 of the Regional Federation of Cereal Banks.
Direct beneficiaries
Indirect beneficiaries:
31,300 rural families for a total of 156,000 people and in general, the inhabitants of Guéra, who will benefit from the service offered by the CBs in the villages involved and from the dissemination of improved agricultural practices, the increase of productivity and the consequent repercussions on the local economy.
PROGRAM SUMMARY |
Total value: 1.550.747 € |
Principal funder: FAI – Fondation Assistance Internationale |
Principal partner: A.U.R.A. (Association - Union - Réflexion - Action) - associazione Caritas della diocesi di Mongo |
Other partners: Università Cattolica di Milano (University Cattolica of Milan) |