Empowering Women Farmers in Al Gadaref State, Eastern Sudan to Alleviate Poverty and Ensure Food Security

Sudan

The grant was extended to Zenab to continue its program of poverty alleviation through the economic empowerment of women, especially women farmers, with the objectives to enhance their knowledge on new agricultural methods, to build their capacity to have functioning cooperatives and to increase the production of daily food. The project was successfully completed and has directly benefited 200 women farmers house-holds heads in rural agricultural villages. The project has: - Purchased and distributed improved seeds (sorghum , sesame, groundnut…) among targeted women farmers. - Purchased and distributed agricultural hand tools among targeted groups. - Purchased Weedicides and Spray pumps and trained farmers how to apply them. - Organized farmers capacity building trainings to raise women' technical and managerial skills. - Supported women farmers to perform land preparation, cleaning of weeds and harvest activities. Through this project women farmers received good trainings on new agricultural practices "conservation agriculture" and techniques and were able to use machines in their small farms, the new concepts introduced have enhanced the knowledge of rural farmers and they apply it on their farms, new techniques that will increase their production and preserve soil fertility, increase in farmer production will facilitate their accessibility to financial institution as their income will increase through producing more crops for self-sufficiency and for local markets, small-scale women farmers are empowered through this project and become more eligible to receive loans from local banks.