Overview of the project

The initiative aims to combat the expansion of palm oil plantations, a monoculture that causes soil and water pollution in surrounding villages. The plantations of local women, vulnerable to pachyderms and pests, are being altered or even destroyed. As a result, the plants dry on their own despite good rainfall in the geographical area. Local food products are now absent from meals and the population has to modify eating habits in order to not succumb to famine. The operator makes numerous restrictions depriving the population of their customary rights of use.

With women from the villages affected by the industrial palm groves, we initiated income-generating activities so that they could compensate for the losses caused by the agro-industry installation in the Ngounié region. We started with a petition against violence towards women, which was handed over to the provincial governor with 800 signatures. We then organised a training course on food processing and preservation aiming to strengthen capacities of women living near the palm oil plantations. Forty women were trained how to process citrus fruits into syrup, to manufacture sweets from local starches (taros, potatoes, manioc tubers and bananas), to manufacture oils, etc. Faced with the authorities’ laxity towards the situation experienced by these women, a campaign was launched to raise awareness of the conditions faced by rural women to national and international institutions, and to encourage authorities to adopt concrete solutions for the well-being of rural women and their families. On the occasion of the National Day of Gabonese Women, we  invited the women to an exhibition of the products, that they themselves had processed, to demonstrate their know-how.