SAHEL AGROECOLOGY PROGRAM (PAES)

The Sahel agroecology program (PAES) is implemented in seven countries - Senegal, Benin, Mauritania and Togo, but also in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso (excluding AFD financing) - aims to promote the development of agroecology.

Caritas Kaolack in Senegal  was created in 1981. In all its actions, people in vulnerable situations occupy a preferential place, which also justifies its participatory approach, supported by strong skills. in social engineering. Training, animation, awareness-raising, institutional and financial strengthening of producer organizations and family farms constitute its main strategy.

Caritas Diocesaine et Développement de Natitingou in Benin  was created in 1964. Caritas Natitingou intervenes in several areas such as: basic social services (health , education, provision of drinking water); ordinary emergencies (aid for the indigent, assistance for people in very precarious situations); major emergencies; development (child protection, advancement of women, literacy, women’s empowerment, agro-pastoralism, environmental protection).

Caritas Mauritania  was founded in 1972. Caritas Mauritania projects target food security, community integration, access to income-generating activities. The training aspect is the basis of this integrated local (or neighborhood) development: community organization, literacy, vocational initiation and training, planning.

In Togo, we have a consortium of 3 partners: CARTO, JARC and OCDI Dapaong

The Tambimong Ogaro Rural Animation Center (CARTO)  in Togo was created in 1982. Each year, CARTO provides training for 18 young farming couples in its Training Center for a duration of 9 months. The technical training in production and breeding is essentially practical thanks to the presence of its educational farm. Transversal training (literacy, promotion of women) is scheduled during “low” times. This training places “the tree” at the heart of the farmer’s action. CARTO thus works to sustainably reduce the harmful effects of global warming and promotes better yields in the production of basic cereals. By combining the acquisition of new agricultural production techniques with work on soil protection and restoration, CARTO aims to popularize good agroecological practices. Through the intermediary of “Leading Producers”, chosen from among former trainees, CARTO ensures greater awareness of good agricultural practices and can assess the evolution thanks to the capitalization of the results. One of their objectives is to improve food security in the diocese of Dapaong and strengthen the livelihoods of beneficiary families by popularizing sustainable agricultural practices adapted to climate change and soil depletion, and by promoting emergence of women and men leaders in their environment.

JARC: (Young Catholic Rural Adults) is a movement, created in 1961. It is a federation of peasant groups from the Savanes region. She works to support groups, drivers of development in their environment, towards their self-promotion and above all to achieve food security in a region where food shortages are frequent and where ancestral agricultural practices that destroy land still persist. By raising awareness and building the capacity of farmers in new agricultural techniques and improving traditional livestock farming, through the construction of hydraulic/sanitation and agricultural works, JARC aims to improve the living conditions of the rural world of Togolese savannahs. Today it includes nearly 600 groups of men and women, farmers and breeders, from the same village or neighborhood and spread across the entire territory of the region. The groups are organized into sectors and zones with leaders elected at each level. They, after collecting the requests from the groups, plan the work with the activity managers, employed technicians of the JARC. Activities are organized into different components: hydraulics, agriculture and livestock, literacy and women's advancement.

OCDI Dapaong: The specialised organisation of the Episcopal Conference of Togo, whose aim is the integral development of every person, is the OCDI (Organisation de la Charité pour le Développement Intégral), which is part of the Caritas network. It was created in its current form in 1987, organised into a national structure and 7 diocesan OCDIs. OCDI Dapaong is the body responsible for implementing social and development initiatives in the diocese. It is the diocesan Caritas, the structure responsible for coordinating development activities in the diocese of Dapaong.

Caritas Bamako , like Caritas Mali , was created by the Catholic Church in Mali in 1959.  Caritas Mali works in the following areas:

• Food security through the promotion of granaries
• Environmental protection, support for farmers' organisations, rural development, natural resource management. Hygiene and sanitation awareness-raising and outreach
• Community health services, strengthening infrastructure and combating HIV/AIDS
• Promoting women by encouraging craft and vocational training and support projects for women's groups
• Child protection and listening, training and support centres for children have been set up, as well as workshops for learning trades.

Caritas diocésaine de Maradi, like Caritas Développement Niger ( CADEV Niger ), was founded in 1981 and has two diocesan offices in Niamey and Maradi, which cover the whole country. CADEV Niger works in the following areas:

• Strengthening community resilience to climate risks
• Preventing malnutrition
• Access to drinking water and hygiene
• Supporting women's resilience
• Support for the socio-economic reintegration of girls.

OCADES Ouagadougou, like OCADES Caritas Burkina , was founded in 1956. It is also known as Organisation CAtholique pour le Développement et la Solidarité (OCADES). Its areas of intervention include development and human promotion, solidarity and sharing, capacity building, women, youth and the family. The programmes cover a number of sectors, from agriculture to emergency relief, including access to basic social services, microfinance, humanitarian aid, reintegration and rehabilitation of vulnerable people, food security and the promotion of women in a Sahelian context hit by extreme climate variability and change.

The Sahel Agro Ecology Programme (PAES) , which is being implemented in several countries - Senegal, Benin, Mauritania and Togo, as well as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso without AFD funding - aims to promote the development of agro ecology. This translates into agricultural production without chemical inputs; the choice of seeds adapted to the region; decent incomes for producers; and collective action and consultation between the various stakeholders in the region.

Networking is a key element of the PAES and has two objectives:

• internally, between the programme's Caritas partners, the aim is to set up a global knowledge management system (action research, monitoring, capitalisation, dissemination)
• externally, within the Caritas network and other civil society networks, the aim is to build a coherent strategy in each country and in the region that will help to mobilise civil society organisations in favour of promoting agro ecology.

At the end of the Resilient Community (CoRe), the partner Caritas organisations are working in a network with many other players and will be building a joint advocacy campaign to help promote agro ecology and family farming, a means of combating poverty in the Sahel region and improving people's resilience in a context of climate change.