Sierra Leone: Planting the seeds of a better future

The Ogoo Women Farmers Association outside Freetown has every right to be proud of what it has achieved: in just a few months its 300 members, many of them displaced women or war widows, have transformed underused farmland into verdant fields bearing rich crops of local and imported vegetables, such as okra, krin-krin, pumpkins and tomatoes. This was made possible by the women's own hard work and by the timely support of the ICRC and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, which together provided the seed, tools and training. The Ministry of Agriculture also played a key role in the project.

As the association's chairman, Mariama Keita, stressed, women can do a lot to solve their own problems: " We women got together to help ourselves and to avoid the vices of prostitution and idleness. For displaced women in particular, our association offers the means of earning some money and supporting their families. " Mariama explained that some of the income generated by selling crops is shared among the members while the rest is saved up for community projects and to buy more seed.

The example of the Ogoo association shows that assistance programmes for women affected by war must build on their strengths and abilities, and allow them to take charge. Last year, the ICRC and the National Society supported nearly 12,000 Sierra Leonean women in this way; in 2001 they plan to assist a further 60,000 women in the country who are hoping to plant the seeds of a better future.