Edinburgh charity to help thousands in Senegal
5 Jun 2014 02:43 PM
CIFAL Scotland has
received over £200,000 from the British Government to help thousands of
people in Senegal fight malnutrition.
An Edinburgh sustainability
charity has received over £200,000 from the British Government to help
thousands of people in Senegal fight malnutrition and boost their incomes,
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael announced in Edinburgh
today.
CIFAL Scotland will use the
funding to rebuild a region of Northern Senegal scarred by drought, helping 4
communities in Saint-Louis province to boost food production, repair damaged
farmland and improve their incomes.
The 4 villages are home to
13,000 people who are almost entirely reliant on agriculture for their
livelihoods. However years of drought and intensive farming have left the land
degraded and unproductive. The World Food Programme has warned that
malnutrition in the area is now reaching crisis levels.
CIFAL Scotland will train
community members in sustainable farming, food processing techniques and the
use of solar cookers. CIFAL will also help the communities produce a more
diverse range of goods which can then be sold to generate
income.
The Secretary of State for
Scotland Alistair Carmichael said during a visit to CIFAL Scotland’s
Edinburgh headquarters:
I really valued the opportunity
to visit CIFAL Scotland in Edinburgh today. This support will make a huge
difference to communities in Northern Senegal. Sustainable economic development
is, without question, the only way families and farmers in Northern Senegal can
leave behind chronic and enduring poverty for good.
The dedication and hard work of
Scotland’s world-leading charities form an integral part of the
UK’s efforts to help the world’s very poorest people. This latest
grant takes the overall funding to Scottish organisations from DFID’s
Global Poverty Action Fund to over £3.5m.
Lynne Featherstone,
International Development Minister, said:
Families across Northern Senegal
have been forced to watch the land that used to provide their food, their
income and a route out of poverty slowly turn into a dustbowl. They now face a
food crisis that threatens to leave thousands malnourished.
This funding will help rebuild a
region scarred by drought, giving thousands of the world’s poorest people
hope for a better future.
May East, Chief Executive of
CIFAL Scotland, said:
DFID’s support for this
project is greatly needed and will be welcomed by local communities. The
situation in Saint-Louis province is particularly grave. Years of drought and
intensive farming have taken their toll on the land and on the livelihoods of
local farmers.
Communities are fighting a
losing battle against climate change. The shift from more traditional to large
scale factory farming methods has also degraded soil quality, making it harder
than ever for farmers to make a living. The rural exodus resulting from this
spiral of poverty leaves remaining households facing inadequate access to water
and basic services, and malnutrition is becoming a serious
threat.
Our aim is to help local
communities become self-sustaining, enabling them to manage the land more
sustainability so that they can produce a wider range of goods to consume and
sell. DFID’s funding will make an important contribution to tackling this
urgent social and environmental crisis.
The grant is part of the
Department for International Development’s Global Poverty Action Fund
(GPAF), which provides grants to charities across the UK to help them fight
poverty in the world’s poorest countries. This latest grant takes
GPAF’s total funding for Scottish organisations to just over £3.5
million. Through 162 GPAF projects Britain is improving the lives of 11.3
million people in 35 countries.