Meals for learning, decent conditions for canteen mothers

In the Kara region, in northern Togo, The rural village of Kadjada lives primarily from family farming, on poor soils and with increasingly shorter rainy seasons.During the lean season, from January to April, families' stocks run out and many students only eat one meal a day, in the evening. The result fatigue, difficulty concentrating and absenteeism. A canteen is already operating thanks to 36 volunteer canteen mothers, but under precarious conditions. Meals are cooked outdoors over fires placed on the ground, food is stored in the headmaster's office and the children eat in the yard or in the classroom.

The project is led by the Togolese NGO A3E, pioneer of community school canteens in the area since 2004, in partnership with the association Au Cœur de Nos Rêves. In Tablao and then in Kpandéda, the association of equipped canteens and school gardens has proven itself. The vegetables produced diversify meals, and students are introduced to composting and sustainable agricultural practices. Attendance and academic performance have improved. In parallel, The Djamdé agroecological farm, with its irrigated market gardening and compost production, supports the supply of canteens and their financial autonomy. At the request of the community, the Kadjada project will in turn benefit from a canteen equipped with improved stoves and an agroecological garden, for the benefit of 243 students.