Rural Women are the Solution – Nous Sommes la Solution and Mariama Sonko Work for Food Sovereignty in West Africa

Nous Sommes la Solution started as a campaign in 2011, born out of a need to highlight the voices of family farmers in West Africa. These farmers are central to food sovereignty but have limited access to land and production resources. What began as a campaign by twelve rural women’s organizations has today turned into an NGO. With over 800 rural women’s member organizations and over 185.000 members across West Africa, Nous Sommes la Solution is a driving force in the fight for and promotion of biodiversity, family farming, agroecology, peasant seeds, equal access to resources, food sovereignty, and participatory governance.

“If rural women, who are the driving force behind rural development, are made aware, equipped, and empowered, they and their allies can be the solution to all our suffering,” says Mariama Sonko, national coordinator of Nous Sommes La Solution, and a defender of local knowledge and farming practices since 1990.

The goal of the organization is to work for an Africa where, in solidarity, rural women are involved in the decision-making, cultivating, processing, selling, and consumption of family farming products while preserving the environment for harmonious and sustainable development.

Agroecology at the helm of Nous Sommes la Solution

At Terra Madre, Sonko is participating as a panelist at the conference “Agroecology: Agriculture on the Side of Nature.” The principles of agroecology are integrated into all activities by Nous Sommes la Solution.

“The peasant agroecology we promote as an ethic of life and agricultural technique enables populations to regain their autonomy, food security, and safety while regenerating and preserving their food heritage,” says Sonko. She continues:

“Peasant agroecology is, first and foremost, a corpus of living practices supported by social movements with a shared political objective of social, ecological, and sustainable agriculture rooted in the territories. It is part of a dynamic of global societal transformation that affects all sectors of activity, and women are the main players.”

Integrated Farms & Multiplication of Peasant Rice Seeds

There are many examples of how members of the Nous Sommes la Solution movement work concretely according to agroecological principles. Sonko mentions a few:
“We have been setting up integrated farms for experimentation and capacity-building on good agroecological practices based on solar energy, establishing agroforestry nurseries, and creating processing and training units for farmers’ agroecological products.”

Other examples of agroecology in action by the organization are the creation or rehabilitation of community groves, reconstitution of farmers’ seed capital by setting up seed huts, and advocacy for rural women and healthy and nutritious food. 

In the coming year, Nous Sommes la Solution and Mariama Sonko will work on the multiplication of peasant rice seeds and the promotion of integrated agroecological farms, among several other projects. The organization is also promoting a broth called Sum Pak, which is much more than a nutritious and tasty product, explains Sonko:  

“The broth is based on local products and can be used to enhance the taste of a dish. It also promotes the local spices our ancestors used in their cooking. This broth will enable us to preserve these local nutrient-rich ingredients, some of which play a role in fertilization, reforestation, and job creation.”

FACT BOX

Who: Mariama Sonko

Where: Niaguis, a town in southwestern Senegal

About: Farmer and national coordinator of the organization Nous Sommes la Solution. Sonko is also active in the fight for the human and socio-economic rights of women and young people.