Supporting Women and Girls Through Sustainable Agriculture and Renewable Energy
Sustainable agriculture and renewable energy systems are very important because they help humanity keep feeding itself without creating a hostile environment for living.
Sakiratou Karimou, 2021 Fellowship Alumna, Benin
Growing up, 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow Sakiratou Karimou always knew she wanted to help her community and support vulnerable individuals. During a research field study evaluating the rice value chain in northern Benin, women discussed with her how they had to abandon their processing activities because they could no longer find firewood and could not afford charcoal or gas as alternatives to firewood. After hearing that sentiment, Sakiratou dedicated her career to finding sustainable ways of producing renewable energy for communities.
To transform the agricultural and energy sector, Sakiratou founded Vert-Monde, an NGO that implements projects to provide bioenergy to rural households, to give sustainable agriculture tools to farmers, and to reduce plastics pollution. She is also the founder of SNaturel, a social enterprise that recycles plastic waste to create fashion, agricultural, and construction products.
Learn more about her work support women and girls through sustainable agriculture in this YALI Network blog post.
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Bongekile Matsenjwa
2021 Fellowship Alumna, Eswatini