Soy Beans for Women of Burkina Faso

Djigui Espoir is an association of handicapped women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, founded in 1994 by Madame Marie Dominique Toe when she moved to the capital from a rural village and was shocked by the discrimination and inequality faced by disabled women here, many of whom were forced to beg to make a living. These women operate a food manufacturing business, processing millet and soya beans in to traditional millet-based products, soya milk, tofu and tokan (an extra firm tofu). The association currently has 33 members, of whom 23 are disabled. Their main objective is to raise awareness and reduce the extreme poverty too often experienced by women, especially disabled women, in Burkina Faso. Their enterprise provides employment, training, empowerment and financial independence to disabled women who would otherwise struggle in a culture that sees women and the disabled as being incapable of producing high quality work.



Our hope is to raise funds to buy soy bean stock so that the women of Djigui Espoir can continue to do what they've been doing for the last 20 years. This is the hardest time of the year for food security throughout West Africa as the reserves of last year's harvest are almost dried up and this year's harvest isn't until October and November. This also means that food prices are at their highest and continuing to climb, as climate change affects farmers abilities to meet the demands of consumers. At this time, Djigui Espoir is unable to pay the soaring prices for soy beans so they can create their delicious tofu and soymilk and earn a living. The hope is that Djigui Espoir will, in the future, be able to buy enough stock, when it's at its lowest price, to last the whole year. If we were able to raise this sum they would be able to raise themselves out of the cycle of working at a loss, which in turn would increase production and Djigui Espoir would be able to build up a reserve of funds to invest where it is needed.

Goals of Djigui Espoir:
Fight extreme poverty by providing access to income generating activities
Train disabled women in work adapted to their physical condition
To raise awareness of capabilities of the disabled
To strengthen solidarity and promote community through personal and wider developments
Through eco-activity improve the self-sufficiency, social status and skills of the association and its members.

Find out more information here: Djigui Espoir Website