the PFNAC acclaimed by Belgium.
The Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation and Big City Policy, on a working visit to Senegal from October 27 to 30, 2021, expressed her satisfaction in contact with the women processors of fishery products from GIE Bafio Ndial de Nangane. Sokone supervised by the PFNAC.
It is on the edge of the town of Sokone, near the mangrove swamp, that the building offered to women by the PFNAC (project to promote innovative finance and community adaptation in municipalities around nature reserves) is erected. communities) to strengthen their resilience to climate change. The place used as a production and processing unit for products taken from the lake, received the host of the day and his delegation.
About sixty women, whose age range varies between 20 and 60 years, work there and have developed several income-generating sectors including the exploitation of oysters (yokhoss), arche (loincloth), murex (tuffa), cymbium (yett), shrimp and smoked fish).
Welcomed by the councilor of Sokone, the representative of the UNDP and the members of the PFNAC, Meryame Kitir accompanied by the Belgian ambassador in Senegal and some Belgian journalists, were entitled to all the honors.
Following the presentation of the Nangane Sokone site by Commander Mamadou Diongue, a presentation of PFNAC interventions on the national territory was made by the project coordinator, Colonel Moussa Fall, allowing the delegation led by Ms. Kitir, to have a better knowledge of the project.
“Far from the reports that I receive and that I read in my office, I was able, today, to observe first-hand, the collegial work carried out by the State of Senegal, the community of Sokone and the populations of women that you are, ”Ms. Kitir stressed, in front of the audience made up mainly of women. The Belgian minister said she was “very happy and impressed to see how the PFNAC has positively impacted the lives of these populations and particularly that of women. This project strengthens the resilience of the women that you are and when you improve the resilience of women, on that of the entire community! And this is a priority of my policy “, she explained, before announcing:” Belgium will continue to support this project “.
Beyond the infrastructure and product processing equipment made available to the women of the GIE, the PFNAC plans to materialize their empowerment and guarantee on a large scale.
According to Moustapha Guèye, Mayor of the commune of Sokone, “the PFNAC is a sustainable project with a positive impact on the preservation of the mangrove ecosystem and on the resilience of women who are the main entrepreneurs in this district of Nangane”.
Meryame Kitir and her delegation withdrew from the Nangane Sokone fishery products processing unit, to the local sounds sung by the women who expressed their “hope to see their grievances satisfied in the near future”.