International Year of the Woman Farmer: West Africa Community of Practice
In celebration of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, we’re honored to share the stories of three women farmers. They are among so many women who have shown tireless effort and creativity, while advancing equity, in one of the most challenging areas of the world.
Houreye Boukari
From Seeds to Solutions: A Woman Farmer’s Journey to Improve Community Nutrition and Resilience in Niger
Clockwise from left: Houreye Boukari; Houreye with grain processors in Tera, Niger; Houreye receiving an award certificate.
Houreye Boukari is a female member of “Hareyben”, a Niger farmers’ union based in Tera. The Hareyben Union claims membership to the larger MOORIBEN federation.. In her endeavors to improve and build greater resilience in this food-insecure livelihoods, Houreye does not only work as a farmer. She also collaborates with researchers to find locally adapted solutions to issues facing farming systems, which she then helps to implement and share with members of her community. Besides her engagement in nutrition-sensitive agriculture and grain processing, Houreye also engages in pearl millet production and contributed to bio-control of the pearl millet head miner using locally produced parasitoid release bags
Houreye is a strong leader in a network of women who work in local processing centres. In these centers, the women process nutritious flours using locally harvested cereals, legumes, fruits, non-timber forest products and vegetables. The women’s processing activities allow them to generate much-needed income for their groups. They sell sell the processed resources to help fight malnutrition among children and displaced populations, and to generate income for both farmers and processor groups. Houreye The remarkable positive shift as result of these activities is magnified in Houreye’s following explanations: “Before, if a child was malnourished, you had to go to the health centre, and the midwife would tell you what to do. Now we don’t have to go to the health centre for this. We have our own products. Women who work in the processing centres know how to prepare nutritious foods that they can give to their child for a few weeks and the malnutrition is finished.”
The processing centres emerged as missing links in a research project focused on seed production. The idea of processing the grains harvested from improved varieties into nutritious blends came up. Over time, with the help of research funding and the commitment of researchers in Niger, an initial centre in a large city grew into secondary centres in smaller towns. Currently, women members set up third tier centres in smaller villages to process their own flours for their communities.
The Hareyben Union trains their members in food safety, leadership, marketing and developing partnerships, as Houreye explains: “Women who are interested in processing are very determined. They give themselves body and soul to help others. And when I learn, there are many others who benefit from my skills. So those women also are committed to processing. Then you stay to help others in the future.”
Besides her engagement in grain processing, Houreye also engages in pearl millet production and contributed to bio-control of the pearl millet head miner using locally produced parasitoid release bags.
In summary, Houreye has taken her work as a farmer and a leader to implement innovations from research in her local context, create learning opportunities for other women, and generate income. In doing so, she has made outstanding contributions to greater food security of the local communities around Tera and numerous displaced people in her region. These efforts help to fight hunger and malnutrition, and build resilience in the challenging context of the Sahel region.
Aminata Sanogo
From Whole Grains to Governance: A Farmer Making a Difference in Rural Mali
Left and bottom: Aminata Sanogo; Top right: Collective cooking of nutritious food at the N‘Golobougou village.
Aminata Sanogo is a 48-year-old woman farmer living in N’Golobougou, in the Dioïla district of Mali. A widow and mother of five, she is recognized as one of the leading women in her community. Her life and work demonstrate the importance of local knowledge, learning by doing, and community engagement, which can be just as crucial as formal education when it comes to taking on a leadership role.
More than ten years ago, she began cooking Tô — a dish typical of the region — using whole sorghum grains, without hulling them to remove the bran. In a society where women and girls are expected to spend a lot of time pounding grain, this carried a social cost. “There’s a significant social stigma that prevents people from eating whole grains,” she explains. “If you eat the bran, you must be really poor because you’re eating everything you can.” But Aminata knew that nearly half of essential micronutrients like iron and zinc are lost when grain is hulled — and that skipping the step freed up time for mothers to spend with their children. She also began teaching women in her neighborhood to prepare sorghum and millet dishes using unhulled grains or mixing them with cowpeas, a protein-rich legume.
She continued building her knowledge through the Kolanban cooperative, before joining JEKAFO cooperative, of which she is one of the main founders and now serves as secretary of external relations. The cooperative is a member of the local grain producers’ union (ULPC) which is responsible for implementing a research project coordinated by ICRISAT, “Networking for Seed”. Aminata thus became engaged in collaborative research with technicians and researchers where she developed expertise in seed production, sorghum and groundnut variety trials, and sustainable agricultural practices. She now serves as a knowledge-sharing liaison within her cooperative and on the N’Golobougou seed management committee. “The collaboration between producers and researchers has allowed us to better understand seed production techniques, to know the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid varieties, and to be able to sell the seeds without difficulty to other producers,” she says. “Today, women are more involved in the organization’s activities and actively participate in decision-making.”
Aminata has also pursued training in leadership, the GALS (Gender Action Learning System) approach, biofertilizer preparation, and agricultural processing, strengthening both her technical skills and her ability to support other women.
Today she holds several community roles: council member at the N’Golobougou town hall, chair of the local FNAFER chapter, nutrition liaison at the local health center for children and pregnant women, member of the women processors’ committee, and administrative secretary of the “Tekereni” savings and credit group. She also promotes literacy among women and youth and participates in community outreach through the local network of traditional communicators.
In addition to all of this, Aminata grows peanuts, rice, cowpeas, and vegetables on her own farm and sells at the weekly market in N’Golobougou — demonstrating the full value of women farmers in agricultural production, community leadership, and governance.
Maïmouna Yonaba
Uprooted but Undefeated: Growing Hope in Burkina Faso’s Conflict Zone
Clockwise from left: Maïmouna Yonaba; Sweet potato cakes; Collective processing and cooking
From Forced Displacement to Reconstruction
Maïmouna Yonaba lives in Burkina Faso, a West African country in the Sahel region—a relatively arid area between the Sahara and the rainier zone further south. The Sahel is affected by a security crisis that has forced approximately 3 million people to be internally displaced and approximately 2.6 million to seek refuge in other countries.1 More specifically, Burkina Faso had approximately 2,062,534 internally displaced persons.2 This situation negatively affects the food security of those affected.
Maïmouna Yonaba is a mother of seven children. On account of this insecurity, she had to flee with her family. Now settled in the village of Mocomtonré (Diabo commune), she decided to fight to feed her family. That is where she crossed paths with the Association Nourrir Sans Détruire (ANSD).
Before, Maïmouna only knew how to boil or fry orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP). During harvest season, a large portion of the crop would rot due to a lack of preservation techniques. Thanks to support from ANSD, she and other women received training that taught them how to peel the sweet potatoes properly, slice them into very thin rounds (shred them), and then dry them. It is this shredded and dried product that can be stored for a long time.
They then learned how to grind these dried pieces into a fine flour. The training taught them how to use the flour to diversify the diets of their households and for the market, particularly to prepare tô, porridge for children, and, of course, cakes.
Beyond ensuring her family’s food security, Maïmouna has become an entrepreneur. With her potato cakes, she has won over the local market. “We sell at the market now, and people are surprised and ask, ‘Can you really make a cake out of that?’” she says proudly.
A group of 25 women focused on business
Faced with the challenge of accessing raw materials during this period, Maïmouna and neighbouring women have demonstrated remarkable organizational skills. They have formed a group of 25 women, pooling their meager resources through contributions to buy supplies directly from the market and keep their business running.
A message of hope
Despite the difficult security situation, Maïmouna remains optimistic. She encourages all women to grow and process sweet potatoes: “With these preservation techniques, we can have the product available at any time to eat or sell.”
In this International Year of Women Farmers, Maïmouna’s story proves that women are the pillars of food security, the health of their households, and the economies of their respective villages.
NOTES
1. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (HCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) (March 2026).
2. Secrétariat Permanent du Conseil national de secours d’urgence et de réhabilitation (SP-CONASUR) (2023).
Date:
7/7/2026