2021/22 : In Togo, construction of a school canteen and a market garden
In Togo, one of the 25 poorest countries on the planet, a quarter of students drop out of school before the end of primary school. Children go there on foot (sometimes more than 10 kilometers) and often suffer from malnutrition, which has a negative impact on their attention span.
The project consists of creating a canteen and a market garden within the school to supply it with fresh vegetables in order to offer breakfast and lunch to the 152 students aged 6 to 13 from the village of Gbagban-Kondji (1,430 inhabitants) 1h30 from the capital Lomé.
The planned school canteen was made up of 3 buildings: a store for food products and crops, a kitchen for the preparation of meals by the 5 volunteer cooks and a shed for the distribution of the two daily meals.
The planned market garden was installed on a 200 m² plot given free of charge by the village authorities and supplied with free water by the Togolese state.
Maintenance of the garden is carried out by around ten women volunteers from the village.
The purchase of products needed for cooking (oil, salt, etc.) is renewed thanks to a financial contribution requested from parents of students set at 10 CFA francs (one and a half euro cents) per student for the 2 meals. By comparison, a lollipop costs 25 CFA francs in Togo.
This amount was determined to remain accessible to all and taking into account the cost price of meals which amounts to 125 CFA francs (i.e. €0.19) per day (50 francs for breakfast and 75 francs for lunch), knowing that the vast majority of the 152 students currently enrolled in the school will benefit from meals (i.e. 1,500 CFA francs of estimated revenue).
At the end of 2022, the entire 1,200 square meter area of the school market garden was cultivated and now produces corn and vegetables, part of the harvest of which is sold, which brings additional financial income to the school canteen.
In addition, the canteen has just obtained approval from the Togolese Ministry of Grassroots Development, Youth and Youth Employment to be one of the canteens receiving a state subsidy, calculated according to the number of meals served. The presence of the garden, school latrines and a quality building such as the one built with the help of La Fondation La Petite Etoile were determining factors at the time of the ministry's decision.
Total Budget : €18,000
Co-participants: Fondation La Petite Etoile, International Cooperation for Local Balances (CIELO), Togolese Association for the Promotion of the Rural World and Disinherited People (APMRPD)
Budget provided by Fondation La Petite Etoile : € 6,000
End of the project: July 2022.
In Togo, one of the 25 poorest countries on the planet, a quarter of students drop out of school before the end of primary school. Children go there on foot (sometimes more than 10 kilometers) and often suffer from malnutrition, which has a negative impact on their attention span.
The project consists of creating a canteen and a market garden within the school to supply it with fresh vegetables in order to offer breakfast and lunch to the 152 students aged 6 to 13 from the village of Gbagban-Kondji (1,430 inhabitants) 1h30 from the capital Lomé.
The planned school canteen was made up of 3 buildings: a store for food products and crops, a kitchen for the preparation of meals by the 5 volunteer cooks and a shed for the distribution of the two daily meals.
The planned market garden was installed on a 200 m² plot given free of charge by the village authorities and supplied with free water by the Togolese state.
Maintenance of the garden is carried out by around ten women volunteers from the village.
The purchase of products needed for cooking (oil, salt, etc.) is renewed thanks to a financial contribution requested from parents of students set at 10 CFA francs (one and a half euro cents) per student for the 2 meals. By comparison, a lollipop costs 25 CFA francs in Togo.
This amount was determined to remain accessible to all and taking into account the cost price of meals which amounts to 125 CFA francs (i.e. €0.19) per day (50 francs for breakfast and 75 francs for lunch), knowing that the vast majority of the 152 students currently enrolled in the school will benefit from meals (i.e. 1,500 CFA francs of estimated revenue).
At the end of 2022, the entire 1,200 square meter area of the school market garden was cultivated and now produces corn and vegetables, part of the harvest of which is sold, which brings additional financial income to the school canteen.
In addition, the canteen has just obtained approval from the Togolese Ministry of Grassroots Development, Youth and Youth Employment to be one of the canteens receiving a state subsidy, calculated according to the number of meals served. The presence of the garden, school latrines and a quality building such as the one built with the help of La Fondation La Petite Etoile were determining factors at the time of the ministry's decision.
Total Budget : €18,000
Co-participants: Fondation La Petite Etoile, International Cooperation for Local Balances (CIELO), Togolese Association for the Promotion of the Rural World and Disinherited People (APMRPD)
Budget provided by Fondation La Petite Etoile : € 6,000
End of the project: July 2022.