A Green Programme in Guinea Provides Safer Alternatives and Opportunities for Youth

In Laya Doula, a village in Upper Guinea, social distribution of labour is well structured. 

IOM conducted a participatory diagnostic study in 2020 to strengthen local community resilience. The Guinean authorities, Institut Supérieur Agronomique et Vétérinaire de Faranah (ISAVF) and NGO ADDIG took part in the project “Strengthening Resilience of Communities Affected by Climate Change and Environmental Degradation”, which highlighted several dynamics.

Women are in charge of market garden activities, while men cultivate cereal products in fields. The harvests obtained by both men and women do not therefore serve the same purposes in the household management. Cereals are used directly to feed the household, while vegetables are intended to be sold. In this context, losses generated by the market gardens have a direct impact on the household income, which is almost exclusively provided and guaranteed by the women.

Faced with the growing uncertainty caused by environmental degradation, more and more men decide to resort to mobility strategies. As Mohamed Keira, representative of the NGO ADDIG, reminds us: “Migration is really a trendy situation here. When we migrate, it means that things are not going well at home. Many of our children leave us for the gold-mining areas in Siguiri. Some die, victims of pit collapses. The youngest have the ambition to go elsewhere, they are told that going to the Western world is even better.”

Migration is therefore an adaptation strategy, implemented by young people to compensate for uncertainty and lack of livelihood income, caused by climate change.

Based on concerns raised during the participatory community dialogues, knowledge was generated on the perceptions and practices of the village residents with respect to climate change. A better local understanding of the nexus between environmental management and youth mobility was established. 

In this area, as in many others, although irregular migration is an adaptation strategy considered by the population, there are safer alternatives. Indeed, by involving the village inhabitants in decision-making processes, IOM has been able to provide solutions that fit their needs and realities. 

Through an adapted and inclusive support, IOM has enabled the inhabitants of Laya Doula to develop local and safe development opportunities. The implementation of green farming techniques in the village has enabled the development of new adaptation strategies against climate change. 

The ISAVF trained 150 women from three market gardening groups through a participatory process. The focus was on the transmission of organic composting techniques based on plant and animal waste. Young people were involved in the project to carry out tasks that require physical efforts and assist the groups: “You know, with the project, some young people were engaged to work on the site development. This prevented them from moving around the mining sites in Siguiri,” says Mohamed Keira.

Thanks to the compost, women of the group have been able to obtain better yields and are planning to entrust young people with delivering products from the perimeters to downtown using motorbike taxis. The president of the women’s group, Fanta Keira whose two children have gone to work in mines in Siguiri, is extremely satisfied with the project results and prospects it offers young people, and reminds that “before the project, people used to leave the village”. 

To ensure the project sustainability and results, state actors have been trained in capacity building in Environmental Migration and Climate Change. “We are now contributing to raising awareness among communities about the nexus between environmental degradation and youth mobility to gold mining areas in Siguiri,” explains proudly one of the Faranah agricultural advisors.