"For so many months you have been coming here, and I never had money to buy you any pounded yam to thank you. Now, after what we have sold, I can finally feed you dinner. So sit down, you're not going anywhere!" - Yarou Ganni, President, Bessasi women's farming group This was the directive given this spring to Jennifer Burney, the Solar Electric Light Fund's project manager in Benin, West Africa, by the woman whose farming collective benefitted from a SELF project made possible by CFC and other donors. Through the innovative combination of solar power and drip-irrigation,SELF enabled the farmers to produce crops year-round. The dry season wreaks havoc on the lives of millions of people year after year. The 104,000 people living in Benin's Kalalé District are particularly hard hit - 95% of them rely on subsistence farming for survival. The dry season usually brings poor diets and little income. But after SELF's Solar Market Gardens were installed in two villages in the Kalalé district of Benin in 2007, things changed. Powered by the energy harnessed from the sun, the systems pumped water to irrigate fields year-round. For the first time, farmers grew high-value fruits and vegetable during the six month dry season. Their families' nutrition dramatically improved and they grew enough produce to sell at market. Through the generosity of CFC and other supporters, SELF can replicate this success in additional villages in Benin. The Solar Market Garden is a model for clean energy's value throughout the developing world.
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