Executive Secretariat of ENDA-TM (Dakar, Senegal) : Jacques Begnicourt 5, rue Kléber Tel. : (221) 821 60 27 / 822 42 29 / 822 21 25 E-mail : se@enda.sn There are three teams of ENDA-TM in Senegal : GRAF (Research-Action-Training Group) Sahel and West Africa : Emmanuel Seyni Ndione BP 13069, Grand Yoff, Dakar, Senegal. Tel. : (221) 827 20 25 / 827 16 72 / 827 16 76 Fax : (221) 827 32 15 E-mail : graf@enda.sn/ graf@sonatel.senet.net
RUP (Relay for Urban Participatory Development) Malik Gaye Regional coordination and information component. 54, rue Carnot, BP 3370, Dakar, Senegal. Tel. : (221) 822 09 42 Fax : (221) 822 26 95 / 823 51 57 E-mail : rup@enda.sn Main fields of intervention : - Urban management (cities and villages), - Sanitation and access to water, - Social Housing, - Health education, - local and world network coordination. Members of the RUP : Nfally Badiane Mamadou Bassene Ibou Bodian Khady Diagne Badara Dieng Loly Diouf Sabine Kete Emmanuel Ndene Bruno de Reviers Marième Sy	West African ECOPOLE Rue Félix Eboué, Dakar, Senegal. Tel. : (221) 823 56 63 Fax : (221) 822 26 95 Main fields of intervention : - Struggle against poverty, for creativity and citizenship, - Under-privileged areas development, - Popular culture.

This project aims to promote sanitation in eight neighbourhoods of Thiès, and to experiment with and diffuse techniques for composting organic matter found in household wastes. The project is co-ordinated in partnership with the Women's Federation of ThiÈs.

History and achievements

The GRAF team began the project by organising a series of meetings with associations interested in implementing environmental actions, in 10 neighbourhoods of Dakar.

The process involved the following:
- Environmental assessment and self-appraisal by the populations concerned;
- Proposal of actions and elaboration of a working calendar.

A first site for the project had been initially found in Thiaroye, a neighbourhood of Dakar. Unfortunately, a conflict arose between the owners of the land, which led to the withdrawal of the offer to lease the site, and so the activities already underway had to be interrupted.

Difficulties in finding another site in the Dakar area led Enda GRAF to delocalise the project to Thiès, where the context was more favourable. Two sites were available in the city, and the women's federation of Thiès, GRAF's partner, had already initiated local environmental activities, such as organising waste collection operations using horse-drawn carts.

During the first phase, the main activity of the project was the preparation of two sites (bottoming of wells, weeding...) to allow the composting operations and the market gardening to begin. An agreement was then passed with cart drivers to bring the wastes to the site for sorting in view of making compost. Unwanted wastes are then redirected to the municipal dump. Twenty-nine youths from poor families worked on the project. Since October 1996, the sale of market garden produce and compost has been their only revenue.

Objectives for the second phase

- The promotion of public health in poor neighbourhoods of Thiès, by encouraging and recognising the value of initiatives undertaken in these areas, in particular with regard to alternative waste collection schemes;
- Experimentation with and popularisation techniques for composting organic matter and for market gardening;
- The social and economic promotion of youths;
- To help populations to have a global vision of their neighbourhood and to better manage their resources.

Resources

Various physical means, such as pumps, wheel-barrows, basins, boots, masks, gloves, shovels, rakes, forks... are used by the group in the two new districts participating in the Preceup II.

Human resources are:
- a co-ordinator and a secretary, youths who will be partly paid by the project, and cart drivers who are paid by the populations themselves.

Main activities

- Support to local initiatives for alternative waste collection;
- Preparation of the project sites;
- Purchase of various equipment and tools;
- Preparation of composting areas;
- Implementation of tree cultures and reforesting schemes;
- Training of workers;
- Compost and vegetable production, and sheep raising by two groups;
- Commercialisation of plants and produce;
- Neighbourhood animation;
- General assemblies;
- Establishment of health committees;
- Identification of individuals or institutions in the neighbourhood (resource persons or institutions);
- Environmental education for children (visits and practical activities);
- Production of a video film;
- Exchange of experiences;
- Assistance to groups from other regions wanting to initiate composting and market gardening schemes;
- Exchanges between groups from different neighbourhoods;
- Organisation of workshops on urban issues.

Expected results

- Improvement in health and sanitation, the implementation of self-managed networks of waste-collectors and reduced displacements of women (door-to-door cart service reduces need to transport wastes);
- For the second phase of the programme, the creation of 30 jobs in two new neighbourhoods, Diakhao and Bambara, and additional revenues for artisan recyclers and cart drivers;
- Appropriate technology transfer for composting and natural treatment of cultures (8,200 kg of compost per year to be produced in the new neighbourhoods);
- The extension of the action to other neighbourhoods (at least 10) through the exchange of experiences.