In Pèrèrè (northern Benin), land degradation is not only an environmental crisis, it is also a social injustice. While men typically cultivate the most fertile land, women are left with the degraded and exhausted plots that produce little crops and little income. As climate change intensifies droughts and soil depletion, these women are becoming increasingly vulnerable, trapped in a cycle of low productivity, poverty, and food insecurity.

In 2023, a group of two former Master’s students in Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute came together around a simple conviction: local communities already hold many of the solutions to climate change, what they often lack is the support to scale them. This vision led to the creation of Climate Relief and the launch of the Women’s fund for climate resilient agriculture, a community-led initiative designed to restore degraded land while improving the resilience of vulnerable rural households.

Our approach is built on an indigenous practice known locally as parcage (overnight livestock parking), traditionally used in West Africa to restore soil fertility. We modernized and structured this practice through a simple mechanism connecting women farmers with transhumant herders. During the dry season, herders temporarily settle their livestock overnight on degraded plots. Through manure deposition, the land is naturally fertilized and restored, while herders receive fair compensation.

This transforms manure from “waste” into a paid ecosystem restoration service, creating a win-win model where degraded land becomes productive again, herders gain additional income, and communities build stronger social cohesion.

The environmental benefits are substantial. By replacing synthetic fertilizers with organic manure, the project restores soil organic matter, improves water retention, strengthens soil biodiversity, and contributes to carbon sequestration.

Beyond land restoration, the project strengthens long-term resilience by providing improved seeds, access to working capital, and financial literacy training, enabling women farmers to translate ecological recovery into sustainable livelihoods and stronger household food security.

Our pilot delivered promising results, with crop yields increasing by 50% to 115% after one production cycle. Today, is supporting 164 women farmers across five cooperatives producing rice, maize, and soy on 258 hectares restored land.

With support from Ma Earth, we aim to restore 120 new hectares and build the resilience of other 180 women farmers if we get the maximum possible of 15,000 USD. In fact, every 1,000 USD raised will restore 8 hectares of land and build resilience of 12 women farmers.