The project

 

In the scope of its 2021 campaign on the theme of sustainable construction in Africa, the setec Foundation has initiated a partnership with the association ANI International. ANI came forward with a project of sustainable construction for a manioc transformation unit in Lékié (Cameroun). This project, planned over the span of 12 months, is co-financed by partners such as the EDF Group, the Mairie de Paris and the Abbé Pierre Foundation. It is thus divided into a first phase of construction work, and a second of formation to the techniques of automatized manioc transformation doubled with the creation of revenue-making activity for the beneficiaries.

 

Building before construction work began © ANI International

Sustainable construction

 

The first phase consists in the renovation of preexisting and abandoned buildings, as well as the construction of a solar field to meet the needs in energy of the center. This solar field, which will be of a 400 square meters surface area, will be completed by a control room. In addition to the renovated buildings, two other buildings will be built from the ground up, of a surface area of 35 square meters each, as well as a drilling site and a water tower to meet the water needs of the center. The circular aspect of the construction resides in the renovation and reuse of the woodwork and metal pieces of the existing building such as windows, doors, barriers… These were detached from the building for renovation by a local craftsperson and then reinstalled and allowed for the original form of the building to be conserved in addition to the ecological benefit of this action.

 

Renovation of the main building © Norbert Kouawa

 

This transformation center will allow the independence of women in rural Lékié in precarious economic situations, giving them the possibility to commercialize the products created through the transformation process of the unit. It will give access to the network’s beneficiaries a room for formation purposes as well as tools for transforming manioc free of charge. The project will benefit at least 10 women by the end of the construction, and over 100 women of the Manioc Producers and Transformers Network of the Lékié.

How has the project evolved? 

 

In August, Norbert Kouawa, our setec Afrique collaborator, visited the site of the project in order to exchange with the association’s representatives and the project team. He gave the Foundation a summary of his visit in which he detailed the advancement of the construction work and his local interpretation of the impacts of the project. Thanks to his acute knowledge of the local stakes of construction projects in Cameroun, Norbert was able to give a most precise opinion; he saluted the work ANI International is doing for this rural women’s community and the impact it will have on their lives once finalized.

 

Visit of the project’s  site by Norbert Hoawa in company of Sandrine Owana, the architect of the project © Norbert Kouawa