Across West Africa, women farmers are reclaiming land, preserving seeds, and passing down knowledge that has sustained their communities for generations. These West African women farmers are growing food, restoring soil, and nurturing biodiversity while also cultivating resilience and autonomy for their communities.

They’re doing all this through Nous Sommes la Solution (“We Are the Solution”), where rural women farmers are joining together to restore ancestral knowledge of food production and land stewardship. Decades of industrial farming practices have led to soil depletion, loss of native seeds, and harmful economic outcomes throughout West Africa. In response, communities came together to form Nous Sommes la Solution (NSS), which now connects 175,000 women farmers across nine countries from Senegal to Mali, Ghana to Burkina Faso. Nous Sommes la Solution (NSS) is a powerful answer to farming practices and food systems that put profit before people. Their vision is simple: food systems led by women, rooted in local wisdom, and grounded in sovereignty.

“I come from a family that practices agroecological farming. My grandfather loved trees - he loved cultivating, he loved producing everything he wanted, but he especially loved giving a lot. Everything my grandfather said and practiced is what I am living now.” - Mariama Sonko, Co-founder of Nous Sommes la Solution

Why Agroecology Matters

Agroecology is a way of farming that works with nature, where farmers use traditional ecological knowledge. Beyond a sustainable farming method, it’s also a climate solution, a livelihood strategy, and a pathway to justice.

Agroecology has been proven to restore degraded soils, draw carbon back into the ground, and protect water systems. It reduces dependency on expensive chemical inputs like toxic fertilizers that harm both ecosystems and farmers’ health. It creates abundance that is shared within communities, ensuring food security and dignity for generations.

Where industrial agriculture drives climate and ecological harm, agroecology offers regeneration. It shows us that solutions to the climate and food crisis already exist, and can be found in the hands and knowledge of frontline communities.

This Is What Agroecology Looks Like in Practice for West African Women Farmers

Seed Sovereignty

Women farmers save, exchange, and cultivate Indigenous seeds adapted to local climates, preserving biodiversity and reducing dependency on imported or genetically modified seeds.

Soil Restoration

Training communities to make and apply organic compost, natural mulches, and biofertilizers that restore health to degraded soils instead of using chemical fertilizers.

Agroforestry and Biodiversity

Planting trees and integrating diverse crops in the same field, which improves soil health, reduces pests, and strengthens resilience to climate shocks.

Read the full article about the Nous Sommes la Solution movement at Thousand Currents.