Tarbiyya Tatali

Monitoring in 70 villages in the Dogondoutchi department

Marie-Françoise — 2025-07-23T15:23:27Z

The implementation of the “Monitoring in 70 villages in the Dogondoutchi department” action from January 2025 follows the cessation of almost all subsidies from France, the termination of the Cesson-Dankassari decentralized cooperation and the dissolution of the AESCD. However, membership fees and donations allow AECIN to send some financial resources to Niger.

Under these conditions, it has become impossible to create new grain banks, new nurseries, teach literacy skills to new women's groups, allow new villages to benefit from the microcredit system, provide new goat kits, create new mini drinking water systems, convert hand pumps into self-sufficient water points, or equip new health facilities with sanitation or solar energy.

However, through regular monitoring, we will be able to ensure the satisfactory and sustainable operation of fourteen grain banks and four nurseries, the regular repayment of microcredit in thirteen villages, organize the regular renewal of one hundred and thirty goat kits, ensure the proper maintenance of dozens of equipped or rehabilitated water points, and monitor the quality of latrine and solar equipment maintenance in more than twenty health facilities.

Identification of villages

Given that the same villages have often benefited from multiple projects, RAEDD and AECIN have identified seventy villages for monitoring. The vast majority of these are located in the rural commune of Dankassari, thanks to the achievements of the Cesson-Dankassari decentralized cooperation. The monitoring, financed with AECIN's own funds, is carried out through field visits by the RAEDD's monitoring and sustainability manager, who prepares a monthly report. The goal is to visit each of the seventy villages at least once a year. Part of the monitoring can be done by telephone or by tapping into the RAEDD's network of contacts.

To identify actions to follow and optimize travel, we rely on our geographic information system.

First half of 2025

The monitoring system is functioning satisfactorily; the monthly report is shared and discussed between AECIN and RAEDD. More than forty villages have been visited: twenty-five villages in the commune of Dankassari, seven in the commune of Matankari, seven in the commune of Dogondoutchi, and one each in the Dogon Kiria, Kieche, and Soucoucoutane communes.

The overall assessment is very satisfactory; the facilities installed are well maintained by the local population. There are some areas where adjustments need to be made.

For example, in twelve of the thirteen villages where microcredit operates, women's groups were able to repay the amounts granted, allowing for the granting of new microcredits. Only in Chanono was repayment not possible due to poor harvests, and the women requested an extension to repay the amount, which was approved by the RAEDD.

Additional details are provided section by section in the following articles:

for access to water: Water Access 2025-2026 in the Dogondoutchi Department
for sanitation
for energy
for food security and the environment: grain banks, nurseries, assisted natural regeneration
for education: school gardens, passing the BEPC exam
for women's empowerment: microcredit and goat kits
for family planning

Project writing training

2024-05-29T09:52:28Z

A project writing training session was held from May 5 to 7, 2023, in the meeting room of the Dankassari Town Hall. The purpose of this training was to learn how to draft development projects on identified themes or other topics.

This training, funded by AESCD's resources with contributions from the Dankassari Town Hall (provision of the meeting room) and RAEDD (caring for its permanent secretary who came from Niamey), was led by Nouvel Espoir.

Took part in this training members of the municipal council of Dankassari, representatives of some municipal services, and members of RAEDD.

The goal was to write project proposals.

The selected projects were as follows:

Establishment of a municipal agroforestry sector
Implementation of cattle kits for milk production
Deep drilling for the Marake Rogo market gardening site
Training in soap and cream making to diverse income-generating activities
Acquisition of new carts for midwives
Support for the local development forum and cultural days
Equipment for the town hall's meeting and training room

The session was highly appreciated but was too short to produce fully developed projects.

Further work will be necessary.

Geographical Information System

Marie-Françoise — 2021-07-10T17:45:07Z

A Geographical Information System makes it possible to transform data into interactive maps. It matters in sustainable development actions by allowing:

Better governance of local projects.
Better management of projects thanks to shared information.
Better communication on projects.

Development of a small Geographical Information System for Dankassari

AESCD, with help from RAEDD, has developed a Geographical Information System able to convert an Excel file localizing villages and populations into an interactive map. It results from a Polytech Angers student's project in the summer of 2020. A little Python program generates the .html interactive card from the Excel file. Internet connection is not necessary with a .html file

The Excel database was initiated by Mr Mamane Chadaou, in charge of Decentralised Cooperation in Dankassari. It has been updated since then by AESCD, thanks to Mamane Chadaou's monthly progress reports.
It is a useful tool to create interactive maps localizing our actions. Up to now, it has been used in France at supervision committees with the Cesson-Sévigné town council, at AESCD general meetings, in various reports as well as in our Magazine.

Training in Niger

Now, the goal is to make it possible to use it in Niger and train the RAEDD team, the mayor, and the Dankassari elected representatives as well as local services. Eventually, the cards will have to be updated and created in Niger and the tool will be used for decision-making and monitoring of activities.

A 4-day training session h being organized. The session took place at Dankassari Town Hall from March 28 to 30, 2022. The electricity needed was provided in the morning by a generator and in the afternoon by Nigelec.
The training program was as follows

Word of welcome from the representative of the Mayor of Dankassari
Presentation of participants -
Presentation of the training objectives
What is a Geographic Information System, and tutorials
Introduction to the Geographic Coordinate System and practical work
Database, Use of interactive maps and detailed map of Dankassari
Use of the “map” program, practical work - Generations of interactive maps
Report and conclusions.

There were 2 trainers and 22 participants elected or responsible for different municipal services of the municipality of Dankassari (general secretariat, agriculture, livestock, civil status, environment), members of RAEDD or RAIL.

The training took place in an excellent atmosphere and aroused a lot of interest, the questions were numerous and the practical work very motivating.

All the people who came with their laptops were able to implement the practical work by exploring the database and the existing maps. The generation of new maps was only possible for the trainers because some necessary software was missing on the laptops of the participants.

The coordinates or denominations of certain villages of the rural commune could in particular be rectified by the participants on the database.

During the review session, the participants expressed their enthusiasm and hoped that a new training could be organized in the future.

A new training session took place in Dankassari from July 10 to 12, 2023. The first day was disrupted due to heavy rain, which affected the telephone network and required the mayor and his municipal team to manage the consequences. Despite this, the training proceeded as planned.
Participants learned to update a database in an Excel file and generate the corresponding interactive maps. Specifically, the municipal Civil Status officer is proficient in IT and can serve as a resource person for the RAEDD.

Professionalization

A skill sponsorship with the company Magellium has made it possible to professionalize and perpetuate this tool in connection with the AESCD.

According to the manager of Magellium with whom we are in contact “The small Geographic Information System that we have created together, a simple, portable software, without internet connection, with its own cartography is in my opinion very useful in many places on our planet! I think I will devote a small communication to it during seminars or events dealing with development topics.”

Teacher Training

Marie-Françoise — 2017-08-17T23:00:19Z

Teaching standard problems
Primary and secondary education is growing fast quantitatively but not qualitatively. Most teachers are on contract and have never been trained.
Training Sessions
The Dankassari rural commune, for example, now has over 100 primary schools and some 10 secondary schools. Within the ‘Progressing toward the Sustainable Development Goals in Dankassari villages', the project includes three training sessions for 25 persons over 5 days on teaching methods and (...) - Monitoring and sustainability / Education, Monitoring and sustainability, RAEDD, AECIN, AESCD, Département de Dogondoutchi, Dankassari, Decentralized cooperation, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères Français

Action plans

Marie-Françoise — 2016-10-25T18:35:55Z

Funding from the French Foreign Office enables us to draft field reports leading to action plans:

Water: equipment needing repair or installation, adequate training sessions for the management and maintenance teams, sanitation (latrines).

Cereal banks and mills: equipment improvement, training program, listing villages in need of equipment.

Market gardening: eleven priority zones, generally located close to permanent ponds, have been identified.

As regards stock farming, priorities concern vaccination, better water access, and developing poultry breeding.

On the age of mothers at childbirth can allow us to better understand the situation and target priority geographic areas.

Cesson-Dankassari's Decentralised Cooperation actions are based on recommendations from the reports above.

Those reports also enable town authorities or national services to rapidly implement development projects when partners approach them.

Studies RAIL is a valuable partner for carrying out some of these studies.

Training Registrars

Marie-Françoise — 2012-12-31T16:51:20Z

A Registry makes it possible to single out every member of a human community, to enhance that person's unique and official identity, rights and duties. Beyond such individual advantages, the Registry is a useful system when it comes to improving development administration.

With a view to improving the Dankassari communitiy's registrars in playing their part correctly, a training course has been created, as a guideline with the following specific goals:

Making Registrars more conversant with the text that defines Registry in Niger;

Enabling them to perfect their knowledge and to master the limits of their competency in the process of drafting and issuing Registry documents.

Enhancing their awareness of what stake the Registry represents in Niger.

That action has been carried out since 2009 in the rural community of Dankassari thanks to the decentralized Cesson Dankassari cooperation.
Every year, fifteen registrars are trained and equipped. The population can be registered officially at Open Meetings held by judges.

In 2013, the Dankassari rural community's Registry office will be endowed with a computer and a printer.

In 2014, the registry staff has been endowed with registration books, which had been unavailable before, so as to register certificates. Fifteen employees have benefited from training. Births are much more frequently registered than formerly, though far from systematically. Marriages and deaths are still rarely registered. The Dankassari town council has funded and built an office for municipal services and fitted it with furniture.

Villagers'awareness.

There has been a change concerning birth registration, which is now widespread, but the marriage and death registry is still in progress.
Dankassari Rural district has 78 registry offices located in 57 villages and districts, and 21 health centers where various registry events such as births, marriages and deaths can be registered.

En blanc, les villages de la commune rurale de Dankassari, en gris les villages avec un centre de déclaration, les localités dont le nom est indiqué sont celles qui ont plus de 1000 habitants.

Following a request from Dankassari's Mayor, the project aims at improving awareness in each of the 57 villages concerned. It includes creating a committee including the Registry officer, the village chief, the women's representative, the school headmaster, the matron, an influential leader. Recording marriages and deaths are the priority.

Early in november 2020, the project was still in progress:

The Dankassari town council has sent a provisional budget for the project's organization and AESCD replied, suggesting that, to ensure coherent actions, the family planning monitor and the RAEDD person in charge of following up development actions in Dankassari should also be included.
The town council sent a modified budget to RAEDD, which was approved. The 57 villages visited during the ten day visit have been merged in geographical zones. The four persons visiting will be the registry supervisor and the president of women's groups in the commune, the family planning monitor and the RAEDD representative. The mission took place in January 2021.

Support for Teachers

Marie-Françoise — 2008-04-11T08:17:19Z

Provide temporary teachers with educational skills.

Associations and village communities hire as teachers
young people who are badly paid and sometimes unskilled to teach the school children.

In that case the project consists of the preparation of educational aids to guide these teachers at the early stage of their teaching. The purpose is to compile 20 booklets presenting 900 teaching aids. Experienced teachers have devised teaching aids, which are revised by education advisors, members of Tarbiyya Tatali (RAEDD), and then the booklets are tested by education inspectors and will be used in the classrooms to train the fresh part- time teachers.

The GREF arranged training sessions for the new teachers on request.

Photo d'Alain Roux

Technical training

Marie-Françoise — 2008-04-11T08:15:22Z

The initiatives launched by Tarbiyya-Tatali are being developed in common with GREF.

Training center for community development

The objective is to provide technical skills to young people and promote new activities of production in the region of Dogon Doutchi. Tarbiyya Tatali (RAEDD) and the GREF worked with with an appointed manager to start the new activities in the autumn 2003. The boys learn metal work, domestic electricity and mechanical pump maintenance, the girls learn sewing, cooking, child care and reading and writing.

After a two-year experiment the village of Dogon Doutchi has made has made land available to build a workshop for the training of the young people. This center will be used for masonry and electrical fittings.

Community development Centers

CDCs are aimed at young people who don't attend school in the nine rural communes of the department, offering them vocational training that answers the needs of their commune in such fields as agriculture and rural craftsmanship.
Premises have been built in each commune. There remains to improve management efficiency.

The objectives of the project consist in:

Providing young people with hands-on training in each commune.

Heading training sessions designed for the CDC teaching staff (experience in functional literacy, technical skills, organization and management skills).

Improving and enlarging the premises and providing equipment.

Supporting the community committees in charge of CDC's through relevant training.
The training sessions already planned mostly turn upon agriculture (machinery, market gardening, new types of crops).

In 2007, AECIN launched the 500 Bicycles operation : bicycles were collected in France and made available to secondary schools in the department of Dogon Doutchi, which led to the first training sessions in maintenance.

Responsibility for the project lies with a coordination committee which involves the mayors and the associations in favour of local development, and is presided by RAEDD. It is supported by GREF, AECIN, and other partners they have mobilized (associations, local government, foundations).

Diplomes au CDC