Project Title: Breaking Ground

Location: Cameroon

Grant Amount: $45,848

Grantee Website: www.breaking-ground.org

Areas of Impact: Economic Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability & Climate Action

Mission of Breaking Ground
To empower the Cameroon communities with the resources they need to achieve their own solutions to their most basic and pressing needs.

Summary
Breaking Ground, through the Women's Entrepreneurial Program (WEP), provides instruction to women in applicable business and farming techniques to help them go beyond subsistence levels by helping to create a community garden with education in organic farming, providing seeds for transplantation into the family gardens and instruction on how to include these crops into their diets.

They also provide specific training in other vocational opportunities such as soap making, palm and coconut production and oil processing, and pig farming while also providing microcredit to help launch new businesses. Women in these programs often become community leaders who oversee the agricultural projects and loan programs. Dining for Women’s $45,848 grant to Breaking Ground will directly support agricultural training programs for 290 women and provide 48 women with microloans to support entrepreneurial businesses. This grant funds two years of a six-year program that will directly impact 885 women and indirectly impact 4,000 individuals.

Why We Love This
We love this program because it offers women education in organic agricultural techniques to help preserve the water and the soil, which in turn helps to feed their families. It also offers leadership opportunities in their communities, and the ability to start their own businesses through vocational training and access to microcredit.