KASOFOR, from the foundation Energies for the World (FONDEM)

Making the Kafutin Islands a UN-validated model of resilience

The island area of Kafountine in Senegal is suffering the full impact of climate change, weakening the livelihoods of local communities: reduced agricultural production, salinization of water, loss of biodiversity … with the consequences of food insecurity, youth out-migration, scarcity and overexploitation of fisheries resources and mangroves. Faced with the magnitude of the crisis, the local authorities turned to the Fondation Energies pour le monde (FONDEM), a specialist in rural development and universal access to electricity for over 30 years: the KASOFOR project was born. 

KASOFOR is an innovative international solidarity project in that it focuses on working in a comprehensive way to make people resilient to the situation. It covers themes that are usually treated separately, but which are all crucial for resilience: the protection of biodiversity, access to renewable energy and low-carbon mobility, the development of local governance and sustainable and inclusive economic activities. The impacts of the project will be measured using the SHARP tool of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which allows local populations to self-diagnose their resilience independently. Capitalizing on the lessons learned from the project will allow its replication in other island territories.