Association Donkosira

Baobab leaves are widely consumed in Bouillagui. After the end of the rainy season, each family has to cut the leaves from a baobab tree. They are used for cooking; they are mixed with couscous and are also used to make sauces for certain dishes. They are eaten everywhere, with neighbouring countries such as Mauritania and Senegal travelling back and

Lire plus

We will explain how we grow rice in Bouillagui. Around June, as the rainy season approaches, before the first rainfall, the women go to the rice fields in the marigots. They sow the rice grains before the rains come and they take the hoe to cultivate it. The rice can stay under the ground for about 2 months without growing

Lire plus

During the rainy season, groundnuts are grown in Bouillagui. Without chemical fertilisers, groundnuts are grown in the sandy field. The field is first ploughed with an ox-drawn plough, it can take 2-3 days, and for 1-2 weeks the groundnuts are planted.Then the weeding begins with a small daba. During 2 to 3 months the peanuts ripen, and then the harvest

Lire plus

Maize seed is grown in Bouillagui during the three-month winter season. The seed is chosen for the fastest harvest, which helps families who do not have enough millet. Maize is cultivated in the slightly sandy fields without industrial fertilisers, it is sufficient to use cow dung as a natural fertiliser. Sowing takes place around July, and it is harvested in

Lire plus

In Bouillagui the blacksmiths are facing serious problems with charcoal, due to the lack of wood in the forest caused by global warming. The tree they use for forging is different from the others. It is called “djebee” in Soninke. It is a big tree that gives a slightly reddish wood. They have to go to Kayes to buy coal.

Lire plus

Deforestation in Bouillagui is due to global warming and the cutting of trees during the rainy season. Finding wood for cooking is becoming very difficult in the Bouillagui forest. Women used to go to the fields very early in the morning to cultivate and collect wood in the evening when they returned to cook with it. The situation has prompted

Lire plus

We are going to tell you about the big millet (called fêla in the Soninké language) which is grown in Bouillagui during the winter. It is a very fast seed, which gives a lot of millet. It is grown a lot, but there are also other millet seeds grown in Bouillagui. This one is fast and can withstand a lack

Lire plus

In 1914, a tree called roast tree was discovered in Bouillagui by a hunter called Boubou yaguè (“Boubou the honey seeker”). In those days, the forest of Bouillagui had only this tree. There was famine, and it was with the nuts of this tree that our parents fed themselves. The nuts were delicious, but they were also used as a

Lire plus

The off-season onion farming in the women’s garden in Bouillagui has been partly financed by the Donkosira project and its partners for more than two years.  The women’s association that cultivates this garden consists of about 80 to 90 women and girls. In July, they start to prepare onion seedlings and after a month, these are divided into beds in

Lire plus

Ces parures féminines en or sont appelées en soninké Demba Tourou. Elles sont fabriquées en or 18 cara, 21 cara ou 24 cara. Les femmes de Bouillagui les portent pendant les festivités telles que les mariages, baptêmes et circoncisions. Même les jeunes filles les portent. Leurs mères tentent de chercher de l’or pour leur fille dès le plus jeune âge

Lire plus