From Exodus to Hope: Yacouba Moussa’s Journey

From Exodus to Hope: The Story of Yacouba Moussa, Farmer and Butcher in Kouloumboutaye

In the village of Kouloumboutaye, located in the Maradi region, young people were forced to leave their homes every year due to irregular farming seasons and poverty. Yacouba Moussa, a 41-year-old father of 14 and husband to three wives, was one of them.

'Before I started working with the project, I couldn't spend a week in my village. The difficulties made everything unbearable.'

Yacouba, a former apprentice mechanic in Maradi, had tried to make a living repairing motorcycles, but the income was too low.

'In Maradi, I worked for a boss who only paid me enough for taxi fares. I couldn't make ends meet while supporting my wife and first child. So I returned to the village to work for myself, but clients were few and far between. My situation still hadn't improved. My growing family continued to lack regular food.”

Faced with food insecurity and a lack of opportunities, he left for Tamaya in the Agadez region, leaving his family behind.

However, in 2019, his life changed when the Maradi Integrated Resilience Project (MIRP) was introduced. This project is funded by the World Food Programme (WFP) and implemented by World Vision. Yacouba was selected as a beneficiary to work on restoring degraded land. 'For six years, I worked 20 days a month and received 32,500 CFA francs each month. This income enabled him to support his family and remain in his village.

The project also helped to reduce rural migration: 

'Thanks to this work, many young people in the village were able to stay and take advantage of the opportunity to work locally and earn more money. We also received three stipends of 16,000 CFA francs during the rainy season to encourage us to work in our fields.'

Yacouba gradually invested his income in agriculture and livestock farming: "Thanks to this income, I first improved my family's life. I bought a donkey in the first year to help with the fieldwork. Using the 16,000-franc bonus I received, which had tripled during the winter season, I bought peanuts to sow. At harvest time, I had eight bags of peanuts, which I sold. Using this income and the money I made from selling my donkey, I bought an ox. Using savings from my monthly income, I bought another cow. Thanks to the project, I was able to easily afford my children's baptisms. I got married, bought a field and, for the first time in my life, slaughtered a sheep for the Tabaski festival.

The project also provided him with two sheep to fatten up and sell on. He made a profit of 32,500 CFA francs from this. "Since I've been involved in the project, I've never felt helpless."

Today, Yacouba has built his own house, moved out of the family home, and is now living peacefully with his family. "Since the project arrived, I no longer want to leave the village. I feel comfortable staying close to my family. Many thanks to World Vision and its partner WFP.'

His story is a powerful example of resilience, empowerment, and social transformation thanks to this targeted project.