Small support to continue inter-community exchanges with the emblematic territory of life of Kawawana (Casamance, Senegal)

The territory of life of Kawawana has built an international reputation throughout West Africa and beyond.  The area, which today covers more than 20,000 hectares, has been well governed, managed and conserved for nearly 15 years by 8 Diola villages united in solidarity and self-determination. The steadfast voluntary nature and commitment of the Kawawana custodians are quite exceptional in a world where greed and selfishness seem to reign. The pioneering, demonstrative character of the custodian community in the face of numerous difficulties and threats makes it an exemplary and inspiring case for communities around the world.

Salatou Sambou was awarded the 2021 Paul K. Feyerabend Award as main local champion and artisan of the mutual solidarity and return of the good life to the villages of Kawawana, his own community and territory of life.  As part of that, he has welcomed visitors to his home during many years and shared the community experience with them. The visitors have included people from neighbouring communities, but also university students from Ziguinchor, Dakar, Europe and North America and community leaders from various regions of Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Gambia and other countries.  These learning visits and exchanges have been appreciated and useful, and their demand has been growing.  In 2024, however, the house where Salatou used to host visitors was almost destroyed by bad weather.  He set earnestly to reconstruct it, but the work got stalled because of rising construction prices. He thus sought the Feyerabend Foundation’s support to finalize the work (windows, pipes, electricity, painting, etc.) and be able to welcome more visitors.

Exchange visits are a very effective way of disseminating innovations and good practices, as visitors can understand local realities, share ideas, reflect together and mutually reinforce their capacities to identify, govern, manage and conserve their territories of life.  They constitute a new type of initiatives that prioritises community co-construction of solutions to common problems, learning and mutual advice.  Early in 2024, the Feyerabend Foundation decided to support the request of his laureate Salatou Sambou while he– in ‘exchange’— promised to accommodate, feed and facilitate learning about Kawawana for at least 50 people in the coming months and years. These people would not include those ‘able to pay for their accommodation’, but those who would not be able to be there without his support. For that, Salatou Sambou also undertook to identify and solicit visitors and keep record of all who benefit from the arrangement (names, dates, nights spent, activities, follow up initiatives, etc.) in a dedicated notebook. He also agreed to keep in touch with his guests once they are back home and offer advice upon demand on promoting the self-determination and official recognition of their territories of life, as he was able to do for Kawawana.