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Where Women Claim Their Space – Mafoudia’s Story
December 1, 2025In the rural commune of Moussayah (Forécariah Prefecture, Guinea), Mafoudia is now recognized as one of the most engaged women in her community of Bourémayah. Trained as a nurse, she has built an exceptional path in a village where more than 90% of women were unable to continue their studies due to early marriage, unintended pregnancies, and poverty. Early on, she understood how these gender-based violences undermine women’s economic and social autonomy.
In 2020, convinced that change had to come from within the community, she founded the FOLÉKHONO group of Bourémayah, composed mainly of women (21 women and 4 men). The beginnings, however, were difficult: lack of experience, farming practices poorly adapted to local conditions, and the visible impacts of climate change led to repeated failures, along with an increased domestic workload for women. Despite the group’s efforts, harvests remained low and men’s involvement was limited, reinforcing the unequal burden placed on women.
The arrival of the Nature-Based Climate Adaptation in the Guinean Forests of West Africa (NBS Guinean Forests) project, implemented by the CECI–WUSC consortium and funded by Global Affairs Canada, marked a major turning point for Mafoudia and her group. She describes this moment as “a genuine ray of hope.”
Through the project, Mafoudia and the group’s members took part in several training cycles:
• Improved cultivation techniques and climate-resilient practices;
• Nature-based solutions;
• Women’s leadership and women’s participation in climate action;
• Positive masculinities;
• Social inclusion, particularly for people with disabilities, two of whom have now fully joined the group.
These trainings deeply transformed their way of working:
• Better agricultural planning;
• Adoption of sustainable practices;
• A more equitable distribution of tasks between women and men, helping reduce the heavy workload often placed on women;
• Strengthened women’s leadership within the group and the village;
• Active participation of people with disabilities, previously excluded from economic activities.
Today, the results are visible: harvests have significantly improved, the group’s cohesion has strengthened, and men themselves now recognize the importance of collaborating with women on equal footing.
Mafoudia is now seen as a key voice for the women of Moussayah. She inspires other women to overcome barriers imposed by social norms, including economic constraints and restrictions that long limited their autonomy.
Grateful, she expresses her appreciation for the NBS Guinean Forests project, which, in her words, “opened a new path where women, men, and people with disabilities move forward together toward a more resilient and more equitable development.”
Learn more about the NBS Guinean Forests project
