Mission

Local development and nature conservation in support of NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, economic commission of the UN for Africa. Local development, active management of natural resources and the economics of biodiversity in the Department of Alibori, Benin.

During the three years of the project Bortolomiol contributed to the funding of training programmes and follow up for a select group of influential women living in villages that border the W National Park 

In collaboration with the Research and Cooperation NGO the women from Bortolomiol took an active role in a project for North Benin in Western Africa. The project aimed to promote women’s education through the simple sharing of knowledge allowing them to use the natural resources around them in the best way possible and provide new economic and business opportunities.

The project identified women as one of the key resources for the economic development of sub Saharan Africa.

Imagine the ripples created by a drop in a pool and this is how information travels in Africa… this is how you can change lives and raise the quality of life.

During the training sessions the women would sing a song with the words “together we can move an elephant”. And so the Bortolomiol women have become a part of this process of change starting from their dedication to the world of wine and developing a concept of responsibility for global wellbeing. They were able to share their experiences as businesswomen to show how history and ideas come to life through concrete actions and help create a better world.

 

Women for women 

The Parco della Filandetta in the heart of Valdobbiadene, as well as being home to the historic Bortolomiol winery, contains the buildings of one of the smallest silk mills in the town. This is a place which is tied to the traditional culture of cultivating silk worms, a symbol of the essential contribution of women to the economy in this region. It pays homage to the little girls, young women and mothers of large families whose hard work went hand-in-hand with the efforts of their menfolk in the vineyards on the steep hills. The hills of wine.

To these extraordinary and forgotten women the Bortolomiol women dedicated their Filanda Rosé and the first in a series of projects focused on the development and financial emancipation of women throughout the world.

The recent refurbishment of the Filandetta is part of wide-ranging project that will see the creation of a cultural and food & wine centre dedicated to Prosecco, Il Parco della Filandetta. This project is focused on the local area and its culture and destined to go beyond the confines of our land. 

 

 

THE PROJECT

Local development and nature conservation as part of the support given to NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, economic commission of the UN for Africa. Local development, active management of natural resources and the economics of biodiversity in the Department of Alibori, Benin.

Bortolomiol contributed to the funding for training programmes and follow up for a select group of influential women living in villages that border the W National Park during the three years of the Project.

 

2008

Kandi, Benin. 

The work funded by Bortolomiol during 2008 as part of the “Local development, active management of natural resources and the economics of biodiversity in the Department of Albori” provided training to 60 women from the districts of Banikoara, Kandi and Karimamà over 18 days. The course provided training to refine traditional techniques for:

 

• - Transforming milk into cheese
• - Extracting and using oil from neem seeds
• - Enriching corn flour, sorgo, millet and soya flour rice

 

For the first of these improvements were made in hygiene during the transformation process from milk into cheese and during the filtering of the milk, conservation and focusing on the use of milk alone (not common practice). The training also looked at the business implications of selling cheese so as to create earning opportunities within the family unit. The characteristic of this cheese is that it utilises vegetable rennet (scientific name calotropis procera, in Baribà, cororou and taken from the Sodom Apple) and is coloured red with bark from the tek tree.

In the second, improvements we made in the extraction process of neem seed oil and in its use as a biological insecticide or as an insect repellent for humans.

In the third, improvements were made to diet by increasing the nutritional value of the most commonly used flour by adding of specific quantities of soya flour. This has positive effects on development for those children who are given it.

The women chosen for the training courses then transfer their knowledge and skills to their family, friends and neighbours creating a positive incentive to learn. 

 

 

2009

Training on the transformation of Karite seeds.

Karite seeds can be transformed to produce:

 

• - butter
• - soap
• - body lotion
• - hair lotion

 

The training covered both theory and practice and was performed by a trainer who explained the procedures and techniques involved in the transformation and helped the women in the practical application of the course. There followed a discussion on the difficulties faced during the various transformations and on the production techniques, both traditional and modern.

The products made by the women were for personal and family use as well as for setting up small businesses with the aim of increasing family income within their own villages. The long-term objective is to create a cooperative among the families which will then purchase basic equipment so as to optimise production and increase sales.

The training course was provided to a group of 60 women from the villages of Banikoara, Kandi and Karimamà over a period of 21 days.

 

 

2010

In the third and last year of the project the funds made available by Bortolomiol were used to provide training and follow up designed to reinforce the skills acquired over the previous two years and provide the women with some basic marketing skills to help in the sales of their products.

A seven-day training course was held in each of the districts where women received the initial training (Banikoara, Kandi, Karimama-Malanville) providing 21 days of training overall for 20 women from each district for a total of 60 direct beneficiaries. These are representatives of groups of women or women’s associations from the villages in each district who, once they have been trained, transfer their knowledge – as they have done in the previous years – to their family, friends and neighbours. This system ensures that each individual training course has the most impact possible.

This final phase of training focused on strengthening their skills in the transformation of Karite seeds into butter and its derivatives, transforming neem seeds into oil and basic marketing for the products.