Agou EcoTrail : running to combat malnutrition

Context

In the region around Lomé, the capital of Togo, 25% of children suffer from delayed growth, largely due to malnutrition.
Antenna France has been working in Togo to combat malnutrition and anaemia in women and children since 2011. It has built a farm to produce and distribute spirulina locally and opened a nutrition centre in the village of Agou Nyogbo, approximately 120 km from Lomé in southern Togo.
This centre welcomes children and their mothers for six weeks of free daily spirulina treatments alongside nutrition education sessions.

The developing cooperation between Eco Spiruline and Antenna France led to the idea of combining the nutritional benefits of spirulina with participation in sport by holding an annual race through the village: the Agou EcoTrail.
After the success of the first race in 2019, the ambition is now to secure the project’s long-term future and operate it on a more professional basis while ensuring the local communities’ ownership of the event.

Goals

• Promote running for all, regardless of age or level of ability
• Raise awareness among local people of the benefits of sport and good nutrition
• Foster local entrepreneurship
• Strengthen social cohesion and reduce inequality

Activities

• Holding an annual race open to all residents of the village and surrounding villages
• Weekly jogging sessions that are open to all, including eco-jogging, also known as “plogging”, which combines jogging with picking up litter and waste in the village
• Raising awareness about nutrition by promoting the Eco Spiruline farm and distributing spirulina free of charge at the event

Tona Agbeko (Eco Spiruline farm manager) describes the project (video in French)

Impacts

• Mobilising local communities, and vulnerable groups in particular, on the issue of nutrition
• 500 participants in the 2019 edition of the race
• Approximately 50 participants in weekly training sessions in 2019
• Regular donations of running equipment (jerseys, shoes, medals, trophies)

Funding

• Project cost: approximately €30,000
• Project supported in 2019 by the Agence Française de Développement and the European Guild

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Photo credits : @EcoTraild’Agou