TERAL
Territorial Food Systems - Community Supported Agriculture
TERAL - a contraction of Territoires Alimentaires (food territories), and Tëral in Wolof means to welcome or honour - is a pilot Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) system that connects agroecological production, local processing, storage, logistics and territorial governance. Co-led by CREATES and the University of Bern (GIUB) under the SOR4D program, it is rooted in the Thiafoura Living Lab (Mbour), a direct legacy of the ARTS project. TERAL develops a mother garden and four satellite gardens, a women-led processing unit, cold storage and a distribution network reaching households, restaurants, hotels and institutional buyers. The site becomes a Lighthouse: a demonstration, training and documentation space enabling replication across other territories.
Geographic area
Thiafoura, Mbour - Petite Côte (Senegal)
Funding
SOR4D - TAG (Transformation Accelerating Grants / SNSF)
Partners
University of Bern (GIUB), ENDA-PRONAT, IPAR
Objectives
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Operationalise a territorial CSA system linking agroecological production, processing, storage and distribution
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Develop the Thiafoura site into a Lighthouse for demonstration, training and documentation enabling replication
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Strengthen territorial governance mechanisms: Charter, Village Development Committee, women's and youth groups
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Create sustainable incomes and entrepreneurship opportunities for women and youth
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Produce and disseminate the TERAL Toolkit to enable replication in other territories
Role of CREATES
As co-leader and lead operator in Senegal, CREATES manages field implementation, coordinates operational teams and oversees funds. The center liaises with the Thiafoura Village Development Committee, supervises infrastructure construction (including the Lighthouse), delivers training and supports the women-led processing unit. CREATES also produces documentation, video pills and podcasts, and connects TERAL to the DyTAEL, DyTAES and RACINES networks for dissemination and scaling.
Related News
Thiafoura: four days of training, and the Women's Union was born
From 18 to 21 August 2026, twenty women from the four neighbourhoods of Thiafoura trained in organisational dynamics. By the end of the week, they had founded the Thiafoura Women's Union.
Thiafoura: from theory to practice in the Living Lab garden
On 20 and 21 August 2026, producers, women and young people from Thiafoura trained in agroforestry and land layout - then moved straight to practice in the Living Lab's community garden.
Mariam Sow visits the TERAL Living Lab in Thiafoura and inaugurates CREATES' new podcast studio
CREATES had the honour of welcoming Mariam Sow, one of Senegal's leading voices in peasant movements and agroecology, for a day of exchange between Thiafoura, Ndioukh o Fissel and Ngaparou - including field training and the inauguration of CREATES' new podcast studio.