Philanthropy

How your philanthropy can help

Finegirl is a 59-year-old farmer, mother and grandmother from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, where oil drilling has devastated land and water for over a decade. “My name is Finegirl. I’m a farmer, a wife, a mother and a grandmother,” she says proudly. But today, farming no longer sustains her family.

“Before oil exploration began here, we were enjoying life. Our cassava grew well, and we had peppers, plantain and oil palm—all in surplus.” Now, she explains, “land in the community is very dry and hard to till because it lacks the nutrients to thrive.” Even when crops germinate, “they burn because of the heat. So, there is hardly anything healthy to harvest.”

The rivers are equally damaged. “If you go to the river and get thirsty...you will be drinking oil. Just oil,” she says. Fish have disappeared, and even rainwater turns black from gas flaring fumes.

We are hungry. We are very angry. A hungry person is an angry person.”

For over 15 years, ActionAid Nigeria has worked alongside affected communities, supporting agroecology, women’s savings groups and grassroots advocacy through the Fund Our Future campaign, so women like Finegirl can demand justice, restore their livelihoods and hold power to account.