Serene, determined and hardworking, Dr. Sènan Ingride LEGBA is an ambitious woman who knows where she is going and how she wants to get there. But also that every business is not a long calm river...Despite her apparent youth, she already has a track record behind her that speaks volumes and that will certainly inspire more than a little girl in her native country, Benin Republic, and even throughout Africa. Itinerary of a fighter destined for ethnobotany.
Promoter of the Refuge Garden for Threatened Medicinal Species (Jardin Refuge des Espèces Médicinales Menacées JaREM) in Allada, Benin Republic, with its sub-projects of "Plant Refuge Garden" (« Jardin Refuge des Plantes »), organic market gardening closer to the consumer "ProxiLégumes", production of lemongrass-based teas "Bio lemongrass tea", Reign over health” which is the processing of plants and animal production; she is a specialist in research on ethnobotany and natural resources.
She is also a socio-anthropologist. Passionate about plants, she chose to continue her university studies in the field of planning, Environmental protection and natural resource management. In 2016, she received funding from the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of La Francophonie (CONFEJES), following a call for applications, which enabled her to start her project. She was nominated for the final phase of the "Africa-France Innovation" competition organized in 2017 as part of the 27th Africa-France Summit in Bamako, Mali. She participated in the 10th edition of the Malian Society of Applied Sciences (MSAS) in July 2018 in Mali. She also obtained in Benin Republic the 3rd prize at the 2018 Youth Oscars, in the Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Label category. In 2019, she participated in the 3rd major meeting of young entrepreneurs from the French-speaking world funded by the Franco-Quebecois Office for Youth (OFQJ), International Youth Offices of Quebec (LOJIQ), Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of the Francophonie (CONFEJES).
In 2020, she coordinated the project "Biodiversity and conservation of medicinal plants marketed in Benin", funded by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences of the CEBioS program. In 2021, she participated and obtained the 4th prize of the 8th International Excellence Competition, Best Young Company of the Year, of the Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion Program (PPEJ) - Bernadette Nicole MAPOKE NDONGO Prize in Burkina Faso. In the same year, in August, she participated in the 10th edition of the MSAS in Mali and in November, she was unanimously elected Secretary General within the National Executive Bureau of the National Network of Young Entrepreneurs of Benin of the French-speaking area (RéNaJEBEF).
Holder of a master's degree in Agricultural Sciences and a master's degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology. She was a research assistant at the level of the Forest Economy, Wood Technology and Promotion of Non-Timber Forest Products department at the Center for Forestry Studies and Research, where she had to coordinate the project "value chain and traditional knowledge of a few medicinal plants in large urban centers in Benin Republic”. This project was funded by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (CEBioS) in 2015. She also took care of research for the valorization of non-timber forest products. She worked at the National Herbarium of Benin Republic and at the NGO Education Solidarité Benin where she was an advisor for Protection and Agricultural Research. She also collaborated with Dr. Diana QUIROZ during her research work on medico-magical and magico-religious Plants, and with Professor H. SOCLO on the ecological inventory and ecotoxicological analysis of the coastal zone. She is currently preparing her thesis on traditional knowledge and the conservation of some woody species in the sacred forests of the major urban centers of Benin.
By Tcha Sakaro with the collaboration of Green Power and General Trade.
