Ada Songor Advocacy Forum (ASAF) works to ensure local content in decision making processes surrounding the management of our natural resource and to resolve trusteeship issues which have plagued the Songor Lagoon and surrounding communities With a total surface of 7,920,000 hectares, the lagoon has the capacity to produce 1.2 million metric tons of salt annually. Currently, it is operating at abo
ut 15-20 % of this capacity, with members of the 42 surrounding communities which are dependent on the Songor lagoon harvesting about 250, 000 metric tons of salt each year. Local salt winners do so without the use of modern technology or equipment, instead using only their hands as they have done for nearly four centuries. In the early 1970s, a significant portion of the Songor Lagoon was leased out to two private investors by certain members of the Ada Traditional Council, with the remaining area of the lagoon left for the local communities to continue using as per tradition. As a result of conflict which arose between the private companies, the Ada Songor lagoon has been vested in the state on behalf of the people of Ada since 1974. The years following this act were marked by further conflict and contention over the access and control of this natural resource, coming to a tragic climax on May 17th, 1985 when a young pregnant woman was killed during one of many police raids on local salt winners. As is understood in the Ada Songor Master Plan drafted in 1989, communal access to Songor Lagoon should be maintained and guaranteed. However, with the government considering alternative plans for the area, what will the future actually look like? Members of the communities surrounding Ada Songor Lagoon believe that every effort must be made collectively, with both traditional leaders and government, to ensure that any future changes to the operations at Ada Songor do not negatively affect members of the community whose livelihoods depend on the viability and availability of the resource. The Ada Songor Advocacy Forum (ASAF) represents various interest groups in Ada land who want to ensure local content in the decision making processes surrounding the management of their natural resource, and who want to peacefully resolve the issues of trusteeship which have historically plagued the Ada Songor Lagoon and its surrounding communities.
