Self Help Africa

Last updated

Self Help Africa
Founded1984
FounderNoel McDonagh
Fr. Owen Lambert
FocusImproving agriculture and food production, promoting entrepreneurship, supporting women, and climate change adaptation
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
Location
  • Kingsbridge House, 17-22 Parkgate Street, Dublin 8
Origins Ireland
Area served
sub-Saharan Africa
Members
163
CEO
Feargal O'Connell
Chair
Geoff Meagher
Subsidiaries Partner Africa, TruTrade, Traidlinks.
Revenue
€40m annually
Employees
890
Websitewww.selfhelpafrica.org
Formerly called
Self Help Development International; Harvest Help; Gorta-Self Help Africa; United Purpose

Self Help Africa is an international charity that promotes and implements long-term rural development projects in Africa. Self Help Africa merged with Gorta in July 2014, and in 2021 merged with UK-based INGO, United Purpose. The organisation also owns a number of social enterprise subsidiaries - Cumo Microfinance, TruTrade and Partner Africa.

Contents

Self Help Africa works with rural communities in fifteen African countries – supporting farm families to grow more and earn more from their produce. Self Help Africa provides training and technical support to assist households to produce more food, diversify their crops and incomes, and access markets for their surplus produce. [1] The organisation also implements development projects in Bangladesh and Brazil.

The agency also helps rural communities to access micro-finance services, and supports sustainable agricultural solutions that enable rural farmers to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. [2] Self Help Africa works with local partners across its African programmes to support the provision of good quality local seed and planting materials. This work includes assistance to local communities to multiply their own seed, [3] and provision of support for rural groups so that they can get certification for the seed that they produce. [4]

The organisation has its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, [5] UK offices in Shrewsbury, Belfast, London and American offices in New York and Boston. Self Help Africa is a recipient of funding from Irish Aid, the European Commission, US AID, the United Kingdom Department of Foreign and Overseas Development (DFID), of variety of trusts, foundations, other institutional donors, and the general public. It has three subsidiary companies, an ethical auditing provider, and two trade network promoters.

Programmes in Africa

Self Help Africa collaborates with government agencies and local partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on programmes in Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Togo and Burkina Faso. It has a presence in Goma in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and in Bujumbura, Burundi from where it runs a number of agri-trade development projects.[ citation needed ] It has also worked in Eritrea, Ghana and Benin.[ citation needed ]

Other projects carried out by Self Help Africa include a cassava development project in Kenya that was backed by the European Union, and two challenge funds – AgriFI Kenya Challenge Fund [6] and ENTERPRISE Zambia, [7] which provided investment match-funding to agri-businesses in these two countries. [6] [7] AgriFI Kenya, backed by the European Union and Slovak Aid, was funded to disburse €18M in funding to create jobs and markets for small-holder farmers, while ENTERPRISE Zambia was backed by the EU to disburse €24M in grant funding.[ citation needed ]

Self Help Africa are founder members of the Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD). [8] Its members include the Irish farm advisory service Teagasc, the Irish Department of Agriculture, Irish Farmers Association and other NGOs. [8]

A subsidiary of Self Help Africa, Partner Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya, [9] was established in 2012 to support ethical and socially responsible business practice.[ citation needed ]

History

Formation

Self Help Africa was founded in 1984 when an Irish priest asked Irish farmers to send seed potatoes to famine-impacted parts of Ethiopia. [10]

Farmer and businessman Tom Corcoran, a former chairman of agri-food corporation Glanbia, was appointed chairman of Self Help Development International (SHDI) in 2006.[ citation needed ]

Self Help Africa was established in mid-2008 following a merger between Self Help Development International (SHDI) and the UK agency Harvest Help - both set up in the wake of African famines in the mid-1980s. [11]

Self Help Africa has won several awards for its website, including an Annual Digital Media Award 'Best Information Web-Site' in 2007. [12]

Expansion and campaigns

In November 2009, Self Help Africa was formally launched in the United States by former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.[ citation needed ] Also in 2009, the organisation collaborated with a number of international development agencies including Development Fund of Norway and FARM-Africa to publish 'Climate Frontline - African Communities Adapting to Survive'.[ citation needed ]

In 2011, a campaign, titled "Change Her Life", [13] was mounted by Self Help Africa that sought to lobby funding agencies and donors to provide support to Africa's women farmers.[ citation needed ] Also in 2011, a promotional video produced by Self Help Africa, "It starts with a seed", was selected as the Best Video entry in the Gates Foundation's "Answering the Challenge" competition. [14]

In 2012, Self Help Africa were the beneficiaries of a trans-Asian 'Silk Roads to Shanghai' expedition that took Irishmen Maghnus Collins Smyth and David Burns overland across a distance of 18,000 km from Istanbul to Shanghai - by bike, run and raft. The expedition took the participants ten months to complete, and succeeded in raising close to €50,000 to support the charity's work in Africa. [15] Also in 2012-2013, Self Help Africa extended its work to Benin, and established Partner Africa. [9] Self Help Africa was also involved in the creation of the African Agriculture Alliance. [16] Turnover in 2013 grew to €9.5million. [17]

Partnerships

In Summer 2014 Self Help Africa merged with Gorta, [18] [19] [20] the oldest development organisation in Ireland. This merger launched Gorta-Self Help Africa in the Irish market. The organisation continues to operate as Self Help Africa outside Ireland.

Gorta was established by the Department of Agriculture in Ireland in 1965 arising from a UN-led international Freedom from Hunger campaign. The merger of Gorta and Self Help Africa was intended to enable the organisation to increase its turnover in 2014 from a projected €14m up to €19m.[ citation needed ]

Mid-2010s

In 2015, Self Help Africa increased its turnover to more than €18m, [21] and Tom Kitt, a former government minister and former Minister for Overseas Development, succeeded co-chairs Tom Corcoran and Sean Gaule at the helm of the organisation.[ citation needed ]

Also in 2015, Self Help Africa secured $750,000 from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a development project in West Africa.[ citation needed ] During the year the organisation also co-authored a report by NGOs in Ireland on the application of climate smart agriculture techniques in Africa. An opinion editorial on the importance of a global deal on climate change at COP21 authored by CEO Ray Jordan was published in an Irish national newspaper. [22]

In 2016, Self Help Africa increased its turnover to more than €18.7m. [23]

In 2017, Self Help Africa increased its turnover to more than €20m, [24] and launched a series of new projects, in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi.[ citation needed ] Support of close to €40m was awarded from the European Union for BETTER, Malawi, a consortium project designed to create more than 13,700 community-based farmer training sites in the southern African country, and for KILIMO-VC, a project designed to boost agri-enterprise development in Kenya.[ citation needed ]

A multi-media story-telling project, [25] won a national award from Ireland's NGO representative body Dochas for its accounts of the lives of people living in Northern Zambia over a period of years.[ citation needed ]

Meanwhile, a cashless trading platform designed for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, and developed by Self Help Africa subsidiary social enterprise TruTrade [26] received an innovation award from MIT. In 2017, Self Help Africa also took over the operations of Irish-based trade development NGO, Traidlinks [27] which has been involved in supporting trade development opportunities for agri-businesses in Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo.[ citation needed ]

Late 2010s

Self Help Africa launched a number of agriculture and enterprise development projects in 2018.[ citation needed ] These included an agricultural training project in Uganda to enable farming families to produce and sell their grain to the UN World Food Programme and a maize development project backed by US Aid in Ethiopia.[ citation needed ]

In 2018, Self Help Africa's social enterprise subsidiary won the annual Dóchas award for innovation, [28] while its annual report was short-listed at the Ireland Good Governance Awards and by the Leinster Institute of Chartered Accountants. [29]

Self Help Africa also concluded a merger with "War on Want Northern Ireland" in 2018, and formally launched a new branch – Self Help Africa NI at City Hall, Belfast, in March 2018. [30]

The president of the Irish Farmers' Association, Joe Healy, visited Self Help Africa projects in Ethiopia and Kenya and reaffirmed Self Help Africa as the chosen charity of the IFA. [31]

2020s

Self Help Africa responded to the coronavirus pandemic by providing personal protective equipment to vulnerable communities in several project countries during 2020. In Spring, the organisation embarked on a public campaign to plant 'One Million Trees' [32] in Africa during the year. Supported by yogurt brand Glenisk, the campaign was also supported by the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and by the Gaelic Athletic Association's Gaelic Players Association (GPA).

In Autumn 2020 Self Help Africa was one of the six founding member agencies of the Irish humanitarian response consortium the Irish Emergency Alliance [33] which ran its first campaign to support communities in the Global South vulnerable to the pandemic. [34]

In 2021, United Purpose merged with Self Help Africa. [35] In April 2023, Feargal O'Connell took up the role of CEO of Self Help Africa.[ citation needed ] In May 2023, O'Connell wrote an op-ed for the Irish Independent about the threat the climate crisis poses to people in sub-Saharan Africa. [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabobank</span> Dutch banking and financial services company

Rabobank is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation, and many specialised international offices and subsidiaries. Food and agribusiness constitute the primary international focus of the Rabobank Group. Rabobank is the second-largest bank in the Netherlands in terms of total assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center</span> International plant breeding organization

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center is a non-profit research-for-development organization that develops improved varieties of wheat and maize with the aim of contributing to food security, and innovates agricultural practices to help boost production, prevent crop disease and improve smallholder farmers' livelihoods. CIMMYT is one of the 15 CGIAR centers. CIMMYT is known for hosting the world's largest maize and wheat genebank at its headquarters in Mexico.

A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.

The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in need. It also promotes compassionate conservation, which takes into account the welfare of individual animals in conservation initiatives. Born Free also creates and provides educational materials and activities that reflect the charity's values.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States African Development Foundation</span> Agency of the United States government

The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent U.S. government agency established by Congress in 1980 to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs. USADF's investments aim to increase incomes, revenues, and jobs by promoting self-reliance and market-based solutions to poverty. USADF targets marginalized populations and underserved communities in the Sahel, Great Lakes, and the Horn of Africa. It partners with African governments, other U.S. government agencies, private corporations, and foundations to achieve transformative results.

Camara is a social enterprise that sends refurbished computers and provides digital literacy training to schools and other educational institutions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Tanzania and Ireland.

United Purpose, formerly known as Concern Universal, is an international development and emergency relief organization that works in a number of the poorest countries of the world to assist in finding local, sustainable solutions to poverty and inequality. Concern Universal was created by Father Raymond Kennedy and a group of volunteers who had been working in developing countries during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The organization was officially established in January 1976 and, as of 2018, has approximately 600 employees. Influences on the founding members included the first-hand experiences of the suffering they saw and social movements that encouraged engagement in the struggles of the poor. United Purpose aims to work in conjunction with struggling nations to challenge local poverty and inequality. Their vision is a world where "justice, dignity, and respect prevail for all". The organization aims to end poverty and inequality by "enabling people to improve their lives for the long term by providing them with access to resources they need". They also work to "challenge the dependency culture" and provide practical local application of Sustainable Development Goals. The organization headquarters are currently located in the United Kingdom.

The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund (CMaD) is an international family of charities founded by the Christadelphians. Its stated intent is, as a practical witness to the Christadelphian faith, 'to share the blessings we receive from God to help those who are in real need in the less developed parts of the world'. It seeks 'to facilitate personal and community dignity through sustainable, 'down to earth' local projects' which:

Alan Kerins is an Irish sportsman, humanitarian, social entrepreneur and philanthropist.

The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program is funded by the US Agency for International Development through the US Farm Bill to assist developing countries, middle-income countries, and emerging markets around the world to increase farm production and incomes. It promotes sustainable economic growth, food security and agricultural development worldwide. Volunteer technical assistance from US farmers, agribusinesses, cooperatives, and universities helps developing countries improve productivity, access new markets, build local capacity, combat climate change and conserve environmental and natural resources. Farmer-to-Farmer also aims to increase the American public's understanding of international development issues and programs and international understanding of the U.S. and U.S. development programs.

One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that supplies smallholder farmers in East Africa with asset-based financing and agriculture training services to reduce hunger and poverty. Headquartered in Kakamega, Kenya, the organization works with farmers in rural villages throughout Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, and Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farm Radio International</span>

Farm Radio International, or Radios Rurales Internationales, is a Canadian non-profit organization that was founded in 1979 by CBC Radio broadcaster George Atkins. The organization is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario and works with radio broadcasters to improve food security and agricultural methods for small-scale farmers and rural communities in African countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TechnoServe</span> Nonprofit organisation in the USA

TechnoServe is an international nonprofit that promotes business solutions to poverty in the developing world by linking people to information, capital and markets. It is a registered 501(c)(3) based in Washington, D.C., with over 1,540 employees across 29 countries worldwide.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an organisation that seeks to transform African agriculture from a subsistence model to strong businesses that improve the livelihoods of the continent’s farming households.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Bicycle Relief</span>

World Bicycle Relief is an international, non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL that specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries around the world. Their programs focus primarily on education, economic development, and health care. As of February 2020, World Bicycle Relief has distributed 500,000 bicycles in 21 countries and trained more than 2,300 bicycle mechanics in the developing world. Within their largest program, the Bicycles For Educational Empowerment program, nearly 70 percent of the student bicycles are designated for girl students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bees for Development</span> International charity

Bees for Development is an international charity working to alleviate poverty through beekeeping. Beekeeping contributes to supporting sustainable livelihoods in poor and remote communities; honey bees provide an essential ecosystem service. Bees for Development currently runs projects in Uganda, Zanzibar, Ethiopia and Kyrgyzstan. Its offices are in Monmouth, South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorta</span> Irish international development organisation

Gorta was one of Ireland's longest-running international development organisations. It was established in 1965, as 'Gorta: The Freedom from Hunger Council', in response to a call by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Freedom from Hunger Campaign (FFHC) for member countries to raise public awareness and financial support for long-term agricultural development. Following a merger with Self Help Africa in July 2014, the organisation operated in Ireland until May 2018 as Gorta-Self Help Africa. Thereafter the organisation has operated as Self Help Africa.

Wefarm was a peer-to-peer knowledge sharingsocial network for smallholder farmers in the developing world. The network enabled users to ask and answer questions and share tips about agriculture and business, via SMS or online, enabling farmers in rural areas without internet access to share information. Wefarm claimed to be the world's largest farmer-to-farmer network. It raised more than $10m in venture capital before going out of business in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development</span>

The Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD) was established in early 2016 as a platform to share knowledge and good practices in agriculture for the benefit of international development.

Agriculture makes up a significant proportion of the Gambia's economy, comprising 25% of its GDP. About 75% of workers in the Gambia are employed within the agricultural industry. The main cash crops produced in the country are groundnuts, millet, sorghum, mangoes, corn, sesame, palm kernel, and cashews. The main staple crop produced is rice.

References

  1. ↑ "Africa can cultivate its salvation" The Sunday Times (15.08.11)
  2. ↑ "They haven't caused the problem, yet they are suffering" The Irish Times (1.12.2011)
  3. ↑ "Sustaining seed production in Africa" New Agriculturist May 2012
  4. ↑ "Certifying seed in Zambia's poorest province" New Agriculturist, September 2009.
  5. ↑ "Offaly campaigner and businessman travel to support Self Help Africa cause". Offaly Express. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. 1 2 "AgriFI Kenya Challenge Fund". AgriFI Kenya Challenge Fund. 8 November 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Enterprise Zambia Challenge Fund". enterprisezambia.org. Enterprise Zambia Challenge Fund. 8 November 2022.
  8. 1 2 "NUI Galway is founding member of new Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD)". NUI Galway. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Partner Africa - Ethical Solutions in Global Trade". Partner Africa. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  10. ↑ "Gorta and Self Help Africa join forces to fight poverty". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Funding shift weakens resistance to merger" Financial Times 15.11.12
  12. ↑ "5th Digital Media Awards a Great Success" Archived 2007-11-19 at the Wayback Machine Digital Media Awards. Retrieved 20 December 2008
  13. ↑ http://www.changeherlife.org Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ " Gates Foundation Answering the Challenge Competition
  15. ↑ Marathon odyssey across land and water The Irish Times, 17.1.13
  16. ↑ "African Agriculture Alliance". www.aaaforum.org. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  17. ↑ "Annual report 2013". Issuu. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. ↑ Griffin, Dan. "Development sector 'shake-up' will benefit Africa". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  19. ↑ O'Doherty, Caroline (28 July 2014). "Gorta and Self Help Africa join forces to fight poverty". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "Merger of two Africa charities to save €600k". independent. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  21. ↑ "Annual report 2014". Issuu. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  22. ↑ "Turn up the heat in Paris meeting " The Irish Independent (2.12.2015)
  23. ↑ "Gorta-Self Help Africa Annual Report 2016". Issuu. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  24. ↑ "Self Help Africa - Annual Report 2017". Issuu. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  25. ↑ "Dóchas Awards Winners 2017: The Two Villages Campaign from Self Help Africa | Dochas". Dochas. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  26. ↑ Lillington, Karlin. "TruTrade cashless platform helps African farmers grow businesses". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  27. ↑ "Traidlinks". Traidlinks. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  28. ↑ "Reflections from Dóchas Awards 2018 Winners | Dochas". Dochas. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  29. ↑ "Annual Report 2018". Issuu.
  30. ↑ Moriarty, Gerry (27 March 2018). "Africa development charities with HQs in Ireland merge". The Irish Times .
  31. ↑ Phelan, Sylvester (20 November 2018). "Importance of Agriculture Underlined on IFA Trip".
  32. ↑ "One Million Trees: Here's how your next supermarket trip could help fight climate change in Africa". The Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  33. ↑ "Six Irish Charities form Alliance to Respond to Covid-19". Journal.ie. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  34. ↑ "Ireland's top international aid charities join forces for Covid battle". The Examiner. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  35. ↑ Brown, Jessica (24 August 2021). "International Development Charities Complete Merger".
  36. ↑ "Opinion: Africa is biggest climate crisis victim, and we can help". Irish Independent .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.