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Since 2010, Groundswell International and the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) have worked together to spread agro-ecological farming to improve food security among the rural population of the Lawra District in the Upper West region of Ghana. To achieve this, during the past year Groundswell and CIKOD have focused on improving cooperation […]
The semi-arid Sahelian zone of West Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. The majority of people there lives in rural areas and survives as small-scale farmers in an extremely harsh climate. In recent years the region’s rapidly growing population, declining soil fertility, increased climate variability, a lack of income diversification, and […]
Last week the International Fund to Amplify Agro-Ecological Solutions, an initiative of the New Venture Fund, made a two-year, $200,000 grant to Groundswell International to work with partners in Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, and Mali to strengthen and amplify existing farmer and women-led initiatives and organizations in order to spread agro-ecological farming systems, reinforce movements […]
“The development model in the Sahel, particularly around agriculture, is not addressing the food, nutrition or environmental needs of most of the population, and there is a need for a paradigm shift,” said Peter Gubbels in a recent interview. Gubbels is Groundswell International’s Regional Facilitator for West Africa. From July 8-18 he shared these perspectives […]
There are clear warning signs that yet another food crisis is looming in the Sahel. If nothing is done now, up to 9 million people in the area are at risk of food shortages and extreme hunger. Low water levels from patchy rainfall, poor harvests, a lack of pasture, attacks of pests and locusts, high […]
In July 2011, The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) joined Groundswell International’s global partnership, and in September CIKOD and Groundswell launched a program to promote agro-ecology, women’s savings and credit and related activities in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Among the first activities was an exchange visit organized between women leaders […]
Without a massive coordinated response from the international community, the rapidly growing food and nutrition crisis in the Sahelian countries of West Africa is likely to turn into a full blown famine. In recent weeks Oxfam, Tear Fund, and other international organizations have issued communiqués estimating that 12 million people face food insecurity, including six […]
In the Sahelian countries of West Africa, thinking about “food crisis” is framed by the concept of a ‘relief to rehabilitation to development’ continuum. This concept places ‘crisis’ at one end, and ‘normality’ at the other. Although it is changing, this paradigm still dominates the actions of many actors in the Sahel. ‘Crisis’ is still […]
Images of famine in Somalia have drawn the world’s attention to the wider issue of food security in Africa. Unfortunately, the concept of “crisis” is still strongly associated with short, acute disasters such as drought and conflict. The unpalatable reality is that a largely silent, on-going, structural food crisis exists in many parts of Africa. […]
In the Sahel, the number of people suffering from chronic food insecurity, high levels of poverty and vulnerability due to drought is increasing. Food crises in the Sahelian region of West Africa can no longer be treated as limited events, caused by occasional hazards like a drought. Food and nutrition insecurity have become long-term, chronic […]
