Siapha Kamara
SEND, Africa
The SEND West Africa-CDF partnership is a development success story. Our partnership prioritized the
Siapha Kamara
establishment of gender-sensitive community-based institutions, resulting in increased income and food security and a peaceful co-existence amongst ethnic groups once torn apart by violent conflicts in Northeastern Ghana. Since 1998, this partnership has enabled farmers, women, and micro-entrepreneurs to implement the food security programs – which leverage the co-operative model – to develop family-based farmer co-operatives, credit unions, and District Peace Animation Networks.
In 2022, economic opportunities in these communities are much brighter: nine community-based credit unions are providing access to credit facilities, which has led to thriving micro-entrepreneurs with rising incomes, and 130 farmer co-operatives – with close to 10,000 farmers, the majority of whom are women. These farmers have adopted climate-smart practices, which have increased food production and nutrition security.
The Gender Model Family, which was developed by the partnership, gained recognition by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization as a gender-transformative approach and is subsequently being promoted globally to empower gender equality. The District Peace Animation Networks have fostered ethnic harmony and a peaceful co-existence. And so, in the coming 75 years, we hope CDF Canada will remain committed to using the co-operative approach to make poverty in the world a thing of the past. In Ghanaian Twi dialect we say Ayekoo CDF!!!, meaning “well done” and “congratulations”!!!