You’re escaping from a life threatening situation and you and your family make it to the safety of a refugee camp. You have shelter and a little food and nourishment; you are safe and alive — but what about living? Good mental health in refugee camps is hard to sustain, understandable when people have had …
Coming soon – We Don’t Do Charity is a hard-hitting new documentary about the Humanitarian Aid Industry. People are queuing up to point out that the global aid and development system is flawed and tainted with neo-colonial attitudes, sex scandals, racism, corruption and waste. But what is the alternative? Is it time to shift power …
The lean season in northern Ghana brings special challenges for the small livestock producer. Feed is scarce, commercial feed and supplements prohibitively expensive and undernourished animals don’t achieve the necessary value at market. With her whole family reliant on income from livestock production, Mrs Sadia Issifu from the Gbani Community realised she could produce a …
Read more “Farming innovation turns waste into livestock feed”
In a small village in the northern Indian state of Bihar, Rinki Deyi teaches up to 17 students a day how to use sewing machines. Since 2017, nearly 60 young people a year having been completing her course before heading out into the world with the skills to make an independent living. The project was …
Read more “Urban discard provides sustainable livelihoods in India”
Thanks to the DreamWorks Animation Company, the name ‘Madagascar’ conjures cozy, magical images of lush green forests and cute talking animals. The reality for this large and troubled island off the coast of East Africa is very different: Madagascar is one of the poorest and least developed countries on earth, and its developmental needs are …
Farmers near the banks of the White Volga river in Ghana are implementing bold initiatives to combat the increased frequency of flooding due to climate change. With the help of the Centre for Ecological Agriculture and Livelihoods (CEAL) , diverse tribal communities in the region are pulling together to survive the devastating surges of water …
Read more “GHANA: Farmers pool resources against climate change”
Most people in the Global North (Europe, UK, USA, etc.) think of charity as giving stuff to people – food, handouts, money. But there is a growing number of small, forward-thinking NGOs who instead work with communities and invest in the tools, skill-building and resources to help them to become sustainably self-sufficient. A great example …
For Ugandan social entrepreneur and farmer Jospeh Male, training people to live their lives sustainably through agriculture is a much better way to help his fellow man rather than charity handouts. Through his Avail Group in Kampala, he provides training to youngsters and schools to help them discover the benefits of self-sufficiency while taking care …
Northern Ghana suffers from a relentless cycle of extreme droughts and devastating floods. But what it does have going for it is an abundance of year-round sunshine, and that’s a blessing for farmers who have been helped by CEAL (Centre for Ecological Agriculture & Livelihoods) to take advantage of the few resources that they do …
Like most people living in difficult environments, the women of northern Ghana don’t want handouts. What they want is a way to make a sustainable living, feed their families and find a worthwhile purpose in life. Here in the north of the country, the rains come once a year, if you’re lucky. The rest of …