Solidaridad West Africa focuses on stimulating sustainable supply chains through innovations in production, marketing and trade relations, landscape management and policy enabling. In these efforts, Solidaridad simultaneously addresses food security, nutrition and community development.
West Africa
Region West Africa
Solidaridad West Africa operates in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The region has large tracks of arable land for food production. Unfortunately, all crop productivity is less than a quarter of optimum global averages. The region is among the hardest hit by climate change impact.
Developments
Agriculture remains the main driver of economic development in the region. It accounts for a third of region’s Gross Domestic Product and employs on average 60% of the population. The model of agricultural growth in the region has been driven mainly by area expansion as opposed to crop intensification and use of technology.
Rapid urbanisation and population growth has resulted in increased food demand which the current model cannot support. The region, however, has sufficient human and natural resource potential to address these challenges.
The African Union, in response to the challenges, adopted the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as the policy driver of agriculture in the sub-region. CAADP aims to sustain the annual agricultural sector GDP growth rate of 6% among all signatory member states.
Additionally, the ECOWAS Agriculture Policy seeks to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
Challenges
Regional growth over the years has been hampered by a number of factors impacting negatively on productivity and livelihoods. Non-commercialized farming systems, land tenure, poor storage, poor transportation network and general degradation of natural resources are factors affecting agriculture.
Lack of infrastructure is a key challenge facing West Africa’s growth. Poor state of roads, low energy and water supply, lack of storage facilities and information and communications technology all affect competitiveness and investments in the region. Producer uptake of technology is also slowly affecting productivity levels. Small-scale mines located within the region, for example, continue to use rudimentary methods to produce gold, impacting negatively on the environment. The use of technology in agriculture is equally low and negligible.
The economy of the sub-region is largely driven by exports of raw materials and the importation of finished products. As an exporter of cheap raw materials, the economies of the region are more vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. The relative stability enjoyed by the region over the past decade is threatened by the recent rise in violence and extremism in Nigeria and Mali. The result is poor investments and increased uncertainty.
Achievements
Solidaridad's key achievements span across producer support programmes, voluntary certification, policy advocacy, food security, landscape management and smart sustainable land use. Some specific key achievements are described below.
Solidaridad implemented the Sustainable West Africa Oil Palm Programme (Phase 1) from 2012 to 2016.
It successfully piloted the setup and operations of 20 Rural Service Centers in cocoa growing communities through the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CORIP). An innovative service delivery model for cocoa farmers to access a bouquet of production services for intensification and rehabilitation. A validated innovation is ready for scaling up.
Over 200 communities have developed Community Action Plans (CAP) under a partnership with Mondelez to create thriving cocoa communities, as well as improving farmer incomes through crop diversification; creating employment opportunities for young people in the cocoa sector, women empowerment and environmental sustainability.
Programmes Regional commodities
Regional programmes are structured and designed to address crop productivity and service delivery challenges. Solidaridad has also created a programme to attract young people to go into agriculture while ensuring gender inclusivity.
- Cocoa
The next generation of farmers
Capitalizing on the fact that West Africa produces 70 percent of global supply, Solidaridad is implementing a number of cocoa programmes with private sector companies, governments and other stakeholders in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria. The programmes are addressing challenges of productivity and service delivery.
- Palm oil
Sustainable production
Solidaridad has been at the forefront of promoting yield intensification through the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMP) to improve oil palm farm and mill profitability and sustainability. Learning sites have been established in Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire to provide skills to improve knowledge of the farmers, producers and processors, as well as increase yields, farm productivity and profitability.
- Gold
Sustainable communities
The Solidaridad gold programme seeks to improve the livelihoods of artisanal and small-scale miners and communities around them. In order to achieve this, Solidaridad works with small-scale mines to improve environmental health and safety, human rights, business practices and women’s economic empowerment.
- Cotton, Fruit & Vegetables, Soy
Food and climate change
Solidaridad has implemented various interventions aimed at mitigating climate change and increasing food security. Solidaridad promotes conservation farming as a tool for sustainable yield increases, and higher returns to labour. It also focuses on supporting farmers to meet the food and nutritional needs of their families as well as improving their economic well-being.
- Cotton, Cocoa, Palm oil
Smart and sustainable landscapes
Solidaridad works in partnership with public and private stakeholders to promote Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and ecosystem restoration for resilient production landscapes. It integrates climate-smart initiatives across six supply chains, namely cocoa, palm oil, cotton/soy, maize, gold and fruits and vegetables.
Partners In close cooperation
Solidaridad works closely with private and public institutions as well as civil society organizations to implement innovative production mechanisms and influence policy across its operations.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Netherlands
World Bank
World Wildlife Fund
Olam
Cargill
ECOM
Fidelity Bank Ghana
The Conservation Alliance
Mondelez
Ghana Cocoa Board
Mastercard Foundation
Opportunity International
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Track record West Africa through the years
Solidaridad continues to engage with supply chain stakeholders to enhance capacities of the producers and improve livelihoods.
2018
In spite of the fluid development environment, Solidaridad made significant accomplishments in West Africa by driving inclusive and sustainable solutions through smart practices in the cocoa, oil palm, gold and food security-related activities. In 2018, we established more than 60 new partnerships and deepened existing relationships with donors, governments, SMEs and the private sector. Solidaridad West Africa’s target of reaching an ambitious annual budget of 20 million euros was achieved through fundraising and implementing impactful projects and programmes. This contributed to the expansion of activities in the regional operational countries.
Despite funding challenges, the year 2017 has been rewarding due to the enormous commitment on the part of the entire staff of Solidaridad West Africa. During the year, Solidaridad deepened engagement with several donors from the European Union including the embassies of Sweden and the Netherlands. This led to the creation of three new funding agreements for programmes.
2016
Developing and integrating innovative solutions to address supply chain challenges continued throughout the year. Solidaridad focused on validating the business case to establish rural service centres for cocoa farmers as well as the business case for cocoa farming as an enterprise using empirical data. New discussions centred on farmer service enterprises as a crucial factor for success if best management practices are to be scaled up at both the farm and mill levels.
2015
Solidaridad West Africa continued its engagement with supply chain stakeholders in cocoa, oil palm, gold, and maize. This resulted in enhanced capacities of the producers and improved livelihoods of households. Through the promotion and adoption of best management practices and provision of supportive infrastructure, significant yield increases were recorded. For example, there was an average yield increase of about 50% in cocoa, 160% in oil palm and 67% in maize.
2014
Solidaridad West Africa took its producer support programmes beyond voluntary certification standards by encouraging discussions on a new policy and working with partners to support producers in the various value chains.
Join us Supporting effective partnerships
Within the context of public-private partnerships, we work with supply chain owners to attract investments such as impact funding. Interventions are integrated into defined landscapes so we can effectively partner with other leaders to promote proper landscape management. Contact us to learn more.
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Blog: Breaking down gender barriers to improve food security in Ghana
In our latest blog post Nafisatu Yussif, Solidaridad West Africa's programme officer for gender, shares the success story of the Sustainable Maize Programme. Read on to discover how the programme worked to engage more women in maize production to improve food security, having a notable positive impact on participants' average yield.
Resilient youth build a future with cocoa in Ghana
Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa beans globally, however many of the beans are grown by farmers over 50-years-old, on ageing farms. This has the potential to negatively impact future cocoa production. Yet, there are thousands of young people who are willing and able to contribute to cocoa production, given the right skills and resources.
Blog: A day in the life of MASO Cocoa Academy students in Ghana
Solidaridad’s MASO Cocoa Academy is a training programme for young Ghanaian women and men to become skilled, business-savvy cocoa farmers. In this blog, our colleague Lauren Konopacz shares her experience from joining the current MASO students on their typical study day at the Cocoa Academy.
Landmark stakeholder meeting step forward for sustainable cocoa production in Ghana
Solidaridad West Africa recently facilitated a groundbreaking roundtable, bringing together the land committee of the Sefwi Wiawso Traditional Council, Ghana, and tenant cocoa farmers. They met to build consensus over provisions in a proposed lease agreement that has generated controversy between the two parties over the past decades.
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Contact Information
Isaac Gyamfi
Managing Director, Solidaridad West Africa
Hse. No. 18 Okine Street East Legon, Accra -GHANA PMB KD 11, Kanda, Accra