West Africa

Where We Work

We currently operate in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Chad. The region is endowed with large tracts of arable land and a population teeming with youth. However, crop productivity is less than a quarter of optimum global averages. The region is among the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. A mix of socio-economic policy instruments, innovation, good governance, investments and improved access to finance can facilitate the transformation the region needs.

Challenges

Lack of access and investment

The region is hampered by unsustainable production practices, less commercialized farming, unfavorable land tenure, limited youth entrepreneurial skills, degradation of natural resources, low investments and access to finance. These challenges intensify poverty and slow down socio-economic development of communities.

Poor road networks, low energy and water supplies, and a lack of storage facilities, information and communications technology affect the region’s competitiveness and ability to attract investment. This affects value-addition, leading to weak supply chains and sub-optimization of profits and other benefits.

In the recent past, the region has seen tremendous growth in the use of digital technology. Nonetheless, this has been slow. There’s a need to revolutionize the way investment is made in digital technology developments. Digital innovation has the potential to play a vital role in promoting sustainable agriculture and other production systems.

Historically, political instability has characterized the region, despite some efforts towards democratization. The situation affects the inward flow of both local and foreign investment. The need for stable democracy and good governance cannot be overemphasized if the region wants to attract the investment necessary to improve its socio-economic fortunes.

Solutions

Innovation, policy, and collaboration for change

The region has sufficient human and natural resource potential to address the challenges it faces. Producer support programmes, voluntary certification, policy advocacy, food security, landscape management and smart sustainable land use are already creating a wave of change and new opportunities.

Improving livelihoods and sparking change that lasts require engagement on a whole community level, not just the individual. Livelihood enhancements, capacity building, facilitating inclusive processes, access to inputs and credits and developing functional community action plans are just a few of the ways that Solidaridad is using a holistic approach to help to improve lives.

Working in collaboration with the private sector brings a new level of finance and structure to supply chains. Partnerships between local producers and associations, market-oriented service and input providers, financial institutions, corporate social responsibility leaders, global brands and consumers support sustainable growth. In Ghana, we set up 20 rural service centers through an entrepreneurship-based service delivery model for cocoa farmers to access a range of production services for intensification and rehabilitation.

In West Africa, Solidaridad is working to make transformative technology accessible to smallholder farmers and artisanal miners. Innovations like local language interactive voice response apps, are opening a new realm of possibilities for workers as well as improving supply-chain transparency.

Balancing global and local systems

To balance sustainable global supply chains and create local resilient food systems, Solidaridad West Africa supported 67,177 farmers with inputs and capacity to increase food supply and address market barriers amidst the post-COVID food and economic crises. In 2023, our focus on carbon mitigation and circularity led to the establishment of climate-friendly artisanal oil palm processing mills and a cashew processing factory. We equipped artisanal mines with mercury-free machinery and advocated for the responsible use of mercury.

Sierra Leone-new cashew factory-Waterloo Cashew Women Association

Leveraging partnerships

We leveraged strategic partnerships and digital tools to increase supply chain transparency and market access for smallholders. We successfully lobbied and advocated for sustainable practices and policies that improve the livelihood of farmers and gold producers. Our advocacy work led to the passing of two land bills in Sierra Leone and the adoption of a new pricing arrangement in Ghana.

Hitting Targets

In 2021, we trained 103,472 producers and workers in West Africa to improve their production practices, out of which 36,973 are producing sustainably on 71,153 hectares of land. This includes 14,356 cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire who have integrated good agricultural and climate-smart practices in their production processes. Additionally, 17,358 farmers improved their income after applying the knowledge they received through training.

Transforming communities

In 2020, we were able to train more than 95,000 farmers, miners, and workers to improve their practices across more than 90,000 hectares of land. Better environmental practices delivered additional benefits with 47 percent of cocoa farmers in Ghana seeing a marked increase in yield and income. Facing Covid-19 restrictions, we were able to pivot and offer accessible digital support through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, reaching more than 77,000 farmers and miners with technical support. These efforts were rounded out by advocacy efforts that contributed to six policy proposals to decision makers, which resulted in direct government action on topics ranging from land tenure rights to budgetary commitments.

Harnessing partnerships

By working with a range of partners, we contributed to national development agendas in the region. Some 26 initiatives improved practices in cocoa, gold, coffee, cashew, and oil palm. Our work enhanced the quality of life of more than 60,000 smallholder farmers, workers, and small and growing businesses providing agricultural services. By harnessing partnerships, climate-smart practices, and digital innovations, our programmes assured high-performing, impactful interventions.

Driving inclusive solutions

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.

Deepening engagements

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.

The business case

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.

Growing yields

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.

Beyond certification

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.

Regional Programmes

Better Chicken for a Better Future

Together with five Dutch private businesses and a Ghanaian business entity, the Better Chicken for a Better Future project seeks to create a fully functioning inclusive and integrated poultry meat value chain that provides decent jobs and better incomes for small-scale poultry farmers in Ghana. It will focus on strengthening the poultry business by enhancing the value chain for locally raised and processed chicken.

PALM OIL SUSTAINABILITY

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SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE COTTON PRODUCTION

The three-year project (2021 – 2024), funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), seeks to support 32,500 cotton farmers, including women and youth in Côte d’Ivoire, Chad and Togo, in sustainable cotton production with less inputs and negative environmental impact while becoming more resilient to climate change.

TACKLING FORCED AND CHILD LABOUR IN COCOA AND GOLD-MINING

In partnership with Rainforest Alliance Africa and the International Cocoa Initiative, the three-year project would address forced and child labour in the cocoa and gold sectors in Ghana, using a rights-based and landscape approach. The project is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and is expected to benefit 12,500 vulnerable individuals.

AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The project seeks to create a sustainable business in the aquaculture value chain for smallholder fish farmers, especially for women and youth in Ijebu Ode in the Ogun state of Nigeria. Solidaridad coordinates the implementation of the Aquaculture Development Project in Nigeria under the Danida Market Development Programme (DMDP), funded by the Danish Government.

Miners test out the new mercury-free processing equipment for gold mining.

PROMOTING MERCURY-FREE MINING

The “Promoting Mercury-Free Mining in Ghana” (Pro-MFM) project, a three-year (2021-2023) initiative funded by the United States Department of State and implemented by Pact and Solidaridad. The aim of the project is to reduce the use of mercury in Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector through education, the introduction of better technology, strengthened equipment supply chains and demonstrating business incentives for mercury-free gold production.

STRENGTHENING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE SHEA SUPPLY CHAIN

Strengthening the Sustainability of the Shea Supply Chain in Northern Ghana” project seeks to improve the livelihoods of 10,000 women shea nut collectors in ten beneficiary communities in northern Ghana by 2024. The three-year project engages and trains women nut collectors on business skills, collective marketing of shea, health and safety, climate-smart agriculture and income diversification, among others.