Africa
Global Communities' 2021 Annual Report
"The extent to which these projects will help our people cannot be overemphasized. ... This will go a long way to solve our people's challenge of several years of living without potable drinking water."
Lawal Tamimu, WASH for Health program participant, Ghana
Our Work in Africa
Across 10 countries in Africa, Global Communities worked with communities to bring sustainable access to school feeding programs, women’s financial empowerment, sanitation & hygiene and local governance. With over a decade of experience, we are supporting communities as they shape their own futures, build their capacity to recover from conflict, crisis and disaster, and ensure inclusive access to financial solutions, particularly for women, young people and other marginalized groups.
Snapshot of Our Results in Africa
172,072
students from 231 primary schools in the Mara Region who received daily school meals in Tanzania
23,904
people who gained access to safe sanitation facilities through the construction of 2,988 household latrines in Ghana
3,500
artisanal miners positively affected by newly established relationships with four cooperatives at three sites in three provinces across eastern DRC
Learn More About Our Work in Africa
Sustainable Development
Tanzania
Africa | Sustainable Development
Tanzania
In 2021, the Tanzania Ministry of Education, Science and Technology launched the nation’s first National School Feeding Guidelines (NSFG) in Dodoma, Tanzania. This milestone was inspired and guided by our community-led school feeding projects in the Mara Region, which Global Communities had been implementing with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2016. Our McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program was one of the key models that informed the development of technical approaches and community engagement strategies for the NSFG. The NSFG provides the blueprint that will equip schools and communities to provide regular school meals that improve overall student performance by reducing hunger, increasing attendance and attentiveness, and improving child nutrition.
Fast Facts:
- 231 primary schools supported by school feeding projects in the Mara Region
- 172,072 students received daily school meals
- 355 metric tons of food commodities contributed by communities
- 10 school libraries established
- 10 solar-powered water systems installed
Ghana
Africa | Sustainable Development
Ghana
2021 marked the final year of our Ghana Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Health program, which started in 2015. WASH for Health was developed in response to the negative health effects of inadequate or nonexistent WASH services for people across Ghana—effects which are more profound in some regions than in others. This program expanded water and sanitation access and sought to improve hygiene behaviors in 38 districts across ten regions. WASH for Health now gives way to our new Enhancing WASH (E-WASH) program, which launched in October 2021 and will continue the progress we made over the last six years.
Fast Facts:
- 23,904 people gained access to safe sanitation facilities through construction of 2,988 household latrines
- 9,000+ residents provided with clean and safe water through construction of two small town water systems
- 1,919 Digni-Loos installed
- 118 communities attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status
Kenya & Malawi
Africa | Sustainable Development
Kenya & Malawi
The Agribusiness Investment for Market Stimulation (AIMS) program has been implemented in Kenya and Malawi since October 2014. AIMS is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded program that seeks to increase Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprises (A-SME) access to finance and markets to help bolster trade in Kenya and Malawi. Our key partner in provision of services under the loan guarantee facility is I&M Bank, a commercial bank regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya. In 2021, the AIMS program successfully conducted post-loan disbursement monitoring, improved linkages between buyers and sellers and improved capacity of key organizations in the trade sector. Additionally, the AIMS program was able to leverage partnerships between public and private investors.
Fast Facts:
- 20 loans assessed by AIMS and our banking partners in Kenya and Malawi
- 53 dairy cooperatives linked with the Meru Central Coffee Union, which is affiliated with 34 coffee cooperatives in Kenya
- 8 prequalified Business Advisory Service Providers partnered with AIMS Kenya to identify and support A-SMEs
Kenya
Africa | Sustainable Development
Kenya
In 2021, the Cooperative Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) program team in Kenya continued adapting to the COVID pandemic, both by increasing virtual engagements and other ways of doing business, and, most importantly, by meeting the changing needs of cooperative businesses. CLEAR continued to build the capacity of worker-owned cooperatives, with a particular focus on start-up urban cooperatives that engage youth and women.
An example of projects that were undertaken include CLEAR’s work to build a model for worker-owned cooperatives. CLEAR organized a co-op to co-op learning strategy through “virtual visits” with worker cooperatives in the United States. At the same time, CLEAR responded to requests to expand its cooperative business development coaching and training activities to mature, larger cooperatives, including agricultural cooperatives.
Fast Facts:
- 1,854 cooperative members benefited from services and resources delivered by CLEAR
- 283 civil servants and cooperative leaders participated in gender sensitivity training to support inclusive and equitable cooperative governance across Kenya
- 69.8 percent of surveyed participants indicated that CLEAR’s intervention led to increased value of services generated by their cooperatives
- 40+ cooperatives and representatives from 10 countries trained by CLEAR and Democracy at Work Institute’s co-created curriculum
- $250,000 in income and services provided to members by CLEAR’s participating cooperatives
- 100 young people attended monthly virtual roundtables to discuss lessons learned about their cooperative business plans and more
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Africa | Sustainable Development
Democratic Republic of the Congo
2021 was a catalytic year for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Zabahu Safi (Clean Gold) Project, which is implemented by Global Communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Global Communities put in place all the necessary programmatic infrastructure to support the project’s first facilitated export of responsibly sourced Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining/Miners (ASM) gold from eastern DRC. We continue to have commercial discussions between project-supported cooperatives, exporters, refiners, jewelers and Due Diligence and Traceability Support Partners (BetterChain and RCS Global) to achieve exporting gold.
Fast Facts:
- 15 jewelers and 5 refiners moved down the sales funnel, showing interest and demand for responsibly sourced ASM gold from DRC
- $370,000+ USD in pre-export investments leveraged from project-supported upstream actors
- 3,500 artisanal miners positively affected by newly established relationships with four cooperatives at three sites in three provinces across eastern DRC
Financial Inclusion
Tanzania
Africa | Financial Inclusion
Tanzania
In 2021, Global Communities’ McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition projects continued to nurture 10 Women Empowered (WE) networks in the Mara Region of Tanzania. Throughout the year, all networks completed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis and are in the process of developing business plans and creating new operational procedures.
Fast Facts:
- 494 Women Empowered (WE) savings groups received support
- $116 in average annual savings per member, which has doubled since 2017
- $64,500+ in savings mobilized across all 10 WE networks
Botswana
Africa | Financial Inclusion
Botswana
A Women Empowered (WE) component was introduced to the Comprehensive Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children program in Botswana in 2021. Program participants were exposed to different economic strengthening programs and stable services to improve their well-being and those of their households.
Fast Facts:
- 47 savings groups established with 460 members, including 256 caregivers (243 women and 13 men)
- 27 loans issued
- 20 individual income-generating activities initiated
- 10 group income-generating activities initiated
- 186 participants and 27 groups linked to financial service providers and opened bank accounts
Read About Our Work in Other Regions
The Americas
In 2021, Global Communities partnered directly with local leaders, governments, schools, businesses and civil society organizations to bring sustainable and positive change, improving the lives and livelihoods of people in eight countries across the Americas.
Middle East, Europe & Asia
In 2021, Global Communities worked alongside communities in more than a dozen countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, connecting young people with economic opportunities and the tools to lift their own voices for positive change.