Our National Chapters have had a busy month of strengthening their internal understanding and practice of community-led development.
- The Liberia Chapter hosted a knowledge sharing event to launch a Farmer’s Learning and Action Group. The attention and excitement generated demonstrated the powerful convening role that our National Chapters have; 50 farmers participated and committed themselves to breaking existing cycles that undermine farmer success. More farmers are asking to participate as well. As the group built trust and cohesion, top issues that emerged: the need for safe and shared storage for produce, access to microfinance, and development of public-private partnerships that give farmers better access to a fair value chain.
- The Kenya Chapter has begun a promising partnership with the government of Makueni County. On September 30th, Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, governor of Makueni County, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Movement for Community-led Development to work together to strengthen people’s participation in local governance. Watch the signing here.
- The Uganda and Kenya Chapters collaborated to organize a two-day virtual workshop to facilitate a better understanding of CLD and the Vision Commitment and Action models of Development.
- The Uganda Chapter, the Global MCLD Secretariat, and the Right2Grow project met to document a new model for partnerships between large international projects and an in-country domestic civil society network.
- The Uganda and Malawi Chapters are finalizing concept notes for using the MCLD Grant fund to gather evidence and test models to enable more and better CLD within their unique country settings.
- The Zambia Chapter hosted a visit from the Shanta Foundation, who is exploring the concept of implementing their CLD model in Zambia–this model was originally developed and refined in Myanmar.
- The Nigeria Chapter has begun to seek partnerships within Nigeria, based on its new strategy. The initial focus is UN agencies. Other suggestions and introductions are welcome!
- The Benin Chapter continues to roll out its strategies to address two top issues: local food systems, and improved collaboration between communities and local government. The Chapter plans to launch a Benin superfoods festival series, starting with moringa. They also seek to position themselves as a hub for food system learning and action across West Africa.
- The soon-to-be Sierra Leone Chapter continues to meet and co-create their vision, governance, and strategy for forming and launching this emergent chapter.
Featured Photo Credit: Jude Nwachukwu