| | |  | A window into African village life | A young Irish journalist will provide a window into African village life, when she goes to live with a rural Zambian community for a month, beginning in late September.
|  | 24-year-old journalist Ciara Kenny will travel to Eastern Zambia in September, and will provide daily 'blogs' and video reports from her experiences.
She will utilise a range of new media, including blogs, facebook, and twitter to file her reports, which are to be hosted by The Irish Times online edition.
Ciara, who has not been to Sub-Saharan Africa previously, has travelled widely, and has filed reports to the Rough Guide travel book series from Asia. Her project is being undertaken in collaboration with Self Help Africa. |
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| Role of smallholder farming must be recognised | | Increasing access for smallholder farmers to knowledge and skills, to land and natural resources, and to agricultural research and decision-making is vital if global hunger and poverty are to be eradicated. |  | A new report, launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development in London this week underlines the key role that smallholder farmers have to play in efforts to feed a growing world population.
Produced by the African Smallholder Farmers' Group, of which Self Help Africa is a member, 'Africa’s Smallholder Farmers: Approaches that Work for Viable Livelihoods' presents nine accounts of successful approaches that have increased access to decision-making, assets, markets, science, knowledge and technology for smallholder farmers.
The report says that following decades of neglect and failure to invest in agriculture, an international consensus had emerged that more and better aid is needed. And it argues that small-scale farming systems must be prioritised, along with smallholder farmers' ability to access local and international markets. It calls on the UK Government to make a commitment to increase the amount of aid on this sector, and to focus aid on support for smallholder farmers. |
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| Harvesting fundraisers return |  | | | The Combines4Charity fundraisers who netted an incredible €300,000 for charity, last year are back in business once more, with plans for an even bigger fundraising bid, in 2010.
The cereal farmers behind the effort want to top the €300,000 they raised in 2009 with a Monster Raffle for charity in the Autumn of this year. A new John Deere tractor and Toyota jeep are amongst the great prizes on offer for the draw, which will take place on 24th October next. Self Help Africa is one of four nominated charities who will benefit from the effort. | |
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| Award-winning documentary |  | A television documentary that looked at the lives of a community working with Self Help Africa in Ethiopia, has received a prestigious award.
'Africa Rising', produced and directed by Scottish film-maker Jamie Doran for C4, received the annual MDG Award at the annual One World Media Awards in London recently.
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| Boat race on Foyle | Oarsman from across Ireland turned out in large numbers to support the annual charity row from Derry city to Greencastle, Co. Donegal, recently.
The event, which is organised annually by Self Help Africa supporter Albert Doherty took place in blistering Summer sunshine, and succeeded in raising thousands of euro to support Self Help Africa's programmes in Zambia. It is the fifth time that the charity row has taken place on Lough Foyle. | |
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| Tour D'Afrique success | A young Dublin accountant has applauded for completing a 12,000km cycle marathon from Cairo to Cape Town by Ireland's Minister for Overseas Development Peter Power, when he joined diplomats and dignitaries at a reception in Dublin recently.
27 year old Paddy Berkery was barely off his bike |  | when he was applauded for his effort by Minister of State Peter Power, at the official 'Africa Day' reception hosted by the Minister in Dublin recently. Paddy raised upwards of 15,000 from his effort. |
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| Loan book tops €750k | Over 26,000 members of Self Help Africa-supported savings and credit co-operatives now manage a loan book of around €750,000, a conference heard last week.
Five unions manage 185 individual co-ops across the country, with an average of 142 members in each of these co-ops. Repayment rates average over 98%, and average interest is 12%. Over 70% of co-op members are women, and there are currently 13,000 loans for activities ranging from livestock fattening to petty trading.
Self Help Africa's savings and credit initiative in Ethiopia receives on-going assistance from the Irish League of Credit Unions. | |
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|  | Self Help Africa launched in US | | Former Irish President and UN High Commissioner Mary Robinson presided at the official United States launch of Self Help Africa. The official launch took place at a reception hosted by the Consul General of Ireland Mr. Niall Burgess (pictured) in New York in December. |
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|  | | | Thanks to all those who took part in the 3rd annual African Shield six-a-side soccer blitz, which attracted more than 80 players to Greystones in Wicklow, recently.
The event, won by a Wicklow Rovers team, succeeded in raising close to €1,000 for Self Help Africa. Sponsorship support was provided by Superquinn, Greystones, and by the Charlesland Sport and Leisure Centre, who hosted the event. |
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| Cyclist's award | 25 year old cyclist Maghnus Collins Smyth received a prestigious 'Young Person of the Year' citation, at the recent annual awards ceremony organised by the Irish Junior Chamber of Commerce.
The Limerick man picked up the award in recognition of his participation in an 11-month trans-African cycle that raised close to €40,000 for charity, earlier this year. Magnus Collins Smyth, together with David Burns, Brian O'Shea and Alan O'Dwyer, saddled up in early June of last year, and arrived back home in early March to a heroes welcome in Limerick city. | |
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|  | Stove success | A Leaving Cert student who picked up the top national award at the annual BT Young Scientists Exhibition will get the opportunity to travel to Africa to field test his winning invention.
18 year old Richard O'Shea's biomass fired cooking stove for developing countries picked up both the top national award at the event, as well as the Irish Aid/Self Help Africa Science for Development Award. A student at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal in Blarney, Co Cork, Richard received a travel bursary to travel with Self Help Africa later this year to field test his winning project. | |
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|  | | | Speaking from experience | | A Ugandan farmer spoke recently about his move into cassava production. His account, and accompanying video footage was broadcast on the One Foundation's website as part of a month long focus on food security in the development world. | |
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| Loan book tops 750k | Over 26,000 members of Self Help Africa-supported savings and credit co-operatives now manage a loan book of around €750,000, a conference heard last week.
Five unions manage 185 individual co-ops across the country, with an average of 142 members in each of these co-ops. Repayment rates average over 98%, and average interest is 12%. Over 70% of co-op members are women, and there are currently 13,000 loans for activities ranging from livestock fattening to petty trading. Self Help Africa's savings and credit initiative in Ethiopia receives on-going assistance from the Irish League of Credit Unions. | |
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| EVENTS DIARY |  | Combines4Charity hold a Monster Raffle to support Self Help Africa and three other charities, in Meath on October 24th next. |
| | | | To find out about any of the above events contact us on: 1850 75 76 78 |
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| Annual Report 2009 |  | Self Help Africa's 2009 annual report is now available. Click on the image (left) to download a copy of the report.
Alternatively, click here to view a copy of the report online. |
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| |  | Self Help Africa and the School of Agricultural Sciences at UCD, Dublin, hosted a conference 'Food Security & Climate Change in Africa', in Dublin recently. Guest speakers include climateologist Prof. John Sweeney, Prof. Mike Gibney,nutrition expert, and Eric Yao from the Africa Centre in Dublin.
Click on image left to find out more |
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| News from Africa | | The support that we get from the general public and our other donors makes our African programmes possible. Read below a sample of just some of the things that have been happening recently with the people with whom we are working in Africa. | | | | | | | |
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| Major EU funding support |  | | | Ambitious new development programmes that will seek to improve food security and the livelihoods of more than 1.2 million people are being started in Zambia and Ethiopia.Close to €2.5 million has been secured from the European Commission for the projects, both of which will take place over a two-years period (2010-2011).
The Seed Entrepreneurship for Economic Development and Food Security (SEEDFS) project in Zambia will aim to increase food security and incomes of farming community by increasing access and timely supply of good quality seed, while in Ethiopia new EC backing has been received to expand Self Help Africa’s existing Agricultural Co-Operative Development Programme in Oromia and Southern Nations and Nationalties (SNRPP) provinces. | |
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| Fundraiser of the year |  | | | Self Help Africa supporter Margaret Gill received the Irish national fundraiser of the year award, at a reception in Dublin. Margaret and her husband Bill, from Edenderry, Co. Offaly, have raised more than €125,000 since they launched the 'Barbara Gill Memorial Fund' in memory of their late daughter, more than two years ago.
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| EU launch for climate publication |  | | | 'Climate Frontline' was formally launched by Self Help Africa in Brussels recently. The launch took place in the EU Parliament Buildings in Brussels following a meeting of the European Union's Environment Committee. The event was hosted by Irish Labour Party MEP Nessa Childers. Pictured at the EU launch of Climate Frontline are former Green Party MEP Nuala Ahern, Vittorio Prodi MEP, a brother of former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Nessa Childers MEP, and George Jacob, Steve Langdon and Jenny Rafanomezana of Self Help Africa.
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| | |  | | | | Skerries Sodo's Ethiopian trip | | Members of the Skerries Sodo Community Group who are supporting the work of Self Help Africa in the Sodo region of Ethiopia had a chance to see the work for themselves, when they undertook a recent fund-raising trek to the country. The group (pictured above) visited the Sodo Project and met staff and local communities during their trip, which also included a number of days hiking in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains - a world heritage site. | | |
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| | UN chief receives MDG Book | | United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was presented with a copy of 'Twenty Fifteen', the first in a series of books published by Self |  | Help Africa's development education unit, on the Millennium Development Goals.when he visited Dublin last year. The book it is a compendium of creative writing by Irish students and public figures, including Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Man Booker Prize winner Anne Enright, author Sebastian Barry, and a host of others. |
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| | | | Self Help Africa - UK
Second Floor, Westgate House,Dickens Court,
Hills Lane, Shrewsbury, SY1 1QU
Tel. +44 (0) 1743 277170 |
| Self Help Africa - Ireland
Annefield House,Dublin Road,
Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland
Tel. +353 (0) 578694034 |
| Self Help Africa Inc.
304 Park Avenue South, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10010, USA
Tel. +1 917 289 0670 |
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| | Self Help Africa is an international charity registered in Ireland and the United Kingdom Registered charity number: 6663 (Ireland), and 298830 (UK)
Self Help Africa is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organisation in the United States. | | | | | | Powered by go2web
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