13 Organizations working to improve food supply in Africa

Since our launch in February, the multigreennet blog has worked hard to amplify the messages related to efforts to improve the food system.

The 10 organizations highlighted here are doing invaluable work to change the way we eat, grow, cook, buy and sell food. Our hope is that the more people know about the work that these groups are doing, the more people can be inspired to make their own change in the food system.

Please share this list with 13 of your friends and family members–and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest–so that we can all take one step closer to our goal of a more sustainable, healthy, and socially just world!

1. ECOVA MALI – Founded by former Peace Corps volunteers, Cynthia Hellmann and Gregory Flatt, ECOVA MALI works with Malian farmers to teach other farmers about  nbsp; sustainable agriculture methods. They also offer micro-financing and small-scale grants so that farmers can invest in the sustainability, both social and environmental, of their operations.

2. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – This United Nations-supported financial institution is on a mission to eradicate rural poverty in developing countries. IFAD helps empower the rural poor by providing them with the resources they need to invest in themselves and increase their incomes.

3. L.I.F.E. (Lasting Impact for Ethiopia) – This nonprofit organization is educating and empowering Ethiopian youth. In January 2012, a school for Ethiopian youth was established in the village of Nazerate, with a curriculum emphasizing literacy, agriculture, health, and sustainability.

4. One Acre Fund – The One Acre Fund provides farmers in sub-Saharan Africa with the tools they need to successfully operate their plots, such as seeds and fertilizers, credit, access to markets, and educational programs on farming techniques. These services are provided at a fee to the farmers who participate.

5. Oxfam International – Through a wide variety of approaches – ranging from long-term campaigns, such as their Behind the Brands Campaign to secure labor rights for employees in the cocoa industry, to immediate emergency support – Oxfam has taken measures to bring an end to global poverty.

6. Songtaab-Yalgré Association (SYA) – SYA brings together women from across Burkina Faso to produce shea nuts, using the collective to simultaneously improve their literacy and their working conditions. As a locally-sourced crop, shea nuts were chosen for their potential to allow the women harvesting them to achieve a higher level of economic self-sufficiency, and empower them to become independent in their society. Workers at SYA distribute profits equally and set aside a percentage to fund community development projects as well.

7. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – The Food and Agriculture Organization is the United Nations’ international agency overseeing global food security and agriculture. Among their many research areas, FAO’s main activities include knowledge-sharing among member nations, making information about food and agriculture available for all people, supporting policies to reduce malnutrition and other illnesses worldwide, rallying the international community to promote effective strategies for agricultural development, and conducting research to better understand the complex issues that face the global food system.

8. World Food Programme (WFP) – The World Food Programme is an international anti-hunger organization within the United Nations that collects and distributes food assistance to populations in need. As the world’s largest organization working to combat hunger, WFP distributes food to over 90 million people annually, mainly delivering assistance to children, refugees, people in emergency situations (such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti) and the rural poor.

9. Ashoka Innovators for the Public – Ashoka supports a network of 3,000 social entrepreneurs across the world. By providing financing and start-up capital, Ashoka has been transforming the landscape of social innovation since 1980. It is encouraging fundamental transformation of the food chain to full nutrition with an initiative linking human wellbeing, agriculture, and the environment.

10. Bioversity International – Bioversity International is a research and development organization aimed at supporting smallholder farmers in the developing world through sustainable agriculture and conservation. Bioversity International focuses on rain-fed farming systems, managed by smallholder farmers, in communities where large scale agriculture is not possible.

11. Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research – The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research is a network of research organizations that are looking to promote and support global food security. With 15 centres around the globe, CGIAR helps to share knowledge and advance research on rural poverty, health and nutrition, and management of natural resources.

12. Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy – Food First is a research and advocacy organization that seeks to eliminate the injustices that cause hunger worldwide, working with social movements to amplify their voices and boost their efforts toward food justice and sovereignty. Believing that change happens from the ground up, Food First supports an agricultural approach that moves away from transnational agri-food industry to one focused primarily on farmers and communities.

13. Slow Food International – Slow Food International is an international non-profit organization with supporters in 150 countries that emphasizes the importance of good food and the factors that make it possible, including biodiversity, culture, and knowledge. Created to respond to an increasingly “fast food” world, Slow Food seeks to preserve local traditions, enhance people’s understanding of food and where it comes from, and comprehend the impact that our food choices make on the world.