SustIn Africa is a research project empowering West and North African smallholder farmers, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to facilitate the sustainable intensification of food production through resilient farming systems in West and North Africa. The aim is to develop a reference framework on best agricultural practices and technologies, to be used and replicated beyond the project’s duration.  

 SustIn Africa is a consortium of 16 organisations from 11 countries. The five year project, funded by the EU Horizon Research and Innovation Programme, started in 2020.  
Collaboration is central to the SustIn Africa approach. Self Help Africa and other consortium partners will input into other relevant ongoing projects, sharing knowledge, expertise, approaches, methodologies, and results.  

The links between ecosystems, agronomic practices, societal drivers and the welfare of smallholder farmers and communities is a crucial aspect of the SustIn Africa project.   A participatory, collaborative approach ensures  inclusiveness, to  help empower  smallholder farmers, especially women and youths, as well as SMEs.  

 SustIn Africa also connects smallholders to SMEs and establishes networks with other relevant  partners including  soil associations and farmers’ unions, and strengthens the preparation of policy recommendations for informing policymakers on best practices. 

The Project to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable households affected by climate change and the security crisis in Burkina Faso , funded by Irish Aid, is working with almost 13,000 households in Burkina Faso. The aim is to improve household food security, by working with families to increase their incomes.  

This will be achieved through the sale of production surpluses and products resulting from agricultural diversification, the adoption of good nutritional practices. More generally, the project will also seek to to strengthen the resilience of these households to the impacts of climate change. 

These project aims were developed to address two main challenges. The first challenge is land degradation. Essential for agricultural production, land degradation has been made worse by human actions and climate change. This presents a huge threat to food and nutrition security.  

The second challenge is to work together with internally displaced persons, so that they are able to live with dignity after fleeing conflict, and being forced to abandon their livelihood source, including crops and animals. 

 To address these challenges, Self Help Africa and Irish Aid will work together to both increase the resilience of households to the worst impacts of climate change, and to support the reconstruction of livelihoods for internally displaced persons.