Self Help Africa

About the charity

Most Africans who are hungry live on farms. Most African farms can grow much more food.

Self Help Africa works with rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, helping them to grow enough food to feed themselves and to escape from poverty.

Our efforts focus on smallholder farmers.  In nine countries across the continent, Self Help Africa assists these men and women to grow more food and earn an income, while protecting their land’s resources.

We achieve this primarily by providing technical help to farmers – introducing new seed varieties or a second crop, helping them irrigate land or reduce soil erosion, or setting up small savings and credit cooperatives to help them start a business.

Every year, Self Help Africa enables over 1 million people in 9 countries in Africa - Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Togo, Uganda and Zambia - to gain the skills they need to escape poverty and manage their own future.

About Self Help Africa

Self Help Africa was formed in 2008 from a merger between two like-minded charities: UK NGO Harvest Help and Irish NGO Self Help Development International.

The combined skills and complimentary experiences of 25 years of learning have been pooled together to form a strong, dynamic, and forward thinking new organisation. We now have the potential to have a greater impact overseas in improving the lives and circumstances of Africa’s rural poor. 

Both charities were founded in mid-1980s in response to the catastrophic Ethiopian famine and the droughts that plagued many central African countries. From the outset the vision was to help people manage their own futures with confidence. 

Year upon year operations have extended across communities. Self Help Africa is committed to helping rural communities become self-reliant; encouraging participation of the poor at every stage of the development process