The Business of “Economic Revival”
The Central African Republic languishes at the bottom of various hunger and poverty rankings, but in areas around the capital, Bangui, there is hope for stability and recovery. In this large-scale consortium project, Welthungerhilfe together with its Alliance 2015 partners ACTED, Concern Worldwide and COOPI supported emerging value chains by bringing together producers and distributors. This 30-months project which concluded in June 2021, provided advice and support to farmers’ groups to increase their productivity. The investment in value chains has led to the creation of new jobs in agriculture, a sector that provides a livelihood for more than 80 percent of the population.
The crisis has affected all sectors, but opportunities still exist
Since the fall of President Bozizés in March 2013 by the rebel coalition Séléka, the Central African Republic has sunk into violence and a humanitarian catastrophe. After the transition period in 2016, the civil war was considered to be over however this was proved not be the case. Although peace building efforts continued in 2017 and in 2019, the Central African Republic has slipped back into a cycle of violence in recent years. As large parts of the country continue to be dominated by rebel groups.
The crisis has strongly affected all sectors, particularly in rural areas, where insecurity has disrupted or destroyed activities. Despite this difficult context, opportunities for economic development, growth and employment exist, primarily in the agricultural sector. In stable regions outside the control of armed groups, new agricultural outlets have emerged since 2016, particularly with the arrival and increased activity of private and/or public economic actors seeking suppliers. These opportunities can only be seized by considerably strengthening the production capacities of basic producers in quantity and quality, and by redirecting production towards the most promising sectors.
The Business auf "Economic Revival" (Video in French only)
The project’s interventions will create opportunities for transformation and job creation for young people and women who are the main victims of the current crisis and therefore the pillars on which the country’s recovery can be built.
- 156 farmers’ organizations placed at the heart of the action. They habe been the main beneficiaries of the project. They have been strengthened in their structuring and their capacity to diversify their offer of services to producers, in terms of technical and management support, strengthening social cohesion and mobilizing savings and access to credit, thus constituting real resilience funds.
- 4.500 farming and herding households, i.e., 27.000 people are the final beneficiaries of the action. They habe been supported through their farmer’s organization to increase their production, the creation of added value, their access to markets and credit.
- 6 umbrella organizations of the CBOs, i.e., their local and national federations, have been supported in their integration and interaction with the other actors in the value chains in which they are part.
- 5.000 young beneficiaries have been supported as a priority target of the action, since their participation in agricultural activities is a strong factor in the sustainability of activities and the stabilization of intervention areas. They have been strengthened in their capacity for social and community involvement and supported in launching their activity. They will benefit from increased employment opportunities in the agricultural and related sectors.
- 28.500 households benefitted from the infrastructures (feeder roads, bridges and processing units).
- Project Sheet and review of the first year 2018-19 (in French only)
- Success story Bangui (in French only)
- Sucess story Kemo (in French only)
- Success story Ombella MPoko 1 (in French only)
- Success story Ombella MPoko 2 (in French only)
- LVPCA hebdomadaire d’information du monde rural (in French only)
Project funded by the European Union through the Bêkou/ EU Trust Fund for the Central African Republic.
