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25 March 2009 

Summary 

Annual Report 2008 

West & Central Africa 

SNV 

Connecting PeopleÊs Capacities 

N e t h e r l a n d s 

D e v e l o p m e n t 

O r g a n i s a t i o n

Summary Annual Report 2008 2 

Summary Annual Report 

List of contents 

1. Foreword 

2. About SNV West & Central Africa 

3. Challenges in our region 

4. Highlights of 2008 

5. Strategy 

6. Finance 

7. Partnerships & Funding 

8. Human Resources 

Annex: Examples of our work 

I Case Cameroon 

II Case Mali 

III Case Niger 

SNV West & Central Africa


1. Foreword 

Strengthened capacity for positive 

change in West & Central Africa 

A number of recent successes demonstrate 

that rapid progress is possible 

across Africa when sound national programmes 

are matched with good governance, 

dynamic local leadership, 

adequate development assistance and full 

technical support. 

These tasks have now become more challenging 

since we face a global economic 

slowdown and a food security crisis, both 

of uncertain magnitude and duration. Climate 

change has also become a major 

concern. These developments will directly 

affect our efforts to reduce poverty: the 

economic slowdown will diminish the incomes 

of the poor, the food crisis will increase 

the number of hungry people in 

the world and push millions more into poverty, 

and climate change will have a disproportionate 

impact on the poor, 

especially in Saharan countries. However, 

this could also be an opportunity for 

Africa to boost her regional markets. The 

recent meetings of the West African Economic 

and Monetary Union and the Economic 

Community of West African States 

(ECOWAS) mentioned this opportunity. 

The midterm evaluation of the global effort 

to achieve the Millennium Development 

Goals by 2015 shows already that 

many WCA countries are having problems 

achieving the goals set. All this presents 

us with a real challenge of sharing a vision 

in order to be able to act collectively 

in fighting these crises within our competencies. 

As we confront these new challenges, our 

strategy remains to keep our focus on increasing 

access to good basic services 

(such as primary education, primary 

health care and sanitation) and increasing 

income and employment opportunities. 

At the same time we need not to 

forget matters such as governance for 

empowerment, domestic accountability 

and gender equality. 

Supporting relevant stakeholders in identifying 

the actions and policies needed to 

respond to these and other multifarious 

and interlinked development challenges is 

at the heart of SNV’s work. 

As this year’s Annual Report details, we 

do this by developing the capacity of 

men, women and institutions to improve 

lives and accelerate change in their environment. 

This report highlights the relevance of our 

work. It outlines how SNV is focusing its 

support on increasing access to good 

basic services (BASE) and increasing production, 

income and employment opportunities 

(PIE). Alongside the two impact 

areas PIE and BASE we focus on Governance 

for Empowerment and sustainability. 

Through these and other activities, 

and in close collaboration with other partners 

such as the Embassy of the Kingdom 

of the Netherlands, SNV WCA remains 

committed to supporting countries in 

their efforts to help build a better life for 

their people by connecting people capacities. 

Hans van der Graaf, Regional Director 

SNV West and Central Africa 



2. About SNV West & Central Africa 

SNV-Netherlands Development Organisation 

reinforces local organisations to reduce 

poverty by giving advice on 

economic development and basic needs 

services like health and education. We 

work with, and through, local organisations 

to reach out to poor people. Our aim 

is that these people should have easier 

access to high quality education and 

health and water and sanitation services. 

In addition, we want them to be able to 

generate production, income and employment 

opportunities for their activities and 

create more wealth for themselves, their 

family and community. 

In 32 countries worldwide, our 800 largely 

local advisors are on the ground to 

listen, connect, advise, facilitate and exchange 

expertise. We serve 2,500 clients 

in the public sector, private sector and 

civil society in five geographic areas: 

Asia, the Balkans, East and Southern 

Africa, West and Central Africa, and Latin 

America. Our support staff is responsible 

for development of content knowledge, 

Human Resources, and Finance to support 

SNV’s core advisory business. 

SNV has been active in West and Central 

Africa for over 40 years. We are well 

known in the region as a key partner for 

local authorities and other actors involved 

in decentralisation processes. We focus 

our efforts on education, health, 

energy/biogas, water & sanitation, agriculture 

including cotton, livestock, forestry 

and tourism. Working in eight 

countries with 33 teams from 28 offices 

and with more than 260 local and international 

advisors, working hand in hand 

with local actors, we have a positive impact 

on the living conditions of 10 million 

people. 

SNV does not act on its own. We work together 

with local NGO’s who, like SNV, 

focus on supporting local actors in their 

fight against poverty. At the same time, 

SNV has strong and fruitful partnerships 

with a wide array of civil society and private 

organisations, farmers associations 

and local governments. This network is 

used to tackle specific local, national and 

regional (or even global) issues together 

with clients and partners. The Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands is a key 

strategic partner and one of the main donors 

that finance the services of SNV. 

With the support of external donors, the 

local organisations that receive advice 

from SNV do not have to pay for our services. 

With our motto “Connecting people’s 

capacities” in mind, we are actively 

engaged in finding other partners, such 

as development institutions and funders, 

who can complement us in our development 

work and accelerate its impact. 

SNV WCA currently operates in Benin, 

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DR Congo, 

Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Niger. 

Our sharp gender profile and our capacity 

to bring different actors together have 

proven to be powerful tools for enhancing 

development. Next to that, by providing 

high quality advisory services and technical 

support, we help local organisations 

find a practical path to development. In 

this annual report you will find many 

examples from West and Central Africa. 



3. Challenges in our region 

2008 has been characterised by the consequences 

of the overall rise of prices for food 

and petroleum products. Rising prices and 

speculation in diverse products made it clear 

that agriculture was acquiring a new place in 

the world economy. This was a major cause 

for the energy and food crises in many poor 

countries (with f.i. riots in Burkina Faso, 

Niger and Cameroon). 

As a result, almost all states and regional 

institutions have resorted to two types of 

measures: emergency responses aimed at 

reducing the rise of food prices, and short or 

long term measures aimed at increasing the 

national production of staple food. Different 

incentives were adopted by the states: subsidy 

for inputs (fertilizers and seeds), seasonal 

credit allocation, basic development of 

agricultural lands, a promise to collect products, 

and possible State-guaranteed prices 

(in the case of rice in Burkina Faso and 

Benin, and cowpeas in Niger). 

Regional and international institutions have 

taken measures to support state initiatives. 

The Economic Community of West African 

States (ECOWAS) has devised a regional offensive 

for food production and hunger 

control by seeking consistency amongst national 

programmes at the regional level and 

by harmonizing the short term response 

with the region’s long term agricultural policy 

(ECOWAP). 

In addition to the general food crisis, there 

has been the ambiguous situation of the cotton 

sector. In 2008 there was a significant 

reduction of land under cotton cultivation; 

there was an increase in input prices, resulting 

in a less profitable cost/benefit ratio. 

Since cotton chain services (finances, inputs, 

transport and extension) sustain other products 

of farming households, the hampering 

cotton engine affected other chains (cereals, 

livestock, oil seeds and niche-market bio 

cotton) and even national food security in 

Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin. Maintenance 

of sustainable cotton-staple food production 

and of viable industries is a main concern for 

national governments, which have reacted 

to the situation by giving subsidies and 

loans to chain stakeholders and by recapitalising 

companies. 

Despite the adverse effects of global climate 

change, the current agricultural production 

season (2008/2009) in the Sahelian countries 

indicates abundant production levels for 

a wide variety of crops. Fortunately, the 

rainy season was rather good this year. However, 

some pastoral areas have had less 

than average rainfall which has led to 

change of mobility of pastoral herds and increased 

pressure on pastoral resources in 

other areas. 

Another challenge is the global economic 

slowdown of uncertain magnitude and duration. 

The economic slowdown will diminish 

the funds available for developing countries 

and other above mentioned developments 

will directly affect our efforts to reduce poverty. 

All agricultural chains have been affected by 

the rising petrol prices and the widespread 

rise of global prices for food, which could be 

a burden on their competitiveness. At the 

same time this context of new demands 

creates opportunities for all agricultural products. 

The expectations are that prices will 

rise in 2009-2010. Most countries will adapt 

their agricultural policies and investments. 

Farmers, processors and local traders will 

now need, more than ever, the right skills to 

be able to respond to the new demands and 

markets. 

Furthermore the process of decentralisation 

and harmonisation continues in Mali, Burkina 

Faso, Benin and Niger. Some countries (namely 

Niger and Benin) are finding this process 

problematic, due to a lack of, or slow 

transfer of, competencies. The political climate 

seems stable in Mali, Ghana, Cameroon 

and Guinea Bissau. Niger has a 

relatively unstable political situation because 

of the increasing insecurity in the northern 

part of the country. In addition, there have 

been various armed aggressions in the Gao 

area of Mali, but it is unclear whether this is 

related to a political conflict or to traffic and 

banditry. Despite the resurgence of political 

and military troubles in the eastern part of 

the country in October 2008, DR Congo has 

continued its normalization process throughout 

the year. Only at the end of 2008 did 

the international economic crisis start to 

have a huge impact on the export revenues 

of raw materials leading to a quick rise of inflation. 

Until late 2008, the political context 

in Guinea Bissau was characterised by institutional 

instability with several changes in 

government. The newly installed government 

of December 2008 has the task of revitalising 

the decentralization process. 



4. Highlights of 2008 

Achievements 

We have seen results in the practice areas 

we focus on - education, health, 

energy/biogas, water and sanitation, agriculture, 

cotton, livestock, forestry and 

tourism. One example is Guinea Bissau, 

where SNV helped to create a business 

environment for fair exchange exports in 

the cashew sector. This enabled producers 

to sell a kilogramme of raw cashew nuts 

for EUR 0.56/kg instead of the previous 

cashew price of EUR 0.23/kg. Sixty-two 

producer groups and fifteen processor 

units were trained, 130,000 tons of cashew 

nuts were exported, and the government 

earned about EUR 40,000,000 from 

export taxes. Around 250,000 families benefited 

directly from this result. 

2008, a total of 571,783 children have 

been fed, representing 20% of all public 

primary school children in the country, 

with an increase in enrolment of 12.8%. 

From 2009, NGO/CSO will be represented 

on the Project Steering Committee (PSC), 

the highest decision-making body of the 

GSFP. 

In the cotton sector, the contribution of 

SNV Burkina Faso to the Farm Management 

System improved the situation of 

15,000 producers This is about 15% of all 

the producers in the SNV intervention 

area, covering one-third of the whole cotton 

area; 25% more than in 2007. The 

Farm Management System leads to higher 

farm revenues through better production, 

planning and marketing. In 2009, there 

will be further scaling up and an institutionalising 

of the Farm Management System 

in Burkina, as well as in Benin and Mali. 

By employing a multi-stakeholder approach 

to its engagement with the Ghana 

School Feeding Programme (GSFP), SNV 

Ghana facilitated dialogue, information 

sharing and participation among government 

and non-governmental/civil society 

organisations (NGO/CSO). Subsequently, 

the programme has been improved, the 

number of schools with potable water has 

increased from 50% in 2007 to 65% in 

2008; sanitation facilities have increased 

from 50% in 2007 to 75% in 2008 and the 

amount spent on daily feeding has increased 

from about 25 USA cents to about 33 

USA cents per child. Since December 



Highlights of 2008 

The partnership between SNV WCA and 

Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) 

increased opportunities (in 2007/2008) 

for SNV clients to access Fair Trade markets. 

This was evidenced by the growth in 

sales of Fair Trade products and by the 

increasing number of SNV clients applying 

for Fair Trade certification. In addition, 

the partnership has assisted groups 

to manage the Fair Trade premium more 

effectively, and training sessions on leadership 

and management skills have improved 

the groups’ organisational 

efficiency and management. After a 

constructive meeting in September 2008 

in Accra, Ghana, four countries in the region 

(Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, and 

Mali) renewed and strengthened their engagements 

with FLO to access markets 

for mango, cashew, and shea nut. 

SNV Benin supported municipalities in establishing 

effective household waste and 

management systems, in collaboration 

with other actors including women’s associations. 

In addition, municipalities 

strengthened their financial capacities by 

implementing local tax mobilisation strategies. 

SNV Benin’s contribution to the 

improvement of the drinking water supply 

and sanitation infrastructure resulted in 

increased access to drinking water for the 

population in rural areas from 45% in 

2007 to 51% in 2008. 

Some cross-regional partnerships also led 

to tangible achievements. One such partnership 

is that between SNV WCA and action-research 

organisation Laboratoire 

Citoyennetés. This collaboration resulted 

in improved delivery of local public services 

in 4 countries, 124 villages and for 

133.013 people. In addition 34 new administrative 

centres were created, making 

it easier for people to register their 

children after birth and giving them more 

access to health, water and education 

(not being registered at birth can mean 

one has no access to education). New 

local resources were also sought out to 

improve the delivery of drinking water 

and to build 3 new hospital rooms and 

provide equipment for 3 health centres. 

Within the framework of the cross-regional 

partnership between SNV WCA and 

Millennium Development Goal centre, a 

strategy has been devised to enlarge the 

Millennium Villages Programme (MVP) within 

the national framework, contribute to 

the formulation of more MVPs (e.g. initiative 

166 communes in Mali), integrate 

gender strategies into MVPs and increase 

potential for community development in 

countries which have the MVP. 

The regional partnership between SNV 

WCA and the United Nations Development 

Programme continued in Niger, Mali, 

Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. The 

joint efforts are aimed at achieving tangible 

results in basic services delivery, income 

generation, and job creation by 

supporting capacity development and resource 

mobilisation. 



5. Strategy 

Executive summary 

Evolution in strategy 

In 2008 we put major effort into working 

with experienced Local Capacity Builders 

(LCBs) 1 . Our ambition to stimulate the 

enabling environment and work strongly 

with LCBs as clients, sub-contractors and 

partners is becoming part of the ‘SNV 

brand’: our way of achieving lasting development 

results. Our ambition to help 

improve the environment for local capacity 

development is one of the most essential 

developments in our corporate 

strategy. Local capacity builders are a 

vital resource for effective and sustainable 

local development. In 2008, SNV 

WCA put major effort into helping improve 

the environment for local capacity 

development. As a result, most WCA 

countries are coaching experienced LCBs 

and are working together with them, with 

the final goal that specific tasks from SNV 

can be taken over by them. Our services 

to LCBs include a training module that 

ranges from relatively simple training on 

specific operational issues (financial management, 

planning, HRM) to more complex 

organisational development. 

1 For SNV a local capacity builder (LCB) is any type 

of actor that provides capacity development services 

to intermediate-level actors in order to reduce 

poverty, and is owned and run within the country 

or regional context. 

Sector Choices 

In 2008 there were no major deviations 

from the WCA Regional Strategic Plan 

2008-2009. Our sector choices remained 

the same: education, water and sanitation, 

hygiene (WaSH), primary Health, 

and biogas sectors for increasing access 

to good basic services and the sectors 

agriculture, livestock, cotton, timber forest 

products, non timber forest products 

(NFTP) and tourism for increasing production, 

income and employment opportunities. 

In 2008 we started a roadmap to prepare 

ourselves for the new planning period 

2010-2012. Part of the procedure is an 

analysis of our sectors and interventions. 

With this instrument we are able to make 

more accurate decisions on sector 

choices and intervention zones. This will 

help us to estimate costs and compare 

them with tangible results. 

Becoming a knowledge organisation 

In 2008 we undertook efforts to maintain 

and develop the quality of our knowledge 

management. To this end, we established 

sector based knowledge networks to 

bring all regional knowledge together. 

Development needs were identified with 

the help of an inventory. The knowledge 



Strategy 

networks in specific fields are open platforms 

in which our advisors, leading 

clients, external expertise centres and 

professionals take part. Our knowledge 

brokering activities aim to enable local 

organisations and LCBs to access, apply 

and continuously renew their knowledge. 

During the course of these activities we 

exchanged, and consolidated our experiences 

and knowledge for the benefit of 

our clients, partners, colleagues and 

other actors (within and between sectors). 

Our efforts are in line with our ambition 

to become a true knowledge 

organisation. 

Repositioning and internal learning 

improve the quality, coherence and effectiveness 

of our services, we conducted 

various training, information and coaching 

sessions with management, portfolio 

teams and knowledge networks on, for 

example, Managing for Results and Governance 

for Empowerment. In 2009 

these processes will be fully implemented 

and integrated. 

Internal situation 

Whilst the first part of 2008 was largely 

devoted to aligning our organisational 

structure and our client portfolio with our 

strategic ambitions, it also provided 

strong foundations for increasing the 

quality and impact of all our work. The 

transition went smoothly and advisors 

rose to the challenge of changing teams 

and, sometimes, sectors. The shifting and 

mixing of staff encouraged further thematic 

cooperation across teams and 

contributed to the overall ‘one SNV’ that 

we have become. Especially in DR Congo, 

2008 was a year of transition. At the end 

of 2007, the Board of Directors decided 

formally to invest in DR Congo as a full 

country program. In 2008 the first steps 

were taken to implement this decision. 

Operational plans were finalised and actor 

constellations were designed as a basis 

for client engagement. We achieved results 

both in terms of enhanced client 

performance and the creation of an enabling 

environment. The impact of our 

practices is more difficult to assess. To 

sharpen the focus of our advisory practices, 

and to create a sound framework 

for result management, we will invest 

more in elaborating adequate baselines 

and results chains, and applying regular 

and effective monitoring. 

Internally, all countries went through a 

repositioning exercise. The number of 

teams was reduced in Benin, Cameroon, 

Mali and Burkina Faso. At the same time, 

thematic groups were formed across 

teams, based on sector choices. This matrix 

structure stimulates closer collaboration 

between and within sectors, leading 

to greater coherence, knowledge sharing, 

efficiency and possibilities to scale up. To 



6. Finance 

There have been significant personnel 

movements in 2008 with several new Finance 

Officers joining the team. Despite 

the changes, the Finance unit (which includes 

Administration, Business Analysis, 

Business Process Management, ICT, Procurement 

and Logistics) has achieved 

many of its objectives: 

• Administration: the objective to adjust 

the administration system to facilitate 

matrix organisation and Partnership Resource 

Mobilisation requirements has not 

yet been fully implemented. 

• Planning & Control: an improved Management 

Information System reporting is 

supporting Business Management Awareness 

and result oriented management. 

• Procurement & Logistics: central ICT 

purchases are in place which result in, 

and support, cost reduction. There is 

also ongoing evaluation of procurement 

contracts to identify possible cost reductions. 

• Internal Control & Audit: improvements 

have been made in the auditing process. 

• The Business Process Management 

(BPM) initiative will significantly contribute 

towards these objectives. BPM looks 

at simplification and harmonization and 

introducing more accountability. 

Overall the 2008 Finance Key Quantitative 

Indicators for the WCA region were 

satisfactory: 

• ICT: the improvement of internet 

connectivity is ongoing. 



7. Partnerships & Funding 

Strategic Partnerships 

To effectively deliver results, SNV West 

and Central Africa focused on building 

high impact strategic partnerships. 

Several countries in the region developed, 

or maintained, close collaboration with 

the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 

(EKN). 

SNV Benin and SNV Ghana are two of the 

five pilot countries experimenting with 

the domestic accountability programme. 

SNV Ghana is piloting the implementation 

of Local Capacity Development Fund 

(LCDF) (The introduction of this fund by 

SNV is an innovative initiative to stimulate 

a local market for capacity development 

services. The LCDF channel will expand 

over time to stimulate the emergence 

of a local market for 

demand-oriented capacity development 

services to local actors. The funds will be 

developed with local and international actors, 

so they will become self-sustaining 

and primarily locally/regionally owned). 

Regional partnerships with United Nations 

Development Programme (UNDP), Fair 

Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO), action-research 

organisation Laboratoire Citoyennetés, 

Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), 

and Millennium Village programme continued. 



Partnerships & Funding 

With regard to external funding, SNV 

WCA forged several financial partnerships 

and received in total 2,581.000 Euros 

(not including the funding from our main 

partner the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 

the Netherlands). SNV Niger received external 

financial resources from the Swiss 

cooperation, the Danish cooperation 

through DED and USAID through Mercy 

Corps and UNICEF. The funds with a total 

value of 240,000 Euros assisted in enabling 

better integration of Millennium 

Development Goals in local development 

planning and some investments at municipal 

level. 

SNV Mali has entered into two financial 

partnerships in 2008. One is the second 

phase for the SIDA programme worth 

1,495.056 Euros over two years. With 

this programme we aim to improve local 

governance in cotton and livestock. For 

this we are working in partnership with 

the Swiss Association for International 

Cooperation (Helvetas), Norwegian evangelical 

aid (AEN) and Christian Development 

Organisation (Diakonia). The other 

one is related to decentralisation and 

transfer of competences for primary 

health care and primary education. The 

Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 

(EKN) is financing the Malian Association 

of Municipalities. SNV will supply 

advisory services and will mobilise 

207,635 Euros for Primary Process related 

activities. 

SNV Guinea Bissau mobilised about 

162,846 Euros with the Spanish Cooperation 

and Plan International Guinea Bissau. 

The funds were used for income generating 

activities to support basic education 

and for community development planning. 

There is still space for improvement on 

partnerships and resource mobilisation. 

We are hoping that, in the coming years, 

all partnerships will really focus on the results 

to be achieved in our selected sectors. 

In addition, each regional/corporate 

partnership will have a regional focal 

point to monitor progress. 

We are actively engaged in finding other 

partners such as development institutions 

and funders who can complement us in 

our development work and accelerate its 

impact. 

Are you interested in becoming a partner 

of SNV? Or would you like further information? 

Please contact Brigitte Dia, our 

regional strategy advisor at 

bdia@snvworld.org


8. Human Resources 

In 2008, the Human Resources team 

moved towards recruiting and developing 

the capacities of our national teams. 

There was significant progress and achievement 

in the following areas: 

• Clearer job descriptions were devised 

for advisors with an ongoing project to do 

the same for support and office staff. 

• A 6% increase in gender balance goals. 

• Significant recruitment of new team 

members to the Regional Office Staff, including: 

the Regional Director, Regional 

Controller, Business Process Manager, Regional 

Communication Officer, HR Officer, 

Business Analyst, and Head of Administration. 

• Solid progress in the decentralisation of 

the national and international recruitment 

process at the respective country levels, 

with support as requested from the regional 

office. 

• Movement towards the implementation 

of the compensation and benefits philosophy 

with a restructuring of salary scales 

and benefits in countries in West and 

Central Africa. 

• A good number of SNV countries reviewed 

and updated their county security 

plans. 

• An Advisor Learning Program was implemented 

in the region. 

Overall the region grew modestly in staffing 

with an overall increase of just over 

five percent. The table below summarizes 

this. 

Interested in working for SNV? 

Working for SNV can be challenging, rewarding and inspiring – all at the same time. 

We are always looking to employ committed and experienced people to help us make 

a real difference to the lives of poor and marginalised people in developing countries. 

Are you looking for an attractive job with competitive rates, one that's worth getting 

up for in the morning? You might just find it here. Look for the recent job openings on: 

www.snvworld.org. 



Annex : Examples of our work 

Below are three cases which give insight into our advisory work on economic development and 

access to basic needs services. 

I Case Cameroon 

Baka Pygmies as Equal Business Partners 

Equitable involvement in commercialising non 

timber forest products 

Context: The dense, tropical forests of southern 

Cameroon contain a stunning variety of 

hardwood trees, animals such as gorillas and 

antelopes, and so-called non timber forest 

products (NTFPs) such as fruits, nuts, mushrooms, 

medicinal plants and barks, edible 

leaves and honey. 

These forests also constitute a survival base 

for around 7 million men and women. The 

contribution of NTFPs to annual household income 

ranges between 30-100%. Large portions 

of forest have practically become off 

limits to these people because of closely 

guarded logging concessions that can easily 

last a quarter of a century. 

Increased population pressure, diminishing 

access to resources, but also diminishing biodiversity 

due to forest exploitation, are compounding 

the problems of daily survival. This 

is especially true for the 3,500 Baka pygmies, 

whose distinct culture and total economic, 

cultural, and also spiritual dependence on the 

forest make them especially vulnerable. Coupled 

with historic discrimination, the Baka 

score even lower than their poor Bantu neighbours 

on issues such as life expectancy 

(around 40), education (no one has ever reached 

university), employment and income. 

There are no exact figures but very few Baka 

have a stable job or practice agriculture and 

products sold by the Baka generally sell far 

below the market price or are simply exchanged 

for cigarettes or alcohol. 

What has SNV done? SNV conducted an initial 

mapping of the entire value chain of 

NTFPs and its various players, ranging from 

the producers in the forest to the buyers, 

transporters, wholesalers and exporters, but 

also the government officials involved in taxation 

and control. SNV was the first organisation 

to realise that the Baka were by far the 

largest producers of NTFPs in the South (responsible 

for over 70% of production), and 

that Nigeria was by far the biggest market 

(with roughly 80% of the market share) and 

desperately demanding more. SNV decided to 

Grouped sale by Baka Pygmies 

focus on restructuring the value chain with 

the explicit extremities being the biggest producers 

(the Baka), the biggest buyers (the 

Nigerians) and their most sought after product, 

the bush mango (a business worth 11 

million Euros a year). 

SNV teamed up with the Belgian Technical 

Cooperation (BTC), with BTC focusing on 

health, education and citizenship as well as 

first steps in agriculture. SNV focused on the 

equitable implication of Baka in NTFP commercialisation. 

Practical, on the job training 

was conducted on value chain development, 

internal organisational management, and organising 

a sales campaign. BTC provided revolving 

funds permitting the economies of 

scale necessary for grouped sales alongside 

the large quantities of products needed by 

wholesalers. SNV also initiated the start-up of 

a radio system for exchanging supply and demand 

information on quantity, quality and 

prices of NTFPs, and the invention of cutting 

machines to enable increased productivity 

and better quality products. 

Added value: 

Quote 1: “This product (Ebaye) just falls from 

the trees and rots or is eaten by snakes. We 

never imagined we could sell it.” (Baka member 

of Abagueni association). 



Examples of our work 

Quote 2: “The Baka sell the best quality; 

I am thinking of setting up a warehouse 

in their village so they will sell only to 

me.” (Mr. Abdou Ndi, wholesaler) 

Results: Thanks to the radio system, the 

Baka were able –for the first time everto 

sell products for the going market 

price (600 kilos of bush mango for 

around 1,000 Euros). After the bush 

mango season, the Baka were able to sell 

another product that they had never sold 

before (a big, round, flat nut called 

Ebaye). The wholesaler –who came from 

another province - paid the going market 

price of 280 Euros for 1,000 Kilos. While 

this is not much, the point is that it had 

never been sold before and the Baka are 

now gaining commercial experience and 

– more importantly - confidence and 

equal stature with other Cameroonians. 

The aforementioned experiences are exciting, 

but still tentative and require a lot 

of follow-up. They need to become a routine 

matter, well spaced throughout the 

year, in order to ensure more stable income 

and employment. The challenges 

ahead are what to do with the profits as 

well as how to diversify products to ensure 

income throughout the year. There 

is a continuing tendency to divide up the 

money from the sales, instead of replenishing 

the revolving fund. 

SNV is coaching an experienced Local Capacity 

Builder (LCB) 2 called FONJAK to 

look into the issues of investing in community 

projects as well as better management 

of the revolving fund. The LCB 

will take the lead in branching out into 

other products available at other times of 

the year, enabling product diversification 

and introducing the cutting machine. 

At the end of 2009, SNV hopes to hand 

over its activities to this LCB. 

Additional information: 

Author: Raoul Ngueko, 

Forest Team, SNV Cameroon, 

rngueko@snvworld.org 

Photographer: Luc Moutoni. 

2 For SNV a local capacity builder (LCB) is any type 

of actor that provides capacity development services 

to intermediate-level actors in order to reduce 

poverty, and is owned and run within the country 

or regional context. 

II Case Mali 

Robust alliances 

A SNV program builds multi-level partnerships 

to improve health standards in 

Mali. 

Context: In 1993, Mali’s newly-elected 

democratic government adopted a policy 

of administrative decentralisation. The 

policy divided Mali into 703 municipalities, 

which were responsible for managing 

their own public sector services. To 

reinforce the decentralisation process, 

the state began to transfer resources to 

the municipalities. 

The transfer of resources in the health 

sector, however, posed some problems. 

Since 1990, a legal convention had charged 

Mali’s local (community) health associations 

(ASACO) with the management 

of communal health services. The state’s 

decision to transfer health resources to 

the municipalities thus created ambiguity 

over the roles and responsibilities of the 

two bodies. 

Since 2003, to facilitate the transfer of 

resources and encourage collaboration 

between the ASACO and municipalities, 

SNV Mali and KIT (Royal Institute for the 

Tropics) have been running a pilot program 

called “Partners in Health”. Comanaged 

by the Koulikoro Regional Office 

for Health and the Ministry of Health’s decentralisation 

support cell (CADD-MS); 

the programme aims to develop efficient 

local partnerships by: 

- establishing conventions between the 

Associations for Community Health 

(ASACO); 

- assisting with yearly planning and monitoring; 

and 

- facilitating the transfer of skills from 

national/regional to local authorities. 

What has SNV done? SNV assisted 

throughout the establishment and execution 

of the pilot program. In 2004, the 

pilot was first run in Wacoro and Nangola, 

two municipalities in the Koulikoro region 

of Mali. SNV set up channels of communication, 

organised evaluations and mee- 




tings, and held training for municipal representatives, 

the ASACO and technical 

experts. SNV also contributed to revising 

the legal health convention, so that 

health sector management could be mandated 

to the ASACO-municipality partnership. 

KIT followed the pilot program 

closely, sharing their observations on 

tools/approaches with SNV and the Ministry 

of Health. 

Koulikoro, to bolster multi-level cooperation, 

the President of the regional Council 

undertook research missions and discussions 

with local councils and the ASACO. 

As a result of these endeavours, he identified 

three priority health concerns which 

the council will address: diagnosis and 

evacuation of obstetric emergencies, essential 

medication and the regional health 

plan. 

After the successful fruition of the pilot, 

SNV has since replicated the program in 

different regions of Mali. In 2008, SNV 

ran the health-partnership program in six 

municipalities in the Koulikoro and Dioila 

region. The program helped create symbiotic 

partnerships between the municipalities 

and ASACO. Through frequent 

interactions, the actors defined their roles 

and responsibilities in health sector management. 

The program thus enabled an 

effective transfer of knowledge between 

the municipalities and ASACO. 

Added value: 

“This program helped the regional elects 

and ASACO understand the best practices 

of public service management, as many 

of them had been occupying their posts 

without having the necessary skills.” 

(Moussa Sissoko, President, Health Comission 

of the Koulikoro Regional Assembly). 

Results: To improve maternal health 

standards (one of the Millennium Development 

Goals) in the pilot programme 

regions, SNV guided the ASACO and municipalities 

on how to encourage pre-natal 

consultations. The efforts bore fruit, bettering 

the quality of health care for the 

12,608 inhabitants of Wacoro, and the 

1,516,486 residents of Koulikoro. Between 

2005 and 2006 alone, the rates of 

prenatal consultations in Wacoro, Dioila 

and Koulikoro increased by 11%, 2% and 

6% respectively. 

In another municipality, Banco, the municipality/ASACO 

partners discussed how to 

increase consultations with the community 

health centres (CSCOM) which were 

being abandoned in favour of traditional 

healers. Efforts to raise awareness and 

educate traditional healers on modern 

medical practices will be undertaken. In 

SNV West & Central Africa 

In Wacoro (Mali), SNV and local health authorities work 

to improve the rate of pre-natal consultations. 

In the near future, the Ministry of Health 

aims to institutionalise the pilot program 

on a national scale, with help from other 

national health bodies. SNV and KIT will 

provide technical and advisory assistance 

during the institutionalisation process. 

The transfer of regional funds to local 

municipalities will reinforce the multilevel 

partnership. 


Author: Dr. Brahima Kone, 

bkone@snvworld.org 

Photographer: Dramane Dao



III Case Niger 

Finance for smallholders 

Ensuring access to micro-credits for Cow 

Pea and Sesame Seed Growers’ Unions in 

Zinder region. 

Context: 

Promoting smallholders’ access to formal finance 

is a crucial strategy in world wide 

programmes for poverty alleviation. The 

designation of 2005 as International Year 

of Microcredit and the issuing of the 2006 

Nobel Peace Prize to Mohammed Yunus 

confirm a growing awareness of the vital 

role that pro-poor financial systems can 

play in achieving the MDGs, especially halving 

the proportion of people living in extreme 

poverty by 2015. 

Facilitating producers’ access to resources, 

including micro-credits, is a key objective 

of SNV’s value chain interventions. Microcredits 

allow producers to purchase agroinputs, 

to invest, to bulk crops for future 

sale (at higher prices) and to cope with the 

risks linked to farming. A major challenge 

is to turn rural finance into a sustainable 

and profitable system that matches the divergent 

interests of low-income farmers 

(namely urgent capital needs) and financial 

institutions (namely generating profit and 

reducing costs and risks). 

Since 2006, SNV has supported the cow 

pea value chain development in different 

regions of Niger. Cow pea is one of the 

principal cash crops in Niger, together with 

onions. Of total production (700,000 tons), 

75% is exported to other countries in the 

region, in particular Nigeria, Togo, Benin 

and Ghana. Zinder region produces one 

quarter of national output. Nearly 90 % of 

its farmers (20% of whom are women) 

grow cow peas on a total area of 944,364 

ha. 

The target group comprises about 800 cow 

pea farmers in two municipalities of the 

Magaria department. The farmers are organised 

into 29 groups and 3 unions. SNV 

supports them in managing these cooperatives, 

applying better production and postharvest 

techniques and establishing 

linkages with other value chain actors and 

partners. About 80 % of them are poor 

subsistence farmers who combine a system 

of mixed cropping and livestock rearing, 

using family labour, and cultivating small 

plots of land (less than 3 ha). Being unable 

to store their produce for later, more lucrative, 

sale they are trapped in a vicious 

cycle of poor investments (e.g. fertiliser 

use of 2.3 kg/ha, compared to a Sub Saharan 

average of 12 kg/ha), low productivity 

(gross yields: 200 kg/ha) and low incomes 

(50 % market their crops immediately after 

harvesting at extremely low prices). 

Micro finance provides a way out of this poverty 

trap. However, most micro finance 

institutes (MFIs) in the region are reluctant 

to grant loans to farmers due to a lack of 

collateral, high transaction costs, perceived 

loan repayment indiscipline, climate uncertainties, 

price fluctuations and other risks 

associated with agricultural lending. Fewer 

than 1 % of rural households benefit from 

rural finance services. Therefore farmers 

call upon the services of informal moneylenders 

for their financial needs. To reimburse 

these costly loans (in cash or kind), 

they are often forced to sell off their produce 

shortly after harvest when prices are 

at their lowest. 

The goal of the assignment: 

- To enhance income and food security of 

cow pea farmers in the Magaria department 

by facilitating their access to 

micro-credits. Such credits enable them 

to buy high quality inputs (e.g. seeds 

and fertilisers), to invest (e.g. income 

generating activities) and to store produce. 

- To enhance the performance of cow pea 

farmers’ groups with regard to: (i) 

connecting and collaborating with micro 

finance institutes and other stakeholders, 

in particular input suppliers and 

government services (ii) planning, implementing 

and monitoring the use of 

micro credits and purchase of inputs 

and (iii) applying effective cow pea production 

and conservation techniques. 

- To foster an enabling environment for 

agricultural financing by supporting 

MFIs in developing and promoting adequate 

financial services for small-scale 

producers. 




- Training: SNV has trained the 

leading members of cow pea unions in efficient 

production and conservation techniques 

(September-October 2008). 

- Monitoring: SNV has followed up 

the credit and input delivery process (including 

inventory credits) (November-December 

2008). 

Added value: 

- SNV has created effective synergies 

between different actors of the cow 

pea value chain (farmers’ organisations, 

micro finance institute, government services 

and partners). 

What has SNV done? 

- Analysis: SNV has conducted a 

cow pea value chain analysis for the target 

area focusing on actors and their interrelationships, 

functions, financing 

mechanisms, prices/markets, governance, 

constraints and opportunities (February-March 

2008). 

- Strategy setting: SNV has supported 

MFI Yarda in developing, implementing 

and promoting a set of financial 

products (i.e. a package of input and inventory 

credits) that are well adapted to 

smallholders’ needs (April 2008). 

- Connecting people: SNV has 

connected the unions of cow pea growers 

with MFI Yarda so as to inform them 

about micro finance services (products, 

procedures, conditions etc) and to build 

up trust; SNV has connected the unions 

with government services responsible for 

input provision (Ministry of Agriculture); 

SNV has supported these actors in analysing 

markets, assessing input and credit 

needs, planning activities etc. (May-June 

2008). 

- Lobbying/Advocacy: SNV has 

encouraged the Farmers’ Platform (i.e. a 

national organisation defending farmers’ 

interests) to lobby the Ministry of Agriculture 

for an effective and timely distribution 

of quality fertilisers at reasonable 

prices (June-July 2008). 

- SNV has built trust between 

them, stimulating their engagement and 

responsibilities. 

- SNV has ensured a common understanding 

of the types of financial services 

which match the divergent interests 

of cow pea growers (capital needs) and 

MFI Yarda (low cost and risk operations, 

financial viability). 

- SNV has raised awareness about 

the lobbying/advocacy role of farmers’ organisations. 

Results: 

In line with Millennium Development 

Goals 1 (end poverty) and 3 (gender 

equality) and the national development 

strategy (PRSP), the following results 

were achieved: 

- IMF Yarda improved, adapted and 

scaled up its financial services to meet 

farmers’ demands in the Magaria Department. 

In 2008, Yarda granted credits to 

smallholders for an amount of 128,771 

Euros, which is five times more than in 

the previous year (25.794 euro (enhanced 

poverty outreach). 

- 3 Unions of Cow Pea Producers 

used the credits (20,720 Euros) to buy 9 

tons of high-quality fertiliser for their 

members. The direct beneficiaries numbered 

520 men and 266 women. Considering 

an average household size of 10 

people, the number of indirect beneficiaries 

was about 8,000. The production and 

income effect of the fertiliser use can only 




be assessed after the harvest period 

(September-October 2009). However, 

sample tests reveal that these fertilisers 

increase average gross yields from 20 % 

to 100 %. 

- The increase in incomes for those 

farmers who received inventory credits to 

store their produce for later, more lucrative 

sale is estimated at 50%. 

- The umbrella organisation Farmers 

Platform lobbied successfully. The 

distribution of fertilisers was relatively 

well managed and monitored, despite the 

delay in delivery. 

Perspectives & Sustainability: 

- Cow Pea Producers’ unions established 

sustainable linkages with Yarda. 

They were satisfied with the quality of 

services and will continue working with 

this MFI. 

- Yarda’s positive experience with 

agricultural financing changed its attitude 

towards smallholders. Yarda now considers 

smallholders as interesting and solvent 

clients instead of as unreliable and 

“unbankable” poor. We may expect Yarda 

to invest more heavily in agricultural credits 

in the future. In the long run, this 

process will ensure enhanced poverty outreach 

and social inclusion in their services, 

which are still limited for the 

moment. 

Lessons learned: 

- The need to involve all relevant 

actors (producers, MFIs, input suppliers) 

in the analysis of markets/prices, identification 

of input and credit needs, planning 

of service delivery and so on and to monitor 

this process well. 

- Smallholders tend to be risk 

averse and often distrust formal 

(‘contract based’) banking operations. 

Therefore major efforts should be made 

to build trust between them and MFI. Farmers 

tend to be hesitant, and even pessimistic, 

about micro credit arrangements 

until they see their successful application 

by other farmers within their communities. 


Guy Dejongh 

(Advisor Value Chain 

Development–Niamey), 

gdejongh@snvworld.org 

Salamatou Dioffo 

(Advisor Value Chain 

Development–Maradi), 

sdioffo@snvworld.org. 


Contact Details 

West & Central Africa 

SNV Regional Office West & Central Africa 

Visiting address : 

Rue 8.05 Porte 206 Quartier Gounghin, 

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 

Postal address : 

PO Box 625 

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso 

Telephone: +226 50485196/97 

Fax: +226 50341157 

E-mail: rowca@snvworld.org 

Website: www.snvworld.org 

SNV 

N e t h e r l a n d s 

D e v e l o p m e n t 

Connecting PeopleÊs Capacities 

O r g a n i s a t i o n

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