Listening to Africa: Developing Africa from the Grassroots

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For the past 15 years, Africa has seen remarkable change. New energies and experiences, are being manifested by millions of people. Especially in the villages, a silent revolution is underway that is changing the continent's developmental landscape. In tropical Africa, literally millions of farmers have moved to take the future into their own hands and to reclaim the self-reliance that was theirs until the disruption of colonial occupation and the post-independence era of rapid modernization. As a result of the tens of thousands of small village projects that they have initiated, these farmers are improving their living conditions. Because most people outside of Africa know little of these changes, Pradervand has written of a grassroots revolution which could be the greatest sign of hope for Africa today. This study, the result of his four and one-half month, 14,000 kilometer trip through 111 villages in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Kenya topples many stereotypes and offers a hopeful view of African development. It describes the numerous self-help projects initiated by peasant farmers including the creating of original savings schemes, the invention of new food storage systems, the distribution of family planning information, the setting up of barter exchanges, the organization of centers for traditional medicine and the building of indigenous farmers' organizations.

Author Bio

PIERRE PRADERVAND has been active in the field of development for a quarter century as a researcher, program administrator, publisher and co-editor of Famille et Development, an African grass roots development magazine. He is presently working in the field of global education in his home country, Switzerland.