In Africa, IIRR doubles its effort to protect the environment and its people that benefit from it. In Ethiopia, we work together with Girja Integrated Rural Development Association (GIRDA), and the European Union to ensure the social and environmental accountability of several mining industries. It was reported that most mining operations in Guji, Oromia have resulted in devastating health consequences against women and children, including a high prevalence of miscarriages, stillbirths, and the births of children with severe physical and developmental disabilities.

IIRR worked with partners to mobilize communities in the target regions and engaged the government and the private sector actors in the field to compel immediate actions. Some early results show high commitment and ownership of local communities, government reforms mandating any private sector to secure licenses for resource extraction. Mining companies now are required to secure a “social license” from the community prior to their activities. This is a huge gesture to ensure transparency in the sector.

In Zimbabwe, IIRR has been active in facilitating writeshops since 2016. Activities include 10 lecturers from 8 agricultural colleges across the country. The writeshop sessions aimed to train agricultural lecturers on effective documentation using the IIRR writeshop approach so that they can further train their students on effective documentation thereby supporting the livelihood of entire communities and strengthen farmers’ skills across the country to increase agricultural productivity.

Send an email to request copies of IIRR Zimbabwe’s knowledge materials produced for smallholder farmers.