WUNRN
THE HUNGER PROJECT
AFRICA - EPICENTERS CREATE COMMUNITY
UNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT.
WOMEN & MEN WORK TOGETHER FOR
EMPOWERMENT.
CENTER IS GRASSROOTS, BECOMES
SELF-RELIANT & SUSTAINABLE.
In Africa, The Hunger Project's methodology is implemented through epicenters: clusters of rural villages where women and men are mobilized to create and run their own programs to meet basic needs. After several phases over a five-year period, an epicenter becomes self-reliant, meaning it is able to fund its own activities and no longer requires further investment from The Hunger Project.
The Hunger Project has mobilized more than 115 epicenter communities in eight countries in Africa. Sixteen of those epicenters are self-reliant and 28 are expected to be self-reliant within the next two years.
The Epicenter Strategy is integrated and holistic. It achieves synergy among programs in health (including HIV/AIDS prevention), education, adult literacy, nutrition, improved farming and food security, microfinance, water and sanitation, and building community spirit with a momentum of accomplishment involving the entire population.
It is economically sustainable. The primary resources for the strategy come from the local people themselves and by making existing local government resources more effective. Income generation is built into the strategy from the start. Within five years, our epicenters require no further financial support from The Hunger Project. They are entirely self-reliant.
The Epicenter Strategy is environmentally sustainable. People at our epicenters learn composting and small-scale, environmentally sound irrigation technologies such as drip irrigation.
At the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2005, The Hunger Project announced one of its most ambitious initiatives: to demonstrate that the Epicenter Strategy can be taken to full national scale. We have undertaken our first scale up program in Ghana. Learn more about this initiative.
The results of the Epicenter Strategy are displayed in the below table:
Before launching the
epicenter strategy |
After the epicenter reaches
self-reliance |
People
often live in dependency and resignation, with almost no hope for a
better future. |
People
are successful agents of their own development: motivated, confident,
improving life every day. |
People
live in isolated small villages, divided by rivalries. |
People
work together as a community that is large enough to be a viable economic
unit. Leadership is established. |
Women are the poorest, work the
hardest, and have no voice in society. |
Women
have equal leadership with men, and are key economic players in
society. Many women run for local office and are elected. |
There
is no opportunity for women to become literate. |
All
women participating in the credit program must enroll in literacy and
numeracy courses. |
Government
programs never
reach the people living in remote, isolated villages. |
The
community has the confidence and strength in numbers to successfully
demand services, such as roads and electricity. |
People
are poorly nourished, eating one meal per day and suffering seasonal
hunger. |
People
are adequately and well-nourished, and successfully manage their own food
security through the community food bank. |
Farmers
raise a staple subsistence crop. |
Farming
is diversified, improved and successful in the marketplace. People are
cultivating vegetables and fish, and raising poultry and livestock. |
The
majority of children are not in school, particularly girls. |
Both
girls and boys attend
pre- and primary schools near their homes. There is a library filled with
books. |
People
have no health care. Infant and maternal mortality rates (IMR and MMR)
are tragically high. |
People
have reliable health care. The MMR and IMR drop dramatically. |
Fueled
by gender inequality, HIV/AIDS is out of control. |
Both
women and men are halting dangerous practices that spread HIV/AIDS. |
Any
cash that people have is idle. |
Through
the bank, savings are mobilized as investment capital for community
enterprises. |
Men
often migrate to the cities to find cash employment. |
There
is a vibrant rural economy. Men begin returning to the community. |
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