We work in groups of countries within the region to allow for the effective change of expertise and emergence of regional communities of professionals. As a capacity builder, SNV works with clients and partners to tackle specific regional issues. In positioning itself in a region, two interrelated choices are made:

• Specific positioning choices for basic services sectors and for the value chains in which we want to make a significant contribution to change; 
• Specific impact and governance targets to which we want to contribute.

Africa is fast changing in terms of economic growth, averaging a historical high of between five and eight percent across the continent. Democratisation and decentralization processes are increasingly taking hold. There is success in treatment of HIV/Aids, increased agriculture productivity, rising school enrolments and improved access to water and sanitation. Aid levels have increased by 2 billion US dollars over the last two years. Despite these positive developments, sub-Saharan Africa will not meet the MDGs by the target year of 2015.

Given these trends and opportunities, SNV East and Southern Africa Region has chosen to focus on the following sector choices in the two corporate Impact Areas.

Basic Services: Universal primary education with emphasis on quality and girls’ education; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; and Renewable Energy with a focus on biogas.

Production, Income and Employment: Oil seeds; Livestock; Horticulture; Non-timber forest products; and Pro-poor tourism.

In addition to these sector choices the region has adopted bio-fuels, vocational training, coffee and grains as pilots in selected countries.

Governance, which includes gender, HIV/Aids, peace building and sustainability, are central to our work.