SNV has been in West and Central Africa for 40 years and currently operates in Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau and DR Congo. It is the poorest region in the world: six of the eight countries SNV is working in are in the lowest range of the Human Development Indicator.

Access to Basic Services (BASE)
Access to basic services like primary education, healthcare and reliable water and sanitation is a serious problem for poor people in all eight countries.

SNV is well known in WCA as a key partner for local authorities and other actors involved in decentralisation processes. This experience makes SNV an interesting partner in the field of Education, Water and Sanitation and Health. Most of the countries in the region have passed legislation on the transfer of competencies in these basic services to local authorities.

SNV helps local actors to improve the organisation, construction and maintenance of basic services in.

Our interventions in BASE are anchored in local realities, national policies and specific sector approaches, such as the “Decennial Plan for Education” and the “Education for All” declaration of Dakar in 2000 and the Initiative of Bamako which highlights the importance of the engagement of representatives from local governments, associations / NGOs, and technical services of the state as part of the community health schemes.

Income, Employment and Productivity (PIE)
Most poor people live in the rural and semi urban areas. Providing them with opportunities to improve their income is crucial to make progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. 

The region can be divided into three major climate zones. Each zone has its own specific opportunities and limitations for economic development. 

1) The Sahel-Sudan zone: ecologically fragile with limited natural resources, characterised by complex production systems in which rain-fed agriculture (food-crops and cash-crops, mainly cotton) and transhumant livestock are closely intertwined. Rainfall is highly variable and unpredictable.

2) The Tropical Rainforest zone: the coexistence of large-scale commercial exploitation of natural resources (timber, mining) with small farming practices produces a variety of products for consumption as well as for the international markets. Another important   cash-income for small-scale farmers (men and women) in this zone is the collection, processing and marketing
of several Non-Timber Forest Products.

3) The Guinea zone: the more humid areas south of the Sahel-Sudan zone, with production systems ranging from small-scale to industrial plantations (oil palm, pineapple, cacao, as well as cashew or mango), mostly combined with food crops.

SNV helps local actors to improve the organisation of specific value chains in such a way that poor farmer producers get more income out of their efforts.

Guinea Bissau, Niger and DR Congo are fragile countries. In this countries preventing conflict, accelerating stability and strengthening institutional capacities are important prerequisites for development.

SNV has developed strong and fruitful partnerships with a wide array of civil society organisations, farmers associations and local governments. Our sharp gender profile and our capacity to bring different actors/participants together have proven to be powerful tools to enhance development.