In Sierra Leone the passage of the Customary Land Rights Act (CLRA) in 2022 marked a milestone for inclusive land governance, securing tenure rights for women and marginalized groups. The reform abolished all forms of discrimination based on gender, tribe, religion, ethnicity, marital status, or social or economic standing, and mandates that women hold at least 30 percent of seats in all land governance bodies, guaranteeing their role in land-related decisions (Sierra Leone 2022).

This landmark legislation was the result of years of grassroots mobilization and sustained public pressure in which a consortium of four civil society organizations called Land for Life Sierra Leone played an active role. Established in 2019 with support from Welthungerhilfe’s Land for Life program, the consortium contributed through community-driven advocacy, capacity development, and the facilitation of local dialogue.

Land is more than an economic asset—it holds social, cultural, and ecological value and is central to food production and livelihoods. When people lack secure tenure, it undermines their ability to produce food, plan for the future, or recover from shocks, making them vulnerable to food insecurity. However, land governance is often highly complex, shaped by overlapping legal systems and entrenched power imbalances that make it difficult for individuals, especially women and marginalized groups, to access, control, or defend their land.

To address these complexities in practice, Welthungerhilfe's Land for Life program places multi-actor collaboration at its core. A key element of this approach is the creation of multi-actor partnerships (MAPs)—structured dialogue platforms that bring together stakeholders from across society: traditional leaders, local and national officials, farmers, civil society, and private sector actors. These platforms provide a space for exchange and a mechanism to navigate competing interests, overcome mistrust, and foster local solutions in complex governance environments.

Land for Life Sierra Leone initiated 16 MAPs across the country: 12 at the chiefdom level and 4 at the district level. By facilitating inclusive consultations in the process leading to the CLRA, the MAPs helped to ensure that the new legislation reflected community realities and upheld the rights of those historically left out of decision-making. At the national level Land for Life Sierra Leone has also advocated for land rights that are consistent with international human rights standards.

Today, MAPs in Sierra Leone help identify gaps in the implementation of the new land law. With the support of Welthungerhilfe, MAPs help communities strengthen their land rights by providing training, building legal literacy, fostering exchange, and building a culture of dialogue.

For women like Marie Olimbo Sesay, a farmer in Port Loko District, the capacity-building efforts empowered her to fight for her legal land rights: “I was denied access to my father's land because I am a woman. I'm glad I was able to fight in court for my right to own and use the land.” After successfully acquiring land, Marie reports that now she cultivates vegetables and tree crops, earns income through local trade, and supports other women in navigating their land rights, turning legal recognition into economic empowerment and community leadership.

To promote the broader adoption of MAPs across different contexts, the Land for Life program has developed a practical toolbox to guide their facilitation and operation. Drawing on eight years of experience in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the toolbox offers tested methods for building trust, enabling collective leadership, and navigating power dynamics in complex governance contexts (Welthungerhilfe et al. 2025).

1. This case study was prepared by Welthungerhilfe (WHH). Since 2011 the WHH Land for Life initiative works with financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with local partners in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and at the international level to jointly address land governance challenges. WHH, supported by the Civil Society Academy (CSA) and the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), provides backstopping support, facilitates workshops, and links the country-level partners to relevant actors.  

Child wasting—that is, low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition—is the most dangerous form of malnutrition. Affecting 13.7 million children a year worldwide, wasting is responsible for up to 20 percent of deaths of children under the age of five (Osendarp et al. 2025).

Fortunately, much has been learned about the best ways to treat wasting. The widespread rollout of community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM), an approach pioneered by Concern and Valid International in 2001, has revolutionized care by enabling early detection and decentralized treatment using ready-to-use therapeutic foods (WHO et al. 2007). Progress on preventing wasting, however, remains a complex challenge. Stopping child wasting before it can start demands interventions across multiple sectors—including improved maternal health, optimal infant and young child feeding, access to clean water, sanitation, and responsive health systems—yet such integrated approaches are still not systematically implemented or adequately funded at scale.

In 2023, Concern Worldwide and several partners launched the Hanaano program (hanaano means “to nurture” in Somali) to tackle the complex problem of child wasting in the Mandera Triangle, an arid and semiarid region that crosses the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. The Mandera Triangle is populated mostly by mobile pastoralists, refugees, seasonal cross-border laborers, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and communities hosting refugees and IDPs (Interpeace 2021). It is one of the most challenging contexts in which to sustain livelihoods and has some of the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Horn of Africa. At the peak of the 2020–2023 drought, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition, reflecting child malnutrition, in the Mandera Triangle reached 35 percent— more than double the 15 percent emergency threshold established by the World Health Organization (IPC 2022).

Given the complexity of preventing child wasting, the Hanaano program supports communities in the Mandera Triangle in building local capacity across a range of sectors, including health; agriculture; food security; water, sanitation, and hygiene; social protection; and environmental management. Through efforts in these areas, the program aims to improve nutrition and care practices for women and children and to enhance food security through profitable, climate-resilient livelihood strategies, while contributing to the evidence base that informs national and regional strategies.

In the first year of Hanaano, preliminary assessments indicate that 1,600 women attended mother-to-mother groups, 800 lead farmers received seeds and agricultural tools, 7,000 people gained access to clean and safe drinking water, 11,500 farmers gained access to livestock veterinary services and drugs, and more than 251,000 were reached through behavior change campaigns.

Shinda (age 33), mother of six, reports that she attended Hanaano cooking demonstrations to complement agricultural training. From these classes, she explains, she now has a better understanding of how to prepare nutritious meals using produce she grows at home. Since the change in their diet, Shinda says her children are “now strong, healthy, and full of energy.”

The aim of Hanaano is to prevent wasting among more than 305,000 children living in the most vulnerable communities in the Mandera Triangle over a span of three years. It is also hoped that through active learning, contextual program adaptation, and locally led advocacy, Hanaano will influence and inform more effective local, national, and global wasting prevention strategies.

1. This case study was prepared by Concern Worldwide. The Hanaano program is supported by Irish Aid, as part of Ireland's support to ending child wasting, a commitment under the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting. It is a joint effort by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Concern Worldwide, local partners (Rural Agency for Community Development and Assistance [RACIDA] in Kenya, Pastoralist Concern in Ethiopia, and Lifeline Gedo in Somalia), and Tufts University. Hanaano aims to contribute to this evidence space while also supporting communities to develop local capacity to prevent and address wasting.  

When 62-year-old Marie-Hélène Yanapou-Poutia joined a local certified seed producer group in Paoua, Central African Republic, in 2019, she was searching for practical solutions to persistent low groundnut yields and limited access to high-quality farming inputs.

With the provision of training, which was supported by Welthungerhilfe, Marie-Hélène recalls, she gained access to the knowledge and inputs needed to produce high-quality, locally adapted seeds on her own and sell the certified seeds to local smallholder farmers. Consequently, she notes, since 2019 she has been able to increase her household income up to seven times higher than before, allowing her to invest in her children’s education, expand her land, and raise livestock.

Marie-Hélène’s reported success is emblematic of a larger transformation. For over two decades, the Central African Republic faced recurring political instability and armed conflict, severely disrupting rural life and state institutions. In 2013 a coup and widespread intercommunal violence triggered a crisis that led to massive displacements, protracted insecurity, and a devastated seed system (World Bank 2022): Research stations were destroyed and genetic material was lost, leaving smallholders without reliable access to seeds.

Since 2014, Welthungerhilfe has supported the restoration of these vital agricultural services. In close partnership with national and international partners, Welthungerhilfe supported the rehabilitation of five research stations and the headquarters of the national research institute, the Institut Centrafricain de la Recherche Agronomique (ICRA). Shifting from emergency response toward long-term systemic transformation, the project strengthened research and extension services, and supported the reintroduction and multiplication of quality certified seed varieties through local seed producer groups across Central African Republic.

Farmers like Marie-Hélène now play a key role in this system. They are trained and certified to multiply quality seed stocks for key crops sourced from ICRA’s research. In this way, they link scientific innovation with local production and improved market access. The transformation of seed systems in Central African Republic demonstrates how sustained investment in locally driven agriculture can strengthen food security, lay the foundation for long-term structural change, and ensure that small-scale farmers like Marie-Hélène can thrive and build resilient livelihoods.

1. This case study was prepared by Welthungerhilfe (WHH), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), aims to improve food security and household incomes in rural Central African Republic by enhancing access to quality seeds and technical support. It works closely with national partners— Agence Centrafricaine de Développement Agricole (ACDA), Institut Centrafricain de la Recherche Agronomique (ICRA), and Office National de Semences (ONASEM)—to strengthen institutional capacities through support, infrastructure rehabilitation, training, agricultural tools, seeds for reproduction, and updated crop manuals. These institutions in turn support smallholder farmers in producing and marketing agricultural goods.  

Nadine (age 35) and Theoneste (age 42), who live in rural Rwanda with their three children, have faced struggles similar to those of millions of people living in extreme poverty around the world. Their ability to grow food or earn money from working as farm laborers was dependent on the weather—if there was no rainy season, there was no work or food. Another problem, Nadine said, was their lack of livestock: “It takes manure to produce a good harvest.”

Now Nadine and Theoneste are one of the 1,400 vulnerable households participating in Concern Worldwide’s Green Graduation Programme in Rwanda. The Graduation approach aims to break the cycle of poverty through a big-push intervention that addresses multiple conditions of poverty simultaneously. Concern’s Graduation programs include comprehensive targeting, income support, training in technical and business skills, coaching and mentoring, support for access to financial services, and a capital or asset transfer. Since 2007, Concern has implemented Graduation programs in 11 countries (Bangladesh, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, and Zambia), reaching 172,846 people.

Through the 2023 Green Graduation Programme in Rwanda, Nadine and Theoneste received training in new climate-smart farming techniques, as well as cash transfers and other program benefits. They report acquiring a pig, whose manure they use to make organic fertilizer, which they apply in their home garden to grow beans, papaya, and mango. Theoneste also rents land to grow additional produce that he sells at the market. They state that with the income, they pay for their children’s education, health insurance, and much-needed renovations to their home. They direct any additional income they save into the village savings and loans group, which also supports other families in the community.

Similarly, indications from several of Concern’s Graduation programs show that participants have achieved improvements in areas such as asset ownership, food security, spending on basic needs, savings, ability to borrow and repay loans, investment in education, investment in health and preventative health care, and hygiene practices (Concern Worldwide n.d., 2022, 2024; Trinity College Dublin, TIME, and Concern Worldwide 2023). Further research would measure the long-term sustainability of different impacts and the cost-benefit aspects of the program.

1. This case study was prepared by Concern Worldwide. The Graduation model was developed by BRAC in Bangladesh in 2002 and subsequently adapted by many organizations, including Concern. Since adopting this approach, Concern has worked with research partners such as Trinity College Dublin and the Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies. This research has led to innovative approaches such as the Green Graduation Programme, which includes elements that promote environmental sustainability.  

Mahadia, age 24, is a married mother of three in one of 2,400 households that are part of the Concern Worldwide’s Green Graduation Programme in Sila region, Chad. The program offers a number of supporting elements designed to enable individuals and families to meet their basic needs, strengthen their livelihoods, and improve their coping strategies on a sustainable basis.

In Chad, about 80 percent of the population depends on rainfed subsistence farming and livestock for their livelihoods—a way of living that is becoming more challenging as inconsistent rainfall leads to droughts and floods (Bahal’okwibale and Woldegiorgis 2023). For Mahadia and her family, who depend on rainfed crop production, their source of food and income became unreliable. Without an income, Mahadia could not access healthcare or afford to send her children to school.

“Our lives were very difficult,” she says. “We would just work on our farms, and we did not have much else to do. We were always dependent on the rains. When there was rainfall, we would go and plant, and if someone planted well, they would harvest and make some money from selling in the market. When there was no rainfall, we would stay like that. We did not have anything else to do to get money.”

Through the Green Graduation Programme, Mahadia received cash transfers, which she used for school fees for her two older children. When a Village Savings and Loans Association was established in the community and members received business training, Mahadia was able to save money and thus afford healthcare.

Mahadia also received training in climate-smart agriculture, learning about techniques such as conservation agriculture, which prevents soil degradation and increases soil fertility, and crop diversification. She now produces food in a way that adapts to the effects of climate change. “[Concern] has also given us a lot of training about hygiene and sanitation, about gardening. In my garden, I have planted watermelons, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. I usually sell these crops in the market, and the money I get helps my family,” says Mahadia. Finally, nutritional training has shown Mahadia how to provide healthier and more nutritious meals for her family by incorporating fresh vegetables and fruits harvested from their garden.

1. This case study was prepared by Concern Worldwide. The Green Graduation approach is implemented in programs across Bangladesh, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Somalia. It is estimated that more than 320,000 people will benefit from the programs between 2023 and 2027. The Green Graduation Programme in Chad is funded by Irish Aid, with co-funding from the Whole Planet Foundation.  

Margaret Kamwendo and her husband, Jackson Adam, live in a small rural village in Mangochi District, Malawi, where they are enrolled in Concern Worldwide’s Graduation Programme, an anti-poverty program that includes a gender transformation element.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi consistently ranks low on the Human Development Index—it was 172^nd out of 193 countries in 2022 (UNDP 2024). Eighty percent of the population relies on agriculture for income, so they are particularly vulnerable to damaging climate shocks. To support a pathway out of poverty and increase resilience to climate change, the Graduation Programme in Malawi offers a package of interventions, such as cash transfers, business training, and climate-smart agriculture training, depending on the needs of the individual.

Part of this program, known as Umodzi (meaning “united”), engages couples to reflect on and discuss issues such as gender norms, power, decision-making, budgeting, violence, positive parenting, and healthy relationships. In individual and joint dialogue sessions, the couples examine stereotypes and challenges. As a result of the sessions, wives report that their husbands now consult them on decisions and have started to share in household duties and childcare and that conflict and violence in the home have declined.

Jackson and Margaret completed all 12 sessions of the Umodzi program. Together, they have seen many benefits, such as shared decision-making. When they receive income, they sit down, discuss it, and agree on how to spend it. Jackson is doing more household chores and childcare than before. They have also shared these lessons with their six children, teaching them about respect and mutual support in relationships. Margaret wishes the whole village could take part in such training: “If the whole village was involved, there would be a great impact.”

1. This case study was prepared by Concern Worldwide. Umodzi was a gender-transformative approach in the Graduation Programme that ran in Malawi from 2017 to 2023, with funding from the European Union. It was delivered in partnership with Sonke Gender Justice. The program was the basis for research conducted by Trinity College Dublin, which looked at barriers faced by women pursuing a pathway out of poverty.  

In Somalia, climate change impacts the entire food system, from production to consumption. The increasing frequency of natural disasters and economic crises exacerbates food insecurity, particularly affecting vulnerable populations. Gender inequalities complicate these challenges, limiting women’s access to resources and decision-making power. Addressing these intertwined issues is crucial for ushering in sustainable development.

Madiino Sheeq Ahmadeey, a 40-year-old mother of eight in Beledsalaam Village, Beledweyne District, received her main income from her small husbandry business, which enabled her to sell milk and meat at the local market. However, prolonged droughts caused the death of four goats, and rising food prices left her struggling to feed her children and provide for their education. Just after she had had to sell her last two goats to meet her family’s basic needs, a project to advance climate resilience, nutrition, and gender equity provided relief:

“I was very happy when I heard that I was selected to receive five goats, as I had just recently lost my livestock. It took me almost a day to believe that I had been given goats at a time when I was stressed,” Madiino recalls.

Since receiving the goats, along with training on sustainable livestock management, Madiino’s situation has drastically improved. The goats have reproduced, bringing her herd size to eight. She sold one goat and used the proceeds to buy chickens and expand her husbandry. Now, with seven goats and four chickens, she sells fresh milk and eggs daily, giving her a steady income and boosting her family’s food and nutrition security. Her role as a primary income earner in her household also empowers her within her household and community.

1. This case study was prepared by Welthungerhilfe (WHH). The WHH project, implemented by the Centre for Peace and Democracy (CPD) and Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding Initiatives (SYPD), with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), aims to promote gender equity and increase food security and resilience among small-scale farmers, pastoralists, and agro-pastoralists affected by high food prices and the current drought, as well as vulnerable households at risk of malnutrition. Interventions include, for example, the provision of community assets for climate-resilient agricultural food production, gender equity and inclusion training, and social safety net measures.  

In the conservative Terai region of Nepal, strict patriarchal norms dictate family decisions. Women in the region—especially those from ethnic minorities and with low social status—experience high levels of poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization and are unable to freely exercise their economic, reproductive health, and political rights.

These challenges are evident in the life of Nita Patel, a young mother whose three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition one year ago. Today Nita remains unsure whether her daughter is out of danger, as she could not attend either her child’s second screening or the regular nutrition meetings she once eagerly enrolled in. Smita Pal, who works with FORWARD Nepal under the Nutrition Smart CommUNITY program, says health workers often struggle to retain rural women like Nita in such programs. “They cannot go out without permission or without a man’s company. They lack the space and opportunity to make their own decisions,” Pal explains. Any form of change often meets resistance from in-laws or families, making it essential to advocate for behavior change among both men and women.

The Nutrition Smart CommUNITY approach combines systemic interventions at various levels to address the root causes of chronic hunger and malnutrition through four key strategies: fostering behavior change at the household level, strengthening and supporting community-based institutions, activating and improving nutrition-relevant services, and advocating for a multisectoral, community-based approach to realizing the right to food.

The program aims to build the skills of caregivers to prevent malnutrition in both the family and the wider community. This includes training to prepare Super Cereals—a highly nutritious prepared food containing a selection of locally available, climate-resilient food items such as maize, millets, pulses, peas, wheat, soybeans, brown rice, and various seasonal fruits. Nita learned this recipe and has incorporated it into her daughter’s daily diet. “I don’t have to beg or ask for extra money from my husband or in-laws. These ingredients are readily available at our farm or at home,” says Nita. Men migrate for work, often leaving financial control of the family to their own fathers. Women thus frequently lack financial freedom or purchasing power. Promoting low-cost recipes and improving women’s access to knowledge on the linkages between agriculture, natural resource management, and water, sanitation, and hygiene is vital to increase women’s agency and address malnutrition. To create lasting change, the program also trains men on the importance of nutritious food.

Through farmer field schools, both men and women in the community learn about diversified crops and healthy diets as well as sustainable farming practices that enhance nutrition and climate resilience. These practices include the use of traditional, local, and climate-resilient crop varieties like millet as well as homemade bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides known as jholmal. Nita and her father-in-law practice these techniques together on her farm, contributing to climate resilience. Training is also provided to government entities to institutionalize change sustainably and enhance service delivery in line with community needs. To improve the status of women in the communities and beyond, the program also strengthens women’s leadership skills and agency as they take on decision-making roles in local governance, such as micro-planning processes, savings groups, or water committees.

Challenging patriarchy and fostering behavior change takes time, especially in regions like the Terai, where it faces resistance. Yet seeing women like Nita become more conscious of their children’s and their own health shows that education, training, listening, timing, and empowerment of families to pick up new behaviors in order to overcome resistance do indeed pay off.

1. This case study was prepared by Welthungerhilfe (WHH). Nutrition Smart CommUNITY is a multisectoral approach designed to help village communities tackle the complex causes of hunger holistically through self-help and sustainable practices. In Nutrition Smart CommUNITYs, people, local organizations, and authorities collaborate to improve nutrition by advancing agriculture, health, natural resource management, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), integrating best practices from nutrition projects all over the world. Initially starting with two villages, the program has since expanded to 670 model villages in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. Over a four-year period, the villages have become centers of knowledge and learning, including for neighboring communities. WHH is now extending the concept to Burundi, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Tajikistan. The initiative is funded mainly by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Irish Aid.  

Successive crises in the Central African Republic have weakened public and private institutions, led to the destruction of social and educational infrastructure, and worsened people’s living standards. Young people are particularly affected, as they often have not yet developed basic skills and, if not integrated into social life, easily become targets for recruitment by armed militias (UN OCHA 2023b).

Against this background, the project Agricultural Vocational Training for Unemployed and Internally Displaced Youth aims to help make the lives of young people between the ages of 18 and 35 in the Bangui region more socially and economically stable and reduce migration and crime. The project trains participants in several agricultural sectors and—supplemented by another project—helps them start their own businesses so they can sustainably integrate into community economic and food systems.

Nazaire Namkomana is a graduate of the agricultural vocational training center for poultry farming, which he entered in 2019. With his new skills, he can generate income and ensure his family’s food security. “Before the training I had to worry about providing for my family; sometimes we didn’t have enough to eat,” he says. “Now my children’s schooling is assured. I had no knowledge of poultry farming or any possibility of practicing it, although I had a passion for the field. After the training, I started to run a flock of 50, then 100, then 150 chicks, and I have now ordered 200 chicks.”

After his training, Nazaire shared his skills with other young people: “My aim is to turn my unit into a large production company so that I can not only look after my family and send my children to top schools but also reduce poverty among young people in my community.”

1. This case study was prepared by Welthungerhilfe (WHH). The supplementary project is called Creating Employment Opportunities for Women and Young Adults. Both projects are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by WHH.  

The people of Haiti are experiencing a period of exceptional instability and heightened violence, with deepening levels of poverty, displacement, and hunger, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The epicenter of this turmoil is the densely populated commune of Cité Soleil, where gang warfare has reached unprecedented ferocity. On one day alone, July 8, 2022, gang members murdered 95 people in the area, including six children (UN OHCHR 2023).

As violence has intensified and people’s movement within Cité Soleil has become increasingly restricted, residents have become more reliant on local vendors, who find their supplies constrained by the challenging environment. Available food is low in quality, and the population’s nutrition is worsening.

The Manje pi Byen (“Eat Better”) program, implemented by Concern and local partners and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, aims to improve the resilience of extremely vulnerable people in Cité Soleil and help them move out of extreme poverty. The program has four core components:

1. nutrition and food security assistance;
2. economic recovery and market systems;
3. protection from gender-based violence; and
4. water, sanitation, and hygiene.

The program’s nutrition awareness activities are designed to improve people’s nutrition habits in the long term, and its capacity-strengthening activities are aimed at sustainably strengthening vendors’ livelihoods and income sources while also helping them provide high-quality food items to their communities.

Josef Quetal, a food vendor who is married with two children, lives in the neighborhood of Ti Ayiti in Cité Soleil. He reports significant benefits from the Manje pi Byen program: “I have been a participant in the program for two years. Manje pi Byen has helped me improve my business and the nutrition of my customers, but it has also helped my family to live and eat better. I can afford school fees.”

He adds: “Before participating in the Mange Pi Byen program, there wasn’t enough food for the community here. There wasn’t enough money for supplies. Before the project I was selling to about 10 people, but now I sell to over 50, maybe 60 people, in the community. I sell fruits, vegetables, beans, pulses, eggs, vegetable oil, and meat. I hope the program will continue in the future because I would like to grow my business even more and expand to selling construction materials, as well as food.”

1. This case study was prepared by Concern Worldwide. Two Haitian partners work with Concern Worldwide on the protection sector of the Mange pi Byen program. IDEO supports psychosocial activities, especially individual support, while Nègès Mawon leads gender-based violence (GBV) survivor case management and provides peer-to-peer support for GBV survivors.