The Power of Home-Grown Solutions: A Humble Approach to Driving Progress in Communities

Communities possess unique knowledge and traditions that have allowed them to develop home-grown solutions to drive progress.

These seeds of empowerment have allowed for the development of cooperative structures like Cameroon's Tontines and Njangi, which have sustained communities for decades. However, it is essential to approach communities with humility to drive progress in climate action. By recognizing each community's unique strengths and needs, we can work collaboratively to create sustainable and resilient solutions.

Assessing Knowledge Gaps: Understanding Communities' Needs and Strengths: Assessing knowledge gaps is an essential first step in understanding each community's unique needs and strengths. By working collaboratively with community members, we can all identify gaps in knowledge and resources and build on existing strengths to develop tailored solutions that meet local needs.

Tontines and Njangi have been a source of financial empowerment for Cameroonian communities and many across Africa. Members pool their resources and make regular contributions, which are then used to provide loans and financial assistance to members when needed. The structures have allowed for financial inclusion, and community members can use the financial assistance to meet various needs such as paying for medical bills, school fees, or investing in small businesses. The cooperatives demonstrate how communities can leverage their collective strength to promote progress and drive change.

Tailored Solutions for Climate Action

A humble approach is essential for driving climate action solutions that are tailored to the local context. By recognizing the unique needs of each community, we can work collaboratively with community members to develop and implement sustainable solutions that meet local needs.

For example, in rural parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, what we have learned from our work is that inspiring and guiding youth leveraging these accessible structures of cooperatives are helping them to devise climate action solutions of clean cooking solutions of fuel briquettes, biogas which is helping reduce reliance on firewood for cooking and address climate change. By working with community members, external organizations can develop and promote alternative fuel sources tailored to the local context and meet the community's needs.

Building on Existing Strengths: Communities possess a wealth of knowledge and traditions that have sustained them for generations. By building on existing strengths and supporting local traditions and practices, ?we can help to promote more sustainable and resilient communities.

For instance, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the Ijaw people have developed their own traditional fishing practices and systems of land management that have sustained their communities for generations, despite environmental challenges. By supporting and promoting these local traditions and practices, we can help build more sustainable and resilient communities better equipped to tackle the challenges of our changing world.

Careful Interaction with Communities: Careful interaction with communities can reveal how the indigenous approaches make a difference in the millions of informal sector lives. The example of mass food markets is where they organize themselves and do things their way and yet still get a structured coordination and bring fresh ideas to what they do. Most of these trends are not prescribed by the government, but people are coming up with their own innovations. Facilitating communities and policymakers in gathering, recognizing, and protecting knowledge on indigenous food systems can be a great first step. This can begin with documentation to increase the visibility of best practices.

Development should be about making a difference among ordinary people. If a country records USD2 billion from mining, how will that income be distributed to communities equitably? But if communities earn UD2 billion from agriculture and food systems, the benefits will go directly to ordinary people and households.

Recommendations for Humble and Holistic Community Engagement To ensure that we are humble and holistic in our approaches to engage communities and drive progress in African communities, the following recommendations must be leveraged:

1. Listen actively to community members, understanding their unique needs and building on their strengths.
2. Work collaboratively with community members, involving them in decision-making and solution development.
3. Promote and support local traditions and practices, building on existing strengths to promote more sustainable and resilient communities.
4. Assess knowledge gaps to identify local needs and strengths, developing tailored solutions that meet the needs of each community.
5. Encourage evidence-based decision-making to promote equitable development that benefits ordinary people and households.

By approaching African communities with humility and in a holistic manner, we can drive progress and create sustainable and resilient solutions that promote resilience and sustainability. By building local solutions and inspiring youth to drive them, we can promote progress and drive change in African communities, benefiting ordinary people and households. Together, we can build a more equitable and sustainable future for all.