Greater Good South Africa

It has been a bad news week for the development sector with reports of yet another respected non profit having to cut services and retrench staff. Causes across the Myggsa giving community are reporting similar difficulties: international donors are withdrawing; the Lottery is just that – a Lottery; and government departments seem unable to get funds to organisations delivering essential services. With news of the Global Fund cancelling Round 11, it is becoming clearer than ever that we can no longer rely on aid to come to the rescue. It is time for Africa to learn how to fish.

The perception is often that African organisations lack the capacity and creativity to innovate in the social change arena. It is a perception fuelled by some large aid organisations’ paternalistic approach to development – the white Land Cruiser brigade on a mission to save Africa from itself.

Kenyan Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai said: “While poverty is at the root of many of the pressing problems Africa faces, so is the powerlessness of the poor. During the course of the last forty to fifty years, most Africans, in large measure because of their leaders' attitudes and policies, have come to believe that they cannot act on their own behalf.”

African innovator
Professor Maathai, who sadly died this September, created the Green Belt Movement as a challenge to the perception of African helplessness. In South Africa for COP17, Francesca de Gasparis, Director of the Green Belt Movement’s Europe office, spoke to us about Maathai’s achievements and legacy as an African innovator.

“Wangari was very proud to be an African woman,” says de Gasparis. “She did not see Africa as a poor continent but rather as a rich land which had issues of governance and equitable distribution of resources. She felt that we as citizens have a responsibility to demand accountability from our leaders and that African leaders need to show true leadership by putting their people and the natural environment first.”

The Green Belt Movement works to mobilise community consciousness – using tree planting as an entry point – for self-determination, equity, improved livelihoods and security, and environmental conservation.

Roots
“Being an African organisation is central to how we work,” continues de Gasparis. “It gives crucial cultural reference points which highlight the disconnection to the land that is being seen across Africa and its impact.”

“Understanding the language and background of the rural women we work with is a big part of the success of the Green Belt Movement. Wangari spoke and taught from her own roots and I believe was one of the reasons she had such a profound impact on so many people’s lives.”

Winning
The winner of the SAB Foundation’s first Innovation Awards is another prime example of African-born innovation. Reel Gardening is owned by 25-year-old Claire Reid, who created a handmade vegetable planting strip made from biodegradable paper. Each vegetable strip is water soluble, contains fertiliser and non-modified seeds and includes a set of seed growing factors to maximise the germination rate.

The Awards acknowledge a new spirit of get-up-and-go in South Africa and its African neighbours.

De Gasparis agrees that, thanks to social entrepreneurs like Maathai, the old perceptions are crumbling: “She was a great advocate for doing what you can and not sitting and waiting for someone to come and solve your problems. Wangari used to talk about the “wrong bus” syndrome, if you get on the wrong bus what do you do, just sit there any let it take you where you don’t want to go?”

Hummingbird
Wangari tells this story about the hummingbird in her book, Replenishing the Earth:

“An enormous fire breaks out in a huge forest. All the animals are transfixed as they watch the forest burning. They all feel overwhelmed and powerless except for the little hummingbird. It says “I am going to do something about the fire”. So it flies to the nearest stream and takes a drop of water and puts it on the fire.

Up and down, up and down, it goes as fast as it can. In the meantime, all the other, much bigger animals- like the elephant, with the big trunk, which could bring much more water, and the lion, the leopard, and giraffe—are standing there, helpless. They say to the hummingbird, “What do you think you can do? Your wings are too little and your beak is too small, and the forest fire is so huge. You can only bring a small drop of water at a time.”

Without wasting any time, the hummingbird tells them: “Well, I’m doing the best I can!”

1 billion trees
“With Wangari’s passing,” concludes de Gasparis, “the challenge to us all collectively is to continue her legacy. Our “I am the Hummingbird” campaign is a worldwide indigenous tree planting campaign in her memory. We aim to reach 1 billion trees! Please join us at: Wangari.greenbeltmovement.org/hummingbird”

> In 2012 we’ll be featuring African innovators taking charge of their own destiny. Is this you?