On the island of Idjwi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thousands of smallholder families growing pineapples had until recently been selling their harvest at a loss, due to a lack of suitable techniques and an organised value chain. Support combining improved farming practices, collective organisation and access to markets now enables them to turn pineapple production into a genuine and sustainable source of income. For SECODEV, it is precisely this combination of farming techniques, collective organisation and market access that defines food sovereignty.
SECODEV has sixty years of expertise supporting communities on their path towards food sovereignty. To this end, it works with its partners across several complementary areas:
- Access to land and securing land rights
- Organising women and men producers into farmers’ organisations, cooperatives and associations
- Access to quality seeds
- Agroecological farming practices
- Livestock farming
- Processing and storage of produce
- Market access and marketing
- Developing and managing small businesses at household and cooperative level
- Awareness-raising and action to protect the environment
Each step brings communities closer to food sovereignty, and often also towards greater economic independence. By joining a farmers’ organisation, for instance, a woman smallholder gains access to new seeds, learns agroecological techniques, can store and process her harvest more effectively, and then sell it more easily and at a better price. By forming a cooperative, she and her peers can market their produce collectively, negotiate better prices and turn their farms into a stable source of income. Diversifying her crops allows her to grow a wider range of produce, improve her diet and increase her income, enough to feed her children better and send them to school.
In 2025, 24’200 people (including 14’200 women) improved their living conditions.