Nonprofit organization Institute For Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development (ICPSD) has announced that it is looking for partnerships and investment to help it achieve its mission of supporting community-led development and ecosystem restoration in Togo, especially in the Plateaux Region.
ICPSD was established in 2012 by Dr Romuald Afatchao, a native of Notsé, Togo, and Whitney Schroeder. It works with local communities in a unique, holistic approach, bringing together science-based and local knowledge to strengthen local communities, youth, and women in improving the environmental and economic resilience of these communities. Its primary work is in environmental restoration, seeking to address the rapid deforestation in Togo, which leads to soil erosion, desertification, and loss of biodiversity. A majority of forests in Togo have been cleared for agriculture, both for subsistence and cash crops.
The loss of native tree and plant species has resulted in many wildlife species disappearing, as well, with many big and small game animals no longer found in many areas in Togo. This has also altered the diet of many Togolese people, with native plants and animals no longer available to be eaten by the newer generations.
To help restore the ecosystem, ICPSD established a native plant nursery in Notsé, which grows local tree and plant species and plants them in various areas of the country, with the help of local people, who determine the optimal species to plant and where they are to be planted. One of ICPSD’s main partners is Lolonu, a Togolese women's cooperative that aims to elevate women’s welfare, preserve the environment, cultivate communities, and keep traditions alive. ICPSD also runs the nursery in partnership with the University of Idaho, the co-founders’ alma mater.
ICPSD is looking to partner with more organizations that will help it expand its reforestation efforts and revitalize the Togolese countryside, while empowering local people to make the crucial decisions that will ultimately affect them the most.
“ICPSD’s goal is to keep sharing our collective knowledge in environmental restoration and reforestation, so other people replicate it locally, making it sustainable in the long term for everyone. The main part of our approach involves letting local communities lead their own restoration projects, partnering with us on a foundation of mutual respect and sharing. We uphold the values of being community-led and community-driven. We want the decisions there in the communities to be made by the community members, not by us here in the West. This has been a real challenge in building capacity, because, a lot of times, when people give money, there are strings attached and they want to have a major say in how it will be used and the way projects are done,” Schroeder says.
Demonstrating its commitment to transparency, ICPSD has received a Gold Transparency GuideStar certification for 2023 from Candid, an organization that specializes in vetting and analyzing the transparency of US-based nonprofit companies.
According to Afatchao, ICPSD is also working to identify various areas across Togo to implement its restoration efforts, which will help communities incorporate reforestation efforts into their farming technique using the branch of science known as agroforestry.
“Hopefully, we will be able to do that with the support of folks who care about what we do. As a smaller organization, we don’t have the resources to do that at a larger scale. Our ambition is to expand what we're doing to other parts of Togo, by having a nursery center in each of the country’s five regions. We’re also looking to secure some old farmland between 100-200 hectares, which we will work to restore and preserve it from destruction. This will help us greatly in creating communities that are resilient and flourish on their own effort,” Afatchao says.
Media contact:
Name: Whitney Schroeder
Email: [email protected]
