THE GORTA GROUP www.gortagroup.org
Partner Africa
TruTrade
Africa
The Gorta Group is dedicated to ending extreme poverty and inequality across the globe. In a world confronted by climate change, population growth, pressure on resources and widening inequality, there has never been a greater demand for the services we provide. Our work is focused on results. We partner with communities to deliver high-quality interventions, such as improving food systems, facilitating access to markets and financial services, and enabling access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
million people, and invests upwards of €45m in project activities. We finance our work from a broad range of sources including funds received from the general public, from trusts and foundations, and from institutional backers, including The European Union, and the Governments of Ireland, the UK, US, Denmark, Slovakia and Wales.
Today, the Gorta Group comprises Self Help Africa, United Purpose, Partner Africa, TruTrade and CUMO Microfinance – organisations that work across low income countries to end poverty through innovation and enterprise.
Our core work focuses on improving the lives and welfare of the world’s extreme poor, we also assist smallholder farmers and farming cooperatives to source profitable markets at local, regional and international levels. Increasingly, our relationship with communities, local partners and Governments is allowing us to move swiftly to provide emergency aid in humanitarian crises.
Our group has evolved from a series of mergers and integrations of Irish and UK based not-for-profits, including Gorta, Self Help Africa, Harvest Help, TruTrade, Africa Now, War on Want NI, United Purpose, Village Aid and Cumo Microfinance. Today, Village Aid operates as a subsidiary of UP in the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, we collaborate with national and international businesses, seeking to create jobs, add value and develop markets that contribute to economic growth in low-income countries.
The predominent focus of our work has been on subSaharan Africa - a region where global hunger and extreme poverty are most serious - but our activities have also taken us to Bangladesh, Brazil, and through the work of subsidiaries to countries of the Near East.
We also run a number of innovative social enterprises, including an ethical carbon offsetting initiative that helps raise funds for our development work, a venture that links farmers to national, regional and international markets, and an ethical auditing consultancy that helps to improve worker conditions, and supports corporations seeking to invest in Africa’s economic development.
Our current programme portfolio reaches more than six
Our Group Self Help Africa (SHA) works in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, supporting rural poor farming communities to produce more and earn more from their small farms. SHA also supports the growth and development of agri-business, to create both employment, add value to agricultural production, and create profitable new markets for produce grown by smallholder farming households. United Purpose (UP) is a leader in community-led development and grassroots innovation. The organisation works with frontline activists and community organisations to help people gain agency over their own lives - so they can move Beyond Aid. UP work in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and in Brazil and Bangladesh. The organisation was formerly called Concern Universal.
Partner Africa
TruTrade
Africa
Partner Africa (PA) works across 50 countries in Africa and the Near East, providing auditing and consultancy services to improve the working conditions and livelihoods of workers and producers in African supply chains. Its advisory services risks in business supply chains and promotes the adoption of responsible business practices. TruTrade is a social enterprise that provides smallholder farmers with a reliable route to market and fair prices for their produce. Operational in East Africa, it seeks to bring together the ‘supply power’ of millions of small-scale producers to meet the demand of local, regional and international markets. CUMO is a microfinance institution providing small loans and savings to poor rural households in Malawi. It delivers services to clients in villages using existing community infrastructure, and offers services through alliance cooperative agreements with other service providers.
Self Help Africa & United Purpose
BANGLADESH
BRAZIL
BAN
ERITREA ETHIOPIA SENEGAL AND THE GAMBIA GUINEA CAMEROON
WEST AFRICA UGANDA KENYA
GHANA
MALAWI
NIGERIA
ZAMBIA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
MALAWI MOZAMBIQUE
Partner Africa works in more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Near East, while TruTrade has operations in Uganda and Kenya.
Innovation, Impact & Best Practice Across the Gorta Group we aspire to be the best in our sector. We recognise the critical importance of operating to the highest standards and delivering outcomes required by our funders and expected by the communities with whom we work. PROGRAMMES •
Our work will support up to six million people worldwide, with approximately €45m invested in programmes in 2021.
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We manage two multi-annual agri-business challenge fund grants from the EU that are investing close to €50m in the growth of the agri-business sectors in Kenya and Zambia.
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An innovative “Women’s Business Centre” project funded by Coca-Cola reaches a womens’ business network that reaches over 100,000 households, per day.
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We have pioneered the use of mobile money transfer to pay farmers for produce that they sell.
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Close to 5m people reached with access to safe drinking water, and more than one million toilets built.
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We operative a profitable carbon trading business that is certified to trade carbon credits.
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For seven years we have managed the Irish Government’s innovative national Development Education programme.
SYSTEMS •
We use ICT systems that allow us to carefully manage, track, and report on all aspects of our work. These include fully integrated accounting systems and time-charging mechanisms to ensure optimal management and accountability.
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We have an extensive portfolio of ‘best practice’ policies - including a third party Whistleblowing mechanism, policies for procurement, safeguarding, conflict of interest and more, overseen by an in-house compliance manager.
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We use innovative digital technology to monitor projects and disseminate information.
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We collaborate with a wide range of academic institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Penn State University; University College Dublin; Trinity College Dublin; Harper Collins University, UK; and Queens University Belfast.
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We have established a strong digital presence and have an e-mail supporter database numbering close to 50,000 people and a combined social media following totalling 120,000. Our websites have won national awards.
AWARDS •
We have won awards in recent years for our programme work in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Zambia.
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We have won awards for our corporate business charitable partnerships.
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In three of the past five years our Annual Report has been short-listed for awards for financial reporting.