Rethinking Localisation in Africa’s Development: A Call for Co-Creation, Innovation
By Adesuwa Ifedi
Introduction
International development organisations have historically approached philanthropy in Africa with a well-intentioned but flawed model: identify problems from afar, designing solutions in distant boardrooms, and then attempting to “localise” these solutions to fit the African context. This approach has frequently fallen short of delivering sustainable long-term solutions.
Having spent decades navigating both global and local development spaces across Africa, I have learned that the very concept of localisation needs to be turned around on its head. True localisation, as I have come to understand it through the course of my career, requires more than just adapting pre-packaged solutions. It demands co-creation from the very beginning, with local actors leading the charge.
The outcomes we see from our work alongside local actors, farming communities, young innovators, leaders, and others have validated our philosophy of unlocking local capacity to drive change. This isn’t merely about adapting global solutions to local contexts; it is about recognising that sustainable solutions must be developed in partnerships with those closest to the problems.
The Flawed Traditional Model of Localization
In my experience, the conventional approach to localization is fundamentally problematic. Developing standardized solutions in isolation and expecting to adapt them later to fit local realities is a recipe for limited impact. This approach underestimates the value local organizations bring, reducing their role to mere adaptation of pre-packaged solutions.
While pilots may succeed in controlled environments, they often falter when scaled in the complex real world. At Heifer International, we’ve learned that successful scaling requires a deep understanding of the local context from the outset. Without co-creation with local communities, even the best-intentioned solutions can fall short.
Our work in Rwanda’s dairy sector, in partnership with the Rwandan government and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), illustrates the power of co-creation. By partnering with local farmer cooperatives, regional businesses, government entities, and funders, we developed solutions that drove transformative results. Locally driven innovations in collection, processing, and distribution increased household incomes for participating farming communities; validating the exemplary work that country team members at Heifer Rwanda did in leading this project.
True localization demands more than just tweaking external solutions. It requires co-creation, local ownership, and a deep understanding of the local context. By prioritizing these principles, we can unlock sustainable impact and drive meaningful change.
The Power of Co-Creation and Co-Design
The solution to the challenge of localisation lies in co-creation. There is an abundance of talent and creativity in Africa. Our work with agritech innovators across the continent has repeatedly demonstrated that the solutions to transform Africa’s agriculture are being discovered and reimagined by utilising the seemingly limitless powers of technology. These ideas need to be identified and supported to scale: this is why our impactful AYuTe NextGen initiative remains a core part of our work in the continent.
Local partners must be involved in identifying the problem, creating the solution, testing it within the community, evaluating and monitoring its impact, and determining how resulting change can be measured.
To achieve sustainable development, we embraced a model in which local actors are not just beneficiaries of our work, but active participants in designing solutions. For example, in our projects across Africa, we do not simply bring in funding and pre-designed programs. Instead, we co-create, even the funding structures with our partners and country team members to ensure that the resources are aligned with the needs and realities of the communities we serve.
This is critical because we often think innovation should exist only in the solution, but innovation should also be in the way the funder designs the funding so that it does not become a hindrance to success.
This approach has transformed our work in East Africa where two key programs, which are also products of partnerships with key stakeholders, are focused on empowering young agripreneurs. Rather than designing the programs in isolation, we collaborated with youth cooperatives to understand their specific challenges in accessing markets and finance. Together, we created tailored financial products and market linkage strategies that aligned with their aspirations and constraints.
As a result, youth-led enterprises are becoming central players in East African agricultural value chains. One of the programs, the East Africa Youth Inclusion Project, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation and local governments, created thousands of new jobs for young people.
Building on that success, the Stimulating Agribusiness for Youth Employment Project, also in partnership with Mastercard Foundation and counties in the country, targeted at the Busoga sub-region of Eastern Uganda, is currently empowering young people by improving skills, expanding market access and offering inclusive financing in key sectors including poultry, horticulture, oilseed, dairy and beef value chains.
Across both projects, the Heifer Uganda country team led and is leading implementation with admirable efficiency.
Collaborative Innovation as the Key to Scale
Through our work across Africa, we have learned that no single innovator, even when the problem seems clear cut, can solve it. Complex challenges require collaborative ecosystems. We increasingly recognise that it is not enough to identify individual innovators; we must also curate innovation ecosystems where diverse actors can come together to co-design solutions. This is how we can achieve the scale and impact that we all aspire to.
For instance, in one of our projects, we discovered that innovators working on agricultural extension services and those developing tractor solutions needed to collaborate to maximise their impact. By bringing these actors together, rather than funding them in isolation, we created synergies that multiplied their collective impact.
Partnerships are a crucial element of every strategy that brings sustainable and scalable development. Most of our work leverages individual strengths of strategic partners to accelerate scale and sustainable impact. We partner with funders, governments, communities to conceptualise, design and implement projects; we partner with innovators to scale technology adaptation and agri-financing; we partner with farming communities, agripreneurs to scale productivity and profitability, etc.
Our AYuTe NextGen initiative illustrates this philosophy by not only providing funding but actively connecting youth with complementary businesses, global peers, technology partners, and market opportunities.
A Call to Action
To my colleagues leading global INGOs, we cannot put the world in a picture frame and expect it to stay that way. The unprecedented disruptions we’ve witnessed since 2020 have shattered the illusion of predictability in development work.
We must find the humility to identify passionate partners who we can co-design the future from start to finish. This means relinquishing control and embracing true partnership with local organisations who understand the complexities of their contexts. Success in today’s environment demands humility, flexibility, and a willingness to co-design with local partners.
For local NGOs and enterprises, the way the world is today is an asset to you, not a liability. You are uniquely positioned to lead in times of disruption. Understanding the local context is your strength. Your proximity to the challenges and deep understanding of local realities positions you to lead rather than follow. The task now is to find the right words to qualify your value and what you bring to the table so that global partners recognise and respect that value.
Finally, to both global and local NGOs, and indeed to all stakeholders in Africa’s future, the path to unlocking Africa’s potential lies in collaboration. By embracing co-creation and collaborative innovation, we can drive meaningful change and deliver lasting impact across the continent. Development will thrive in a world where global resources meet local wisdom, where funding adapts to innovation rather than constraining it, and where diverse actors collaborate in dynamic ecosystems rather than working in silos.
Adesuwa Ifedi is the Senior Vice President, Africa Programs, at Heifer International.
