Self Help Africa
Irish international development organization supporting smallholder farmers, rural enterprises, and climate-resilient agricultural economies in Africa.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Self Help Africa is an Irish international development organization focused primarily on agricultural livelihoods, rural enterprise, and food security in Africa. Its programmes are designed to help farming households produce more, diversify their sources of income, improve the quality and reliability of their crops, and reach markets with greater bargaining power. Rather than operating mainly as a relief agency, the organization emphasizes long-term development: training, technical assistance, access to finance, seed systems, market connections, enterprise support, and partnerships with local institutions. The organization emerged from the humanitarian and development response to the Ethiopian famine of the early 1980s. In 1984, Irish priest Father Owen Lambert and Noel McDonagh helped establish an initiative after an appeal to Irish farmers to provide seed potatoes for famine-affected communities. Its work subsequently developed into a broader rural-development model, supporting farmers with improved planting materials, agricultural knowledge, business skills, and links to buyers. In 2008, Self Help Africa merged with Self Help Development International and the UK-based Harvest Help, consolidating several organizations created in response to African famines during the 1980s. A major institutional change came in July 2014, when Self Help Africa merged with Gorta, Ireland’s long-established development organization. The combined body initially operated as Gorta-Self Help Africa and became one of the largest nonprofit agricultural-development organizations in Ireland and Britain. From May 2018, it used the Self Help Africa name alone. Gorta brought a long history dating to 1965, when it was created as Gorta: The Freedom from Hunger Council in response to a Food and Agriculture Organization call for national campaigns supporting agricultural development. The merger therefore connected Self Help Africa’s famine-response origins with Gorta’s wider experience in international agricultural assistance. In 2021, Self Help Africa merged with United Purpose, a United Kingdom-based international nongovernmental organization. The enlarged organization retained the Self Help Africa name and expanded its institutional base and programme reach. It has maintained offices in Dublin, Shrewsbury, Belfast, London, New York, and Boston, while implementing projects through country teams and local partners. Its funding has included support from Irish Aid, the European Commission, the United States Agency for International Development, the United Kingdom’s former Department for International Development, foundations, trusts, institutional donors, and members of the public. The organization’s work covers farm productivity, crop diversification, seed multiplication and certification, agricultural value chains, microfinance, climate adaptation, and support for small and growing businesses. Examples include cassava development in Kenya, the AgriFI Kenya Challenge Fund, and the ENTERPRISE Zambia programme. Self Help Africa also owns or operates social-enterprise activities including Cumo Microfinance, TruTrade, and Partner Africa. TruTrade has worked on digital and cashless trading systems for smallholder farmers, while Partner Africa provides ethical-trade and socially responsible business services from Nairobi. Self Help Africa has also undertaken work outside Africa, including development projects in Bangladesh and Brazil, although its principal geographic focus remains rural Africa. During the COVID-19 pandemic it distributed personal protective equipment in programme countries and launched a public tree-planting initiative. In 2025, it closed its remaining charity shops in Northern Ireland. The organization’s current identity is that of a development charity and social-enterprise group seeking to strengthen rural economies rather than a conventional consumer-facing brand.
History
Self Help Africa was established in Ireland in 1984 in the aftermath of the Ethiopian famine. Father Owen Lambert and Noel McDonagh helped mobilize Irish farmers to send seed potatoes to famine-affected communities. The initiative evolved from an emergency response into a development organization seeking to strengthen the productive capacity and resilience of rural households. During its early development, the organization concentrated on agricultural inputs, farmer training, and practical support for communities affected by food insecurity. In 2008 it merged with Self Help Development International and Harvest Help, two organizations with similar origins in the famine-response movement of the 1980s. This broadened its operational base in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The organization’s later history is closely linked to Gorta. Founded in 1965 as Gorta: The Freedom from Hunger Council, Gorta had been created in response to a Food and Agriculture Organization appeal for public awareness and funding for long-term agricultural development. Its first project supported a village settlement and farmers’ training school in Tanzania. Over time, Gorta funded agricultural and rural-development initiatives in almost fifty countries, with increasing emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. It initially supported missionary organizations, volunteers, improved seed, livestock, machinery, and infrastructure. From the 1990s, its approach shifted toward working with local experts and national partner organizations, emphasizing skills, innovation, entrepreneurship, and locally led development. Self Help Africa and Gorta merged in July 2014. The combined organization was initially called Gorta-Self Help Africa and became a major nonprofit agricultural-development body in Ireland and Britain. It continued programmes involving farm productivity, market access, rural enterprise, microfinance, seed systems, and climate adaptation. It also expanded its institutional and commercial partnerships. Traidlinks’ operations were taken over in 2017, and a merger with War on Want Northern Ireland was completed in 2018, followed by the launch of Self Help Africa Northern Ireland. In the 2010s, the organization reported substantial growth in income and programme activity. It developed challenge funds and agricultural-market initiatives, including AgriFI Kenya and ENTERPRISE Zambia, which were designed to direct investment and grant finance toward agribusinesses and employment linked to smallholder farmers. Its subsidiary TruTrade developed digital approaches to agricultural commerce, while Partner Africa, established in Nairobi in 2012, worked on ethical and socially responsible business practice. Cumo Microfinance provided another route to financial services for rural communities. Self Help Africa’s programme portfolio has included Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Togo, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Ghana, and Benin. It has worked with government bodies, local NGOs, farmer groups, private companies, and research or technical institutions. Its interventions have included cassava development, local seed multiplication and certification, business support, value-chain development, and assistance in adapting agriculture to climate change. Although the organization has also worked in Bangladesh and Brazil, Africa remains its central geographic focus. The organization responded to COVID-19 in 2020 by helping provide personal protective equipment to vulnerable communities and by launching a public campaign to plant one million trees in Africa. It also became one of six founding members of the Irish Emergency Alliance, a consortium created to support communities in the Global South during the pandemic. United Purpose merged with Self Help Africa in 2021. Raymond Jordan left the organization in late 2022, and Feargal O’Connell became chief executive in April 2023. In 2025, Self Help Africa closed its Northern Ireland charity shops, while its core international-development and social-enterprise work continued.
- 2025
Northern Ireland shops closed
[1]Self Help Africa closed all of its charity shops in Northern Ireland.
- 2023
Feargal O’Connell became chief executive
[1]Feargal O’Connell assumed the chief executive role in April.
- 2021
Merger with United Purpose
[1]United Purpose merged with Self Help Africa, expanding the organization’s international platform.
- 2020
COVID-19 and tree-planting response
[1]The organization supplied protective equipment and launched a campaign to plant one million trees in Africa.
- 2018
Self Help Africa name restored
[1]The organization began operating solely under the Self Help Africa brand and completed a merger with War on Want Northern Ireland.
- 2017
Traidlinks operations transferred
[1]Self Help Africa took over the operations of the Irish trade-development NGO Traidlinks.
- 2014
Merger with Gorta
[1]The organizations combined and operated for several years as Gorta-Self Help Africa.
- 2012
Partner Africa established
[1]The Nairobi-based subsidiary was created to promote ethical and socially responsible business practice.
- 2008
Merger with Self Help Development International and Harvest Help
[1]Self Help Africa consolidated with two related famine-response development agencies.
- 1984
Self Help Africa founded
[1]The organization emerged from an Irish seed-potato initiative for famine-affected Ethiopia.
Products and positioning
A long-term international development partner focused on improving rural livelihoods through agriculture, enterprise, finance, market access, and climate resilience.
Agricultural development · 1984
Smallholder agriculture programmes
Training and technical assistance help rural households increase yields, diversify crops, improve post-harvest handling, and earn more from agricultural production. Projects generally combine farmer organization, local partnerships, market access, and business skills rather than treating seed or equipment distribution as a standalone solution.
Agricultural inputs and resilience
Seed systems
Self Help Africa supports local communities and partner organizations to multiply quality seed and planting materials. It also assists producer groups seeking certification, helping improve access to reliable planting materials suited to local farming conditions.
Agricultural finance
AgriFI Kenya Challenge Fund
This challenge-fund programme supports Kenyan agribusinesses whose activities can create jobs, strengthen markets, and improve commercial opportunities for smallholder farmers. It is backed by European development funding and uses investment support to encourage scalable agricultural businesses.
Enterprise development
ENTERPRISE Zambia
ENTERPRISE Zambia provides grant and business-development support to agricultural enterprises, with the objective of improving rural employment, markets, and commercial links for smallholder producers.
Digital agricultural trading
TruTrade
TruTrade is a Self Help Africa social enterprise associated with digital and cashless trading systems for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Its work is intended to improve transparency, payments, and connections between smallholder producers and markets.
Ethical business services · 2012
Partner Africa
Based in Nairobi, Partner Africa provides ethical auditing and socially responsible business services. It extends Self Help Africa’s development mission into supply-chain accountability and responsible commercial practice.
Microfinance
Cumo Microfinance
Cumo Microfinance is a social-enterprise subsidiary associated with Self Help Africa’s effort to improve rural communities’ access to financial services and productive capital.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020One Million Trees
Africa · Ireland
A public campaign encouraging the planting of one million trees in Africa, supported by Glenisk, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, and the Gaelic Players Association.
Outcome. The campaign promoted tree planting and climate resilience during the COVID-19 period.
- 2012Silk Roads to Shanghai
Ireland · International
An overland expedition from Istanbul to Shanghai used cycling, running, and rafting to raise funds for Self Help Africa.
Outcome. The ten-month expedition raised close to €50,000 for the organization’s African programmes.
- 2011Change Her Life
International
A public and advocacy campaign calling for greater support for women farmers in Africa.
Outcome. The campaign raised attention around the role of women farmers and the need for donor support.
- 2011It starts with a seed
International
A multimedia video project explaining the importance of seed and agricultural development.
Outcome. The video won the Best Video category in the Gates Foundation’s Answering the Challenge competition.
Brand decisions
2025
Close Northern Ireland charity shopsStrategyBackground
Self Help Africa operated charity shops as part of its fundraising and public-support model.
Action taken
The organization closed all of its charity shops in Northern Ireland.
Aftermath
The closure changed the organization’s retail fundraising footprint in Northern Ireland; the available reference does not state the financial result.
2021
Merge with United PurposeM&ABackground
United Purpose and Self Help Africa were both international development organizations operating in Africa and other developing-country contexts.
Action taken
The organizations merged and retained the Self Help Africa identity.
Aftermath
The enlarged organization continued agricultural, enterprise, climate, and community-development programmes through a broader international platform.
2014
Merge with GortaM&ABackground
The merger combined two Irish development organizations with long-standing experience in agricultural and rural-development programmes.
Action taken
Self Help Africa and Gorta created a combined organization initially branded Gorta-Self Help Africa.
Aftermath
The combined organization expanded its institutional scale and later adopted the Self Help Africa name alone.
Recent events
- 2025
Self Help Africa closed Northern Ireland charity shops[1]
Other
The organization closed all of its charity shops in Northern Ireland.
- 2021
Self Help Africa merged with United Purpose[1]
M&A
The Irish organization combined with the UK-based international NGO United Purpose, creating an enlarged organization retaining the Self Help Africa name.
- 2018
Organization adopted the Self Help Africa name[1]
Other
After operating as Gorta-Self Help Africa following the 2014 merger, the organization returned to using Self Help Africa as its sole operating name.
- 2014
Self Help Africa merged with Gorta[1]
M&A
The merger combined Self Help Africa with Ireland’s long-established Gorta development organization.
- 1984
Self Help Africa formed in response to Ethiopian famine[1]
Other
An Irish initiative supporting famine-affected Ethiopian communities developed into Self Help Africa.
Sources3 sources
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