TSD believes in starting where you are, using what you have, and learning what you need to learn. By following these steps, people can lift themselves out of poverty and create a brighter future. It focuses on helping communities take one step at a time to break the cycle of poverty and empower women. TSD’s projects include supporting education, giving people tools to succeed, and empowering people to know that they can make difference.
TSD uses the Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) model, which is based on appreciating and mobilizing individual and community talents, skills, and assets. It focuses on community-driven development rather than development driven by external agencies.
The organization involves all stakeholders in the initial planning phase of projects. Community members share their needs, prioritize the needs, and make recommendations for solutions. Local government representatives organize community meetings and participate in planning activities that could reduce problems. TSD also conducts workshops with community members and local administration to encourage their participation in the project.
Through projects such as the Yeka Saden Village Development Program, TSD and partners like Rainbow for the Future bring a broad range of benefits to communities, such as:
- Increased area under irrigation
- Increased adoption of improved agricultural practices
- Increased number of households practising non-farm activities
- Improved community physical access to social services
- Non-farm activities appearing in groups and individually
- Increased saving and credit groups
- Enhanced capacity of communities to manage programs
- Organization of community institutions
- Increased household income from agricultural production
- Increased household income from adoption of improved agricultural practices
- Increased household income from non-agricultural practices
- Improved project management
Tarkanfi Sustainable Development (TSD) is an indigenous Ethiopian NGO founded in 2011 to improve the quality of life in marginalized rural and urban communities of Ethiopia. TSD believes that rural and urban communities should be involved in their own development; TSD assists the process. TSD’s major programs include community organizing, clean water, income generation, environmental protection, civic education, non-formal education, child sponsorship, public health, appropriate technology, and women’s empowerment.
Vision
Marginalized communities in Ethiopia will become healthy, vibrant, and sustainable.
Mission
Strengthen marginalized rural communities; facilitate sustainable community-based projects that improve quality of life.
Values
Honesty, integrity, transparency
Growth that takes place when a community struggles together to address challenges and to make the most of opportunities; projects and programs that bring benefits to significant segments of the community.
Holistic approach
To problem solving; an approach that seeks to understand and address the problem in the context of the “big picture”.
Sustainability
Sustainability for projects and for the environment.
Networking
Networking and collaborating with diverse organizations to further the mission.
Human Rights
Human Rights as defined by the United Nations, for all people, and for children.