ASDA takes second place in the CCRDA national best-practice competition

In December 2017 ASDA was awarded second place in the Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Association's 2016/17 NGO best-practice competition — a national field of Ethiopian civil society organisations.

The award came as a trophy, a medal and a certificate of appreciation. The certificate, signed by CCRDA's Executive Director and Board Chair, records that it was presented to the Association for Sustainable Development Alternatives for winning second place in the CCRDA 2016/17 NGOs Best Practice Competition. The trophy and medal were presented to ASDA's Executive Director, Takele Teshome, at the ceremony in Addis Ababa. ASDA also received a trophy, medal and appreciation letter from His Excellency the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in connection with the national best-practice award.

What the competition recognised was not a single project but a way of working. ASDA's programmes combine household livelihood security with participatory natural resource management, so that the same community that reclaims a degraded hillside is also the community whose income, nutrition and water supply improve as a result. That integration — rather than a sequence of separate sectoral interventions — is what ASDA submitted as its best practice.

The recognition has since been reinforced by other partners: the World Bank for theatre-based social accountability and participatory video, FAO for ASDA's multi-sectoral approach to nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and the African Climate Policy Centre of the UN Economic Commission for Africa for ASDA's contribution to continental climate policy dialogue.