The African Institute for Community-Driven Development (Khanya-aicdd) is an African centre of expertise on community-driven development and sustainable livelihoods. We are committed to a transformation process which fundamentally addresses socio-economic inequalities and the needs of the poor. We seek sustainable African solutions to African problems, while learning from best practice elsewhere.

Khanya-aicdd's vision is a world in which poor people are managing development to improve their livelihoods.

Our mission is to work with partners to transform development systems to support the livelihoods of poor people in Africa. To do this we facilitate action-learning processes that link government, civil society and business drawing from global development thinking.

Our purpose is to be a centre of excellence in Africa on sustainable livelihoods and community-driven development, learning and disseminating from experience, demonstrating and scaling-up innovative approaches and influencing policy and practice in the region.

Our values
We are committed to a transformation process which fundamentally addresses socio-economic inequalities and the needs of the poor. We seek sustainable African solutions to African problems, while learning from best practice elsewhere, and so maintaining a strong base in our local areas, the Free State and Lesotho. We believe in shared management, so that all those working for the Institute have responsibilities in the organisation and we contribute to the well-being of disadvantaged communities in Africa. We also aim to be transparent and accountable within the organisation and to our partners/clients.

The way we work
We work in an action-learning partnership with our partners/clients, empowering them and growing our staff. We operate with a culture of transparency, trust, and participatory management, both internally and with our partners/clients. We are dynamic, promoting innovative solutions, working through networks and partnerships, maximising cooperation across Africa. We aim to integrate social, environmental, economic and institutional issues for sustainable development.

In what way are we different?
We are an African centre of expertise on community-driven development and sustainable rural livelihoods, innovating in the way we operate and aiming to practice internally what we preach in terms of participation, empowerment and social change. We are reflective practitioners, seeking to implement action-learning in our work. We have developed a set of innovative tools and practical experience of promoting sustainable livelihoods, linking community and policy levels, using participatory and empowering approaches. In the process we have built long-term relationships with organisations and individuals across Africa.

We have worked in 15 African countries and have offices in South Africa and in Lesotho, where we maintain a strong practice bases, implementing what we advocate.