What is CORN

It is a regional network of community organisations in five SADC countries, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Angola with a focus on rural communities.

Although contextual differences occur within each member country there exists many strains of similarity. CORN creates a nexus for the exchange and sharing of information. The age, old adage that knowledge is power remains pertinent for the region.

The fast growth of CBOs and the increasing demands being made upon them to deliver services and assistance to communities are significant. CORN's main mission is to strengthen national associations in the five representative countries.

CORN was conceived for the purpose of changing the existing paradigms of development initiatives. These at the inception of colonialism had a Top-bottom approach that relegated communities to the periphery.

Decades of rhetoric have not impacted on Africa's development. The missing link has been the exclusion of the true stakeholders from ownership of development policies.

The acronym CORN is not accidental, CORN as a grain crop is unique because of its origin, adaptability, high productivity and versatility. The acronym in itself is a statement.

CORN will focus on providing some long-term solutions to problems that impact negatively on the ability of rural communities to earn a living. The prevailing policy constraints relate to:

Land 

sustainable development will not be attained without critically examining the role of land in promoting the economic and social livelihoods of the rural communities. Access to land remains the most viable opportunity for poor rural households to become self-reliant. The obstacles to land tenure reform are not technical but institutional.

Cross-Border Trade 

In an effort to deal with unemployment, people have joined the informal sector undertaking small and medium term economic activities in order to earn a living. Some of the economic activities carried out in the informal sector grew and expanded beyond the borders of the initial country. Specific examples include trade activities between Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. 

Capacity building 

local communities can be helped to tap into the reservoir of global and localised knowledge and this can accelerate the exchange of local knowledge between neighbouring countries in the Southern African region.

Networking- The creation of network innovators can help civil society to take responsibility for shaping values and generating responsibility for a fair and an equitable distribution of wealth thus creating a society with future sustainable livelihoods and eradicating poverty. The challenge is to convert projects into developed and viable business concerns.