Location:
Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Date:
2023-
Sectors:
Archaeological Sites, Conservation & Preservation, Cultural, Local Engagement, Natural, Research, Restoration, Tourism
Hosts:
HERITΛGE
Partners:
Mellon Foundation
Short Description
Projects that received a grant had to demonstrate that they address one or more of three criteria:
1) Sustainability – Our focus is on projects that will have a lasting impact, much beyond the duration of the project, for example protecting heritage sites from desertification by creating green belts, preserving/stabilizing/restoring and adaptively reusing a historic building for community needs, researching the public heritage landscape, installing solar panels at heritage sites to generate income or decrease expenditure in the long term, building eco-friendly tourism infrastructure, direct interventions that strengthen social institutions, like traditional methods of mediation, etc.
2) Capacity development and network building – We encourage projects that strengthen local skills and build closer links with peer organizations in the HERITΛGE network. Examples include on-the-job training in preventive conservation (e.g clearing or fencing sites), experience and expertise exchanges with other local NGOs on shared issues such as desertification or erosion of sites, co-operative training on museum exhibition design, etc.
3) Concrete and community impact – We encourage projects with strong, measurable incomes in terms of heritage protection and benefits to local people. Each project should provide clear indicators of the planned impact. These indicators will depend on the type of work carried out but some examples include increased visitation to a heritage site or program, financial benefits to the local community in terms of increased employment opportunities or local businesses created; tourism earnings; money savings by solar panel installation; the size of area protected from desertification, etc.
Main Objective
In early 2023 HERITΛGE launched a call for concept notes for small grants ($5,000-$50,000) for organizations, groups, and individuals working with heritage in Africa. In total 75. small African heritage projects have received funding.
Our Small Grants for African Heritage projects are part of our Heritage Management Project – Africa (HerMaP-Africa) which is supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program.
They fund projects that focus on the protection of and/or promotion of local heritage for socio-economic development in the African continent.
Outcomes
Round 1
Round 2
Project Name | Organization | Country |
Tourist lodge for the revitalization of Kalàa Ath Abbas, Bejaia. | Izourane Algérie | Algeria |
Renovation and innovative management of the Ondo sacred forest of Pobè | Culture at the heart of Development | Benin |
Tata Green | Ecomusée Tata Somba & JEDEC ONG | Benin/Togo |
Restoration of Cultural Heritage | Association Espoir Patrie | Burkina Faso |
Protecting Heritage through Promoting Culture, Ecological Restoration, Mapping and Empowerment | AJEMALEBU Self Help (AJESH) | Cameroon |
Smart Sacred Forests Reforestation Project | Youth Development Organization-YODO | Cameroon |
Transformation of the colonial residence in a tourism and community center | TUSIMAME wa MAMAN Asbl | DRC |
Protection and promotion of DebreMariam monastery historical and religious heritage | Bahir Dar University | Ethiopia |
Adaptive Reuse of Old Cocoa-Shed Building as a Contemporary Art Museum | Ghana Museums and Monuments Board | Ghana |
Protection, preservation, and promotion of Fort Fredericksburg for generations | Ghana Museums and Monuments Board | Ghana |
Bustani Resort – The Taveta Cultural & Agro-Ecotourism Centre | Mucho Mangoes Farmers | Kenya |
Preserving the Tradition of Handweaving in Niger | Dispositif d’Initiatives pour les Métiers de l’Artisanat (DIMA) | Niger |
Sustainable project to strengthen Bilikisu-Sungbo heritage network locally | International Christian Youth Exchange | Nigeria |
Solarization of the National Museum Onikan | Digiscape Solutions Limited | Nigeria |
Restoring Ilukwe House – A Research Centre promoting Nigeria’s Heritage | Legacy the Historical and Environmental Interest Group of Nigeria | Nigeria |
Restoration, Preservation and Protection of Tangale Culture and Heritage | Springfield Center for Peace and Humanitarian Development | Nigeria |
The Fisher Child and other stories. Sites of memory project | The Fischer Child Projekt NPC | South Africa |
Museum Accessibility | Iziko Museums of South Africa | South Africa |
Documentation and protection of Hillat Dongola | National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) | Sudan |
Improving community wellbeing to rescue Bagamoyo Old Stone Town | Bagamoyo Old Stone Town site | Tanzania |
Fort Bullen revitalization | National Centre for Arts and Culture | The Gambia |
Restoring fishing baskets in River Nchwera | Banyabutumbi Cultural Heritage Organization – Kanungu | Uganda |
Enhancing the Livelihoods of Women and Youth through Traditional Crafts | Tooro Gallery | Uganda |
Supporting women and refugees in the Rwenzoris to acquire skills and earn income from traditional basket weaving | Rwenzori Sustainable Trade Center Limited-RSTC | Uganda |
Amplified Community Action towards Restoration of Nyero Rock Painting | Amuria Youth Alliance Development Organization | Uganda |
Revitalizing The Indigenous CHEWA livelihoods Training Village in Zambia | PAZESA Horticultural Community | Zambia |
Round 3
Project Name | Organization | Country |
Khama III Memorial Museum Kitchen and Restaurant | Khama III Memorial Museum | Botswana |
Conservation and Enhancement of a Biodiversity Site Among the Pygmies – (Sauvegarde, valorisation d’un site de biodiversité chez les Pygmées) | La société des Nouveaux Commanditaires du Cameroun | Cameroon |
Documentation and Marketing of El-Quseir’s ICH for Sustainable Community | individual, Afaq foundation for trainings and comprehensive development, | Egypt |
Development | Red Sea Center for Research and sustainable development | |
Addis Ababa Heritage Buildings Photogrammetry Documentation Training and Exhibition | Heritage Conservation Associates (HCA) | Ethiopia |
Empowering Communities: Sustainable Tourism, Heritage Preservation and Economic Empowerment Project at Kome Caves | The Butterfly Sanctuary Organization | Lesotho |
Preserving Haratin Bondja and Medh Musical Traditions (first stage: Adrar Region, Mauritania) | Elhadj Ould Brahim (Independent Researcher) | Mauritania |
The Creation/Establishment of Cultural Space in the Rural Area of Ndiyona Constituency, Kavango East Region (Namibia). | Arts Foundation of Kavango (AFOKA) | Namibia |
Oshikulu Cultural Village – Revitalizing Cultural Roots: Safeguarding Heritage, Empowering Communities | Shivute shaNdjongolo Living Museum, Oshikulu Cultural Village | Namibia |
Art Culture and Heritage of the Women of Boubon Niger | ONG Culture Art Humanite (CAH) | Niger |
Empowering Youth and Women in Community-based Tourism. | Red Rocks Rwanda | Rwanda |
The development of Imanzi Memorial Hill | IVOMO [Rwandan word that means “source of water”] | Rwanda |
Empowering Community Conservation for Sustainable Development at Engaruka Heritage Site | Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Under Ministry of Resources and Tourism, Tanzania. | Tanzania |
Fulani Heritage Haven | MG Marketing (My Gambia) in Collaboration with the Institute of Travel and Tourism of the Gambia (ITTOG) for the Local Guide Training | Gambia |
Kubuneh-Galloya Heritage Trail | Kubuneh Cultural Museum & Galloya Street Art Group | Gambia |
Enhancing Indigenous Batwa Livelihood Through Cultural Heritage Experiences in Uganda. | Virunga Massive Community Conservation (VMCC) | Uganda |
Round 4
Project Name | Organization | Country |
Restoration and revitalization of the Sarh museum | Consortium for the Promotion of Initiatives and Development | Chad |
Formation coopérative à l’animation d’un Musée Communautaire Agricole à Agboville : Le Projet MCAA [Cooperative Training in the Animation of a Community Agricultural Museum in Agboville: The MCAA Project] | Société Coopérative pour l’Innovation dans le Monde Agricole d’Agboville (SOCIMAA) | Cote D’ Ivoire |
Preserving Bedouin Oral Literature | The Egyptian Circle of Comparative Poetics & Genre Studies | Egypt |
Standardization Documentation and Digitalization of Museums Collections for Effective Heritage Management |
Yimtubezina Museum and Cultural Center | Ethiopia |
Abibikwantuo (AK) Indigenous Sustainability Hub | AbibiKwantuo Organization | Ghana |
Establishment of Cultural Heritage Center in Siaya County Region, Kenya | Ugenya Youth Community Development Project (UYCDP) | Kenya |
Living the Heritage in Vieux Grand Port – Documentation and Transmission of Traditional Boat Making |
Our Heritage Foundation | Mauritius |
ElleSolaire Cultural Academy | ElleSolaire | Senegal |
Safeguarding Historical and Natural Heritage of Debis in Somaliland | Heritage Somaliland | Somalia |
Safeguarding Living Cultural Heritage in the Sudan at the Time of Conflict: Documentation of Cultural Industries (Pottery and Basketry) of Sinkat Locality in the Red Sea State. | Beja Cultural Studies Center – University of the Red Sea in partnership with the Center for Darfur Heritage at University of Nyala and under patronage of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums at the Federal Ministry of Culture and Information. | Sudan |
Conservation and Promotion of Cultural Sites in the Eyasi Basin, Tanzania | Dr. Pastory Magayane Bushozi / Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Tanzania |
Building A Heritage Museum and Training on the Collection and Management of Artifacts and Oral Traditions | Alamanding Foundation for Culture and Education | The Gambia |
Revamping for Rehabilitation of Genieri Community Museum | Genieri Community Museum Committee | The Gambia |
Cultural Oasis: Jinja’s Sustainable Heritage Hub | Youth, Free Uplifted and Limitless | Uganda |
The Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Zambian Bark Cloth | Veronica N Designs | Zambia |
Partners
