Our goal
DCA supports capacity development and empowerment of individuals, local leaders and communities so they can claim their rights and hold authorities accountable to build resilient communities.
DCA promotes the right to food and diversified income opportunities to reduce inequality and vulnerability by ensuring sustainable and adaptive use of land, water, plants and animals. In addition, DCA focuses on agro-ecologic production, savings and loans groups, value-chain development, inclusive business and disaster risk reduction.
Communities that DCA works with are exposed to adverse global economic impacts, poor governance, frequent disasters, as well as the effects of climate change. Supporting them to manage risk and adapt accordingly is a specific focus in DCA’s resilience work. This is linked to humanitarian response, where relevant, in order to create a nexus between long-term development and emergency interventions.
We also help build self-confidence, trust and community structures where the poorest gain a voice and enter into dialogue with the authorities at different levels to promote more pro-poor national policies.
In our work, we focus on:
- Promoting peoples’ right to food through
- Availability by increasing production through agro-ecologic resource management and integrated production systems that are locally adapted.
- Access by enhancing income generation opportunities, local saving and loan systems and value chain integration.
- Adequacy by promoting diversified production systems and improved handling and storage practices
- Global advocacy forresilience, land rights and responsible business conduct.
- Promoting innovative partnerships focusing on scaling up partners’ potential and engage in strategic liaison with research & knowledge institutions, private sector actors and networks that share our goals to integrate and use innovative technologies and methods in agricultural production.
- Reducing vulnerability, marginalisation, discrimination and economic exclusion. DCA and partners will do this to help empower local individuals, leaders and communities to form and take part in inclusive and sustainable development initiatives and to influence governments and private sector actors to adhere to principles of responsible and inclusive investments benefiting the poor. This also includes organisation to influence political structures, advocacy in the countries where DCA works and global advocacy.
- Preventing conflict and building safer communities through armed violence reduction and humanitarian mine action in areas of post-conflict and protracted social conflict, and through minimising conflict over scarce resources for access to livelihoods. Promoting dialogue between conflicting groups for peaceful coexistence and reconciliation.
Climate Change
Addressing climate change has increasingly become a crucial aspect DCA’s goal to help build resilient communities. The consequences of climate changes are already felt in many of the poor countries in which DCA works and it is estimated that 30 million people will be affected by hunger before 2050 as a direct consequence of climate changes. Many poor countries do not have the resources to prevent or adapt to the severe effects of climate changes which is why DCA is dedicated to support climate related issues. DCA aims to work closely with local partners with a strong focus on climate resilient agricultural livelihood approaches and low emission technology.
Also see (in Danish): Klima & klimaforandringer 2022
Loss and Damage: Experiences from the ground
DCA has been monitoring since 2019 the share of finance channelled to projects addressing climate change related loss and damage, capturing response and recovery from climate related disasters, reconstruction, and other actions to address irreversible losses and non-economic effects.
The report ‘Loss and Damage: Experiences from the ground’ presents an assessment of DCA’s 2021 project portfolio as well as key takeaways to inform the operationalization of loss and damage funding.