The City of Zürich helps the poorest in the world with contributions to Swiss development projects.

Since 1972 the city of Zürich supports Swiss aid organisations in their commitment towards poor population in the poorest regions of the world. Read further information on City of Zürich’s support to overseas projects (in german).

In 2009, the City of Zürich is supporting two projects of Intercooperation in India and Mali:

The empowerment of women in Bonthi and Kodli, two villages in north Karanataka, South of India
The use of Jatropha as income source and bio fuel in the District of Tominian, in the South East of Mali

In India, resource women from the villages are getting skilled by the project to support women self-help groups in planning income generating activities (like running small shops, tailoring units, pickle and papad making, rearing animals), liaising with bank for getting credits and managing the funds.The resources women also help these women groups and the elected Panchayat members (village council) to interact with the government and bank officers and support the village in using participatory methodologies to take decision for use of local and governmental funds.On the other hand, the project also form the elected women Panchayat members to take leadership towards projects that meet the priorities of the villagers in a sustainable manner. 10’000 women and their family (from which 75% are poor) are expected to benefit from the project thanks to income generating activities and community projects that better meets their needs (education, health).

In South-East Mali, Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas) is a shrub that is traditionally used for hedges and protection against soil erosion. The oil from the seed is used for making soap but people’s interest lies in the opportunity to make an environment friendly bio-fuel out of it. This bio-fuel is considered as a Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) which can be used without further transformation for various types of motors (pumps, presses, mills). The project is supporting a farmer cooperative in Tominian to develop Barbados nut as a profitable and sustainable product for the benefit of the cooperative members. It will help developing the value chain for the oil from planting and taking care of the plants, collecting the seeds, pressing, filtration, packing and selling of the bio-fuel. 600 families from the village and surroundings are expected to raise their incomes thanks to this new activity.

In the previous years, the City of Zürich had contributed to some other projects implemented by Intercooperation: The business opportunities for aromatics herbs producers in the central sierra of Ecuador; development initiatives for the socio-economic advancement of rural poor and extreme poor women in the south-west of Bangladesh; Production and marketing of paprika and chili in South-East Mali.