How do you build peace and resilience in communities facing conflict, climate pressures, and resource competition?

At the SNRD Africa Conference 2025 in Zambia, the marketplace session gave projects the chance to showcase their work to fellow members — individuals and initiatives across the rural development spectrum.

The PeaceCore Project team, represented by Suzan Gopuk and Yahaya Umar Dio, shared how they are working in Plateau, Kaduna, and Taraba States to strengthen communities in the face of conflict, climate pressures, and resource competition.

PeaceCore — short for Strengthening Capacities for Conflict Transformation and Livelihoods of Vulnerable Groups in Nigeria’s North-Central Region — operates on the principle of “leaving no one behind.”

Key actions include:

🤜 Conflict transformation: Supporting state peace agencies, creating community peace structures, and training traditional leaders in mediation and dialogue.

🤜 Youth engagement: Organising peace camps, developing local peace ambassadors, and addressing trauma in children through play-based therapy.

🤜 Livelihoods and food security: Providing training in agriculture and trades, distributing start-up kits, and promoting climate-sensitive infrastructure like sand dams and water troughs.

🤜 Environmental sustainability: Encouraging composting, waste recycling, and organic farming practices to reduce reliance on costly inorganic fertilizers.

Suzan’s perspective is that sustainability comes from community ownership, adapting interventions to local realities, and ensuring government accountability. She stressed that development cooperation only succeeds when national governments actively play their part.

PeaceCore’s work is a reminder that building peace and resilience requires more than delivering services — it means empowering communities to create their own solutions, while ensuring all actors, from local to international, share responsibility.

Captions in French available.