How it began
The Songhai Center was founded in Porto-Novo by Father Godfrey Nzamujo, a Dominican priest trained in electronics, microbiology and development sciences, together with a group of Africans and friends of Africa. The center gives October 1985 as its founding date, while a Vatican profile gives 1984. It was named after the Songhai empire of West Africa. According to the center, the project began modestly and grew into a place for training, production, applied research and innovation.
Before it existed
The center describes the 1980s as a time when Africa was often portrayed through drought, famine, rural exodus and food dependency. Nzamujo returned to the continent with the conviction that Africa had the human, natural and cultural resources to shape its own future, and the center set out to reduce dependence on imported models of farming.
How it works
Crop growing, livestock, fish farming, composting, biogas and food processing are run as one system. Farming residues are turned into compost for the soil, water from the fish ponds is reused to irrigate crops, and plant and animal remains are used to produce bioenergy. A Vatican profile describes the model as zero-waste production and links it to ZERI, the Zero Emission Research Initiative, and notes that the farming avoids chemicals. Trainees learn by doing each activity, along with maintenance, marketing and management.
How it spread
The center states that its approach has inspired initiatives in several African countries and has spread mainly through training and support. In 2008 the United Nations recognized Songhai as a Regional Center of Excellence for Africa. In 2022 a regional training run with the United Nations Development Programme brought young people from several countries to Porto-Novo.
Where it stands today
A 2024 profile by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development reports that the Porto-Novo site covers more than 22 hectares and hosts 320 trainees and 550 African nationals each year for training in farm management and new techniques. Its stated long-term goal is the creation of green rural towns that slow the movement of people out of the countryside.
