6/15/10 (LWN) Recently the Secretary-General of the U.N. traveled to the West African country of Benin. Among other things, he visited the Songhai Project site in Porto Novo and praised it as a "very creative, innovative system". He went on to say that it shows "the way you achieve sustainable development".

According to its website, the Songhai organization combines farming, agricultural training, food processing, sales, energy production, and providing access to information. It operates its own restaurants, food stores, and information centers, which offer access to telephones, computers, and fax machines.

Since it began in the 1980s, the Songhai project has established sites across Benin and recently expanded into Nigeria. Apparently it aims to promote the self-reliance of Africa, Benin, and the project itself. For example, it generates biogas energy, grows food, raises animals, and sells the food using its own facilities.

Considering its successful expansion and the support it has attracted from international organizations and Benin's government, the Songhai project offers a highly promising model for social and economic progress in the developing world.