“It is a cruel joke to tell a man to lift himself up by his bootstraps when he is barefoot and you are standing on his feet.”- Martin Luther King

The P.E.A.C.E Model serves to alleviate poverty in deep rural areas through market based poverty alleviation and the development of sustainable cooperatives and subsequent establishment of emerging markets. The cooperatives are designed around the needs of local communities and include economic fields such as agriculture, tourism, waste management and other local economic development initiatives.

Central to the model is the strategic delivery of a network of cooperatively run P.E.A.C.E. Hubs within a local municipality, district municipality or traditional land area. The network consists of a central Hub which is connected to smaller satellite centres, known as Pods, in the surrounding area. P.E.A.C.E. Hubs serve to support primary cooperatives, through the provision of centralised financial management services and marketing. P.E.A.C.E Hubs promote Local Economic Development (LED) by also providing  access to educational opportunities, improved service delivery and networking opportunities. Each centre has the potential to serve as a central platform for the future development of infrastructure including healthcare and other local economic development initiatives. The model is cost effective, environmentally friendly and offers various CSI branding and marketing opportunities in previously inaccessible markets.

 

P.E.A.C.E Hubs Concept Document (PDF)