Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI) was founded in 5 June 2006 as a merger of its antecedents as Towards Ethnic Women (TEW, 1994), Centre for Human Ecology Studies of Highlands (CHESH, 1999) and Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Research and Development (CIRD, 2000).
The grassroots development work that TEW/CHESH/CIRD have been doing over the last 20 years has resulted in the National Key Farmer Network (NKFN), which in turn has consolidated into Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Community Based Institutions (CBIs). These grassroots institutions are now step by step taking over the facilitating and coordinating role in poverty alleviation and community development in t