At Crest Research and Development Institute (CRADI), our approach to humanitarian response has always been clear: start with the people, listen to their lived realities, and support those already rooted in communities to drive the change they want to see.

This belief is what inspired our MSNA Response Small Grants initiative; a modest but powerful intervention aimed at supporting grassroots organizations with flexible funding to implement community-driven solutions in Fragile and Conflict Affected areas.

The journey began with our Multisectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) in Plateau State. This was not just another research exercise, it was a way to hear directly from affected communities about what matters most to them. The priorities that emerged-from protection to livelihood support to access to basic services- became the framework for our small grants scheme which we published in April 2025.

After the application and vetting processes, we have now reached an exciting milestone. On July 31, 2025, we signed grant agreements with three successful organizations, as our first cohorts of grantees: Christian Women for Excellence and Empowerment in Nigerian Society (CWEENS); Sustainable Education and Eco-conscious Innovative Initiative (SEEII); and Speak for Life Cancer Prevention Initiative.

Each of these organizations bring deep local knowledge and unwavering passion to their work. While CWEENS and SEEII will focus their efforts in Plateau State, Speak for Life will be implementing in Kaduna, extending the reach of our MSNA-driven insights to similar conflict-affected contexts outside the state. It is a significant proof point that locally-generated evidence can guide meaningful action well beyond its point of origin.

Our role has not just been about disbursing funds. Managing this initiative, from conceptualization to selection and now to implementation, has been an exercise in practical localization. We opted for a Fixed Amount Award model, tying disbursements to clear milestones and eliminating the kind of micromanagement that too often frustrates grantees. As someone who’s worked with funding partners where receiving and reporting on funds felt more complicated than implementing the programatic components of the project itself, this shift has been both intentional and liberating.

And while this small grants initiative is underway, CRADI is also gearing up to lead the implementation of a larger FCDO-funded project across Plateau and Benue States. This dual role, as funder on one hand and implementer on another, gives us a unique vantage point. We are not just designing interventions for others; we are in the trenches ourselves. This puts us in a strong position to share learnings with both local and international stakeholders. This will include learnings on grant management systems that work for grassroots partners, and  practical, context-aware programming that responds to urgent needs.

At the heart of all this is a deep belief: crisis response should not be driven by media headlines or political agendas, but by the actual priorities of the people affected. That is what we are building at CRADI-an approach to humanitarian work that’s responsive, rooted in real-time evidence, and powered by local actors who live the issues every day.

This is only the first round of our small grants, but already, the momentum is real. We’re learning a lot. And we’re just getting started.

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