Oil Consortium Funds Enterprise Development Project in Azerbaijan |
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ACDI/VOCA has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract to implement the three-year Enterprise Development and Training Program (EDTP) being funded by BP and its co-venturers in Azerbaijan through their Regional Development Initiative (RDI).The EDTP will be involved in the identification of potential local suppliers, introductory workshops for local companies, gap analysis for potential suppliers and, where appropriate, the creation and implementation of a tailored development plan.
"This project is clear evidence of the opportunities increasingly opening up to ACDI/VOCA to collaborate with socially conscious private sector firms, in particular major multinationals such as BP, who have a stake in and commitment to the development of the countries in which they work. In my view this is an exciting opportunity for ACDI/VOCA, for BP and for the people of Azerbaijan," said William Irelan (left), ACDI/VOCA's general counsel who finalized the agreement with BP in Baku. More.
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ACDI/VOCA Organizes USAID Value Chain Workshop in Ethiopia
 ACDI/VOCA, in collaboration with USAID and the QED Group, organized the June 5-8 USAID Africa Value Chain Development Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop brought together USAID mission staff and their implementing partners to share lessons learned in value chain projects focusing on economic growth with poverty reduction. The workshop was funded through ACDI/VOCA’s $10 million Accelerating Microenterprise Advancement Project Business Development Services (AMAP BDS) Knowledge and Practice II Task Order. The 50 participants traveled from 14 African countries to discuss key concepts, tools and guidelines for value chain development initiatives, including strategies for addressing industry bottlenecks, promoting private sector ownership of a competitiveness process and catalyzing improved performance.
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ACDI/VOCA's Work in Cape Verde Highlighted on NPR
On July 16 NPR's Morning Edition featured a report from Cape Verde acknowledging the transformative effects of ACDI/VOCA's PL 480-funded program. Though NPR’s Jon Hamilton characterized Cape Verde's two climates as "dry and parched," ACDI/VOCA-Cape Verde Chief of Party John "Bick" Riley was heard speaking of the paradox of "vegetables on the market all year round, and in a certain abundance" through the use of drip irrigation, which was introduced to the island chain by ACDI/VOCA. The NPR report was one in NPR's continuing series, "Climate Connections: A Global Voyage," on how climate changes people and people change climate.
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Iadarola Speaks on Role of Youth in Rebuilding Communities  Sally Iadarola (right), managing director for ACDI/VOCA's Emerging from Conflict portfolio, presented a paper, "The Role of Youth in Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Conflict," written by her and colleague Tamara Heimur, at a recent conference in Boston. The paper, based on ACDI/VOCA's Iraq Community Action Program I experience, was 1 of 20 selected for presentation at the July 23-26 conference, "Rebuilding Sustainable Communities in Iraq: Policies, Programs and Projects." The event was sponsored by the College of Public and Community Service, University of Massachusetts/Boston, to provide a forum for scholars and practitioners from Iraq and elsewhere to explore how the reconstruction of Iraq can be carried out in a way that promotes social justice, economic and political sustainability, and the full participation of all stakeholders. She reported, "Our paper stimulated a great deal of interest, and follow-up is planned with several of the participants." More.
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Kiva Enables Direct Loans to ACDI/VOCA Clients
Kiva ( www.kiva.org) has harnessed the power of the internet in order to connect individuals worldwide with entrepreneurs in developing and transitional countries in need of capital to grow their businesses. MicroInvest, a microfinance institution established by ACDI/VOCA in Tajikistan, has teamed up with Kiva to provide its clients with the opportunity to receive such person-to-person loans. Kiva has partners like MicroInvest all over the world, enabling visitors to the Kiva website to browse and select from thousands of businesses based on region, gender, sector and more. After a business is selected, the lender may contribute as little as $25 or the full loan amount. Lenders receive e-mail updates about the selected businesses and, after the loan is repaid, typically within 6-12 months, the money can be loaned to the same business again, loaned to another business or withdrawn. More.
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Top MCC Officials Attend Armenia Water-to-Market Graduation  Chief Executive Officer for the Millennium Challenge Corporation U.S. Ambassador John Danilovich (left) attended a water management trainee graduation in Armenia. The event recognized 29 farmers from ACDI/VOCA’s Water-to-Market Activity in Armenia, which is funded by Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia. Commending the trainees, Danilovich said, “This particular program has tremendous significance for us. Not only for you who are here but also eventually for the 60,000 farmers who will participate in this particular farmer training program and the additional 30,000 who will participate in another training program.” More.
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Articles by Guenette and Letson Published
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ACDI/VOCA Holds Cape Verde Lessons Learned Workshop
 From July 16-19, ACDI/VOCA held a workshop jointly with the Cape Verde Ministry of Agriculture to present the results, impact and lessons of the Cape Verde PL 480 Title II program. Implementing partners and beneficiaries discussed the successful culmination of 16 years of activity with the 86 participants, including representatives from the governments of Mauritania, Mali and Niger, and private voluntary organization participants from Burkina Faso and Niger.
Workshop participant Joseph Coulibaly of Burkina Faso said, "I was impressed by the great work your program is doing in the field....I could not have imagined that it is possible to undertake soil and water conservation activities with such geographical challenges....Prior to visiting your program, I was hesitating about the feasibility of doing drip irrigation at the farmer level, but your program convinced me that this is the best option for the Sahelian countries." More.
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The One Program Working in Iraq
On June 21 U.S. Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) proposed the Wolf Amendment which sought to earmark $50 million for the fiscal year ‘08 State/Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill for the Community Action Program (CAP) in Iraq, which ACDI/VOCA helps to implement. The amendment was rejected on the grounds that the CAP implementers do not yet require supplemental funding, but not before all parties to the discussion agreed on the tremendous impact the program is having.
Congressman Shays highlighted project achievements saying, "CAP has successfully managed more than 6,000 reconstruction and development projects and created more than 2.7 million days of employment and 34,000 long-term jobs with 43 percent of those jobs going to women, Iraqi women." Shays went on to say, "This is the one program that is in fact working in Iraq. No one disputes it. We can dispute everything else, but not this." More.
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ACDI/VOCA Helps Georgians and Lebanese Exhibit at Fancy Foods Show
 Two ACDI/VOCA projects were represented at the 53rd Annual Summer Fancy Foods Show at the Javits Center in New York. Twenty-one firms from Georgia and eight from Lebanon, all the beneficiaries of ACDI/VOCA marketing assistance, eagerly matched their goods with the world’s best at the July 8-10 exhibition. The show, which drew approximately 30,000 consumers, restaurateurs, buyers and food writers, featured 2,400 companies showing their wares and closing business deals.
ACDI/VOCA’s $23 million AgVANTAGE project helped develop a comprehensive "Taste of Georgia" brand that promotes such Georgian products as wine, water, hazelnuts, bay laurel oil, jams, sauces and spices. And ACDI/VOCA’s two-year $6.9 million ASAIL project helped Lebanese client co-ops and small enterprises obtain FDA registration as well as labels, brochures, business cards, websites, e-mail accounts and fax capability. The project also trained participants on what to expect at the show and on making a good presentation. More.
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USAID/Vietnam Director Visits SUCCESS Alliance Project
 USAID/Vietnam Director Dennis Zvinakis (left) visited ACDI/VOCA’s SUCCESS Alliance beneficiaries, staff and partners in the Dak Lak province on June 28. Accompanied by ACDI/VOCA staff, he met with representatives from the Dak Lak People’s Committee, other officials and media. Province Chairman Lu Ngoc Cu, who briefed Zvinakis, expressed pleasure at the SUCCESS Alliance project’s achievements. The chairman noted the progress made in working with indigenous minorities to improve livelihoods, develop modern farming techniques and awareness, and strengthen civil rights. He also affirmed interest in the future development of a sustainable coca market. Zvinakis noted that the SUCCESS Alliance is the first U.S. project in Dak Lak, though he predicted it is just the first of many that will support small households and minorities.
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ACDI/VOCA’s Steve Collins Presents at Zambia Workshop
ACDI/VOCA-Kenya Chief of Party Steve Collins presented at the “International Workshop on Strengthening and Widening Markets and Overcoming Supply Side Constraints for African Agriculture” held June 3-5, in Lusaka, Zambia. The International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council and the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa organized the workshop to bring together farmer associations, policymakers, local and international private sector interests, and donors to increase coordination in developing Africa’s food and agricultural trade options and overcoming supply side constraints.
Collins, who heads ACDI/VOCA’s Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP), presented during the first day of the conference, which focused on strengthening markets in Africa to develop economic opportunities. He gave an overview of the East Africa Grain Council in the context of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
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ACDI/VOCA Hosts IFFCO Visit
 On July 19-20, ACDI/VOCA hosted representatives from the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO), of New Delhi, a longtime ACDI/VOCA voting member. On July 19, IFFCO Sr. Executive Director Dr. D. K. Shukla and Chief Manager Mr. Ghansham Das visited ACDI/VOCA headquarters to meet with ACDI/VOCA President Carl Leonard and other key staff, to renew ties and learn about ACDI/VOCA's Growth-Oriented Microenterprise Development Program in India. The following day Vice President for Public Relations & Communications Perry Letson escorted the Indian visitors to Richmond, Va., to visit Southern States Cooperative, another longtime ACDI/VOCA member. Southern States President and CEO Tom Scribner briefed the visitors on the co-op’s business model and its status. More.
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Georgian President Attends Dairy Plant Opening Held by AgVANTAGE
 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili officiated at the opening of two modern cheese-processing plants established through ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded AgVANTAGE project. To modernize the regional dairy sector and increase local incomes and job opportunities, AgVANTAGE teamed up with Cooperative Orlavka and Spasovka Ltd., two local processors in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, and assisted in the acquisition of two cheese-processing plants. The plants are capable of processing up to 5 tons of raw milk per day, and together they will produce 1,000 kg of cheese per day, resulting in annual sales of over $500,000. These plants will provide a stable source of income for more than 400 smallholder farmers in the region and directly employ 40 individuals. More.
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A Successful Annual Meeting At ACDI/VOCA's annual meeting on Jun. 19, board members were apprised of the favorable financial and programmatic status of the organization. The unqualified 2006 audit certified annual revenues of $91 million, matching an all-time high. Fee generation also set a record. Welcome diversification is manifested in new projects funded by the Millennium Challenge Account; a private sector consortium ( see lead article above); the EBRD; and Bolivia's Agrocapital, a financial institution founded by ACDI/VOCA, to support our volunteers serving in that country.
The board learned that a revitalized VOCA Foundation has injected new life into our longtime practice of using highly skilled U.S. volunteers to complement long-term development projects, and that recent activity by Agricultural Services International, also a supporting organization of ACDI/VOCA, lends important new private sector-oriented strength. New AMAP awards and activities, as well as the development of a market intelligence model, have strengthened our enterprise development portfolio. In financial services, we are poised to make strides in commercializing credit.
Board members praised the work of the board's projects committee, which has taken a keen interest in ACDI/VOCA's fieldwork and fostered two trips overseas to review project impact and engage in useful networking. At the meeting, Deborah Atwood, partner at C&M Capitolink and former special assistant to the deputy secretary of agriculture, was nominated to join the board as an additional director replacing the resigning Lee Ruth, and she has accepted the position. In addition, two new associate members of ACDI/VOCA were accepted: Mid-America Consultants International and Cooperative Resources International.
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Pastoralist Livelihood Initiative Establishes Market Site
Under its Pastoralist Livelihoods Initiative-Livestock Marketing Project, ACDI/VOCA inaugurated the Andido Livestock Market in Ethiopia’s Afar Region on July 14, 2007. The Andido Livestock Market, funded by USAID’s Famine Fund, strengthens important links in the livestock market value chain by creating a central business location for pastoralists and providing the opportunity for owners to hold animals until the next market day when they may be able to receive a higher price. "It will improve marketing transactions and help to maintain the condition of the animals until they reach the terminal markets, all the while boosting pastoralists bargaining power," ACDI/VOCA Country Representative for Ethiopia and Chief of Party for the PLI project Brutawit Dawit Abdi said. More.
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