April 18, 2007
Buzz Guroff Speaks on Commodity Monetization at the 2007 International Food Aid Conference
As a panel participant at the recent International Food Aid Conference, ACDI/VOCA Senior Vice President for Food Security and Specialty Crops Avram “Buzz” Guroff gave a presentation on ACDI/VOCA’s Rwanda PL 480 Title II program. About 700 representatives from USAID, USDA, NGOs and farming, shipping and commodity interests attended the three-day conference, held annually in Kansas City, Mo., to address food insecurity, which affects 850 million people worldwide daily.
Addressing the panel’s topic, U.S. capacity for and leadership in innovative capacity-building food aid, Guroff shared the success of ACDI/VOCA’s five-year Rwanda program in helping beneficiaries attain food security and increase economic opportunity through funds provided by commodity monetization. Monetization is the sale of U.S. commodities in a foreign country to generate funds for development activities. The commodities granted to ACDI/VOCA are bought by the U.S. government from American farmers and processors.
Guroff cited ACDI/VOCA’s effort to build on the success of earlier work through its 2005-2010 $19 million program, which uses monetized vegetable oil and wheat to extend to Rwandans improved agricultural and natural resources management technologies, award grants to Rwandan cooperatives for commercial projects and improve access to markets. Monetization also creates access for Rwandans to high-quality, nutritious foodstuffs that are not otherwise readily available. Guroff said, “The Rwanda program presents an interesting case of how monetization is used to generate development funds and as a development tool itself.”
In addition, the program carries out food distribution in collaboration with Africare to improve household health and nutrition and reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the Nyamagabe district, one of the most food-insecure regions of the country. People living with HIV/AIDS need nutritious food—both for their own well-being and their families’ livelihood.
Guroff explained that monetization creates value over and above the initial investment in commodity. Beyond product availability and increased funding sources, the sales generate a host of benefits that enable beneficiaries to boost their incomes and become less dependent. “I think if you add all this up in terms of taxpayers’ money, it’s really more than a dollar of value for every tax dollar spent, not less as some suggest,” Guroff said.
Other representatives on the panel were from Adventist Development & Relief Agency International, Counterpart International, Food for the Hungry and Project Concern International. All participate in the Alliance for Food Aid.
ACDI/VOCA is a global leader in innovative management of donated U.S. agricultural commodities under both USAID and USDA food aid programs. ACDI/VOCA has managed food aid-based programs in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America since 1989 to help promote worldwide food security. Currently, ACDI/VOCA operates food aid-based development programs in Ecuador, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cape Verde, Uganda, West Bank and Rwanda.