Action Needed to Avert Hunger Crisis in Kenya
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The average Kenyan consumes 98 kilograms of maize, the staple of the Kenyan diet. However, maize prices in Kenya are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. |
The United Nations World Food Program recently asked for more than $230 million to provide emergency food assistance over the next six months to 3.8 million Kenyans affected by deepening drought and expected food shortages. ACDI/VOCA staff there say that such help for Kenyan farmers and families may not come soon enough.
"The United Nations based its request and estimates of the number of Kenyans facing hunger on government statistics collected in June and early July," says ACDI/VOCA Country Director Stephen Collins, who leads programs in Kenya to boost farmers' productivity and incomes. "The drought situation has deteriorated even further since then." More.
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What A Woman Wants: Skills, Credit, Access  ACDI/VOCA's focus on agricultural value chains helps poorer women who work in rural agriculture succeed in national and international markets, even in some of the world's most challenging settings like Lebanon. Why? We listen to what women want. Read one woman’s story.
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Al-Thiqa Named Microfinance Institution of the Year
ACDI/VOCA-supported Al-Thiqa was named "Microfinance Institution of the Year" at the Tijara Microfinance Institution (MFI) Partners' conference recently held in Erbil, Iraq. Tijara, a USAID-funded provincial economic growth program, honored Al-Thiqa with its highest recognition because of the microfinance group's unparalleled commitment to financial transparency and accountability.
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ACDI/VOCA's Schram Highlights Co-ops' Strengths at BIFAD Meeting
Dr. Sue Schram, vice president of outreach and cooperative services for ACDI/VOCA, recently addressed the 157th meeting of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) at the National Press Club, where she spoke about the strengths of cooperatives to develop agriculture and related businesses in the United States and worldwide. BIFAD was created in 1975 to advise the USAID administrator on agricultural development priorities and to monitor activities related to famine and hunger relief. More.
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Board Travels to Kenya, Participates in Eighth Annual Agriculture Business Fair  The ACDI/VOCA board of directors traveled to Kenya last week to see firsthand how farmers in the Kenya Maize Development Program have increased maize yields and sales using the value chain approach, and to visit the country's eighth annual agricultural business fair—a key information-sharing and networking event for regional farmers. An estimated 30,000 participants attended the fair.
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World Cocoa Foundation Spotlights Woman Farmer's Success in Philippines
 Read how Magel, a mother of two who was jobless for more than two years, used her training through the ACDI/VOCA partnership the SUCCESS Alliance Philippines to fulfill her late husband’s dream of expanding their cocoa plant nursery and how she recently led a year-long farmer field school for 100 smallholder cocoa farmers in Lupi, Carmarines Sur Province, as a SUCCESS Alliance training facilitator. More.
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ACDI/VOCA's Business Expertise Enables Entry into Global Economy
 Azecolab, a soil-, water- and air-testing laboratory, is one of nearly two dozen companies in Azerbaijan that have broken into global markets because of enhanced business practices and adherence to international standards. ACDI/VOCA's Enterprise Development and Training Program (EDTP) helped the local companies take that global step.
How? EDTP works with small and medium-sized companies in Azerbaijan and the Caspian region to develop processes that meet relevant international quality, health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE) standards, ISO certifications and other industry requirements. Prior to this program, local companies found that they often would hit a growth ceiling because they were unsure how to meet international market expectations.
Azerbaijan, where half the population in 2001 lived in poverty, has focused its recent economic development efforts on using oil revenues to strengthen public institutions, build needed infrastructure and stimulate non-oil-sector economic opportunities. A key part of that process has been bolstering the efficiency and competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises like Azecolab, which support the current oil and gas industries yet have the potential to diversify into other economic ventures as well.
Because of EDTP, Azecolab has been able to make significant upgrades to its business, investing over $120,000 in computer networks and employee safety infrastructure and protocols. For the first time, it also provides life and health insurance coverage to its staff. More.
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Chocolove Founder Discovered Passion for Chocolate on ACDI/VOCA Assignment
 A volunteer assignment turned into a life-changing event for Tim Moley and cocoa farmers around the globe. Read how a trip to Indonesia led to Chocolove, a Boulder, Colo., company that makes highly regarded chocolate bars from premium cocoa beans. More.
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SHIELD Helps Make Recent Medical Mission to the Philippines a Success
 ACDI/VOCA-trained community health action teams (CHATs) provided needed assistance and supplies during a recent three-day USAID medical mission to the remote island of Sibutu in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. The CHATs mobilized the community and assisted the medical team, resulting in 930 out-patient consultations, 80 minor surgeries, 50 cataract operations, 404 tooth extractions, 150 malaria blood smears and 49 tuberculosis sputum examinations.
ACDI/VOCA organizes the CHAT health volunteers under its USAID-funded Sustainable Health Improvement through Empowerment and Local Development (SHIELD) project. Because of SHIELD’s work with revitalizing the local health board, the mission team was able to distribute over $100,000 worth of supplies, including drugs for tuberculosis and family planning, which are difficult to come by in remote areas. More.
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ACDI/VOCA and CocoaPhil Host National Cocoa Summit in the Philippines
ACDI/VOCA and the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines (CocoaPhil) recently held the Philippine Cocoa Summit in Mandaluyong City. U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney opened the summit, which was attended by a range of stakeholders, including officials from Mars, Inc., USDA, the Philippines Department of Agriculture, Catholic Relief Services, Armajaro and various agribusiness farming sectors.
During the event, stakeholders discussed ways to strengthen the cocoa industry, the future of intercropping with coconut and how to meet global demand. According to CocoaPhil President Edward David, cocoa is undergoing resurgence in the Philippines due largely to the SUCCESS Alliance Philippines Phase II program funded by USDA and implemented by ACDI/VOCA and CocoaPhil. The project helps provide smallholder farmers in the Philippines with the know-how and market access they need to compete in global markets.
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Women Working for Their Future
In Los Rios province of central Ecuador, at the foot of the Andes, the SUCCESS Alliance provided support for a newly formed women's association that has blossomed into a nationally sought-after cocoa nursery. Lucia Chocho, one member of the group, says, "At the beginning, my husband did not want me to work in the nursery; he thought it was a waste of time; he wanted me to just take care of the house and our poultry. I told him that I trusted ACDI/VOCA and I believed in the success of the nursery. Now my husband is happy with the results and fully supports my efforts."
To read the full story, click here.
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Mali: $10.8 million, 3-year MCA-funded activity to increase the productivity and profitability of agricultural activities by improving agricultural techniques and establishing relationships among the various value chain actors to create a sustainable market system. |
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Mozambique: $5.5 million subaward under the new USAID Strengthening Communities Through Integrated Programming (SCIP) project to improve the health and livelihoods of children, women and families in the province of Zambezia.
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Lebanon: $3 million, 3-year award to increase Lebanon's global agro-processing industry’s competitiveness through the sustainable expansion and improved quality of market-oriented services provided by accredited and certified laboratories and plants.
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Global: $730,000 program extension to strengthen democratic, member-owned cooperatives so they can become sustainable, group-based businesses. |
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