ACDI/VOCA celebrates a legacy of 45 years of empowering people in 145 countries around the world.

Guroff Testifies at Food Crisis Hearing

Avram “Buzz” Guroff, senior managing director of the Food Security and Specialty Crops Portfolio, testified July 16 at a hearing held by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture. The subject was food aid and agricultural development assistance as a means of addressing the world food crisis. “The present world food situation is unarguably in dire crisis,” Guroff said. “We face a profound, pervasive and persistent problem.” He spoke of ACDI/VOCA’s record on food aid and agricultural development and called for a “significant investment in food production and rural income generation.” More.

Neufville Elected Chairman, Hoyt Replaces McGinnis on Board

At the June 17 meeting of the ACDI/VOCA board of directors in Washington, D.C., Mort Neufville (right), executive vice president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, was elected chairman. Mr. Neufville had chaired the board’s projects committee, and in that capacity had invigorated the board’s oversight of ACDI/VOCA’s programming, instituting annual overseas visits to review projects. He has served on ACDI/VOCA’s board since 2002. More.

Jim Hoyt of Bloomington, Ill., replaced Vern McGinnis as GROWMARK’s representative on the board. McGinnis retired from GROWMARK last year but continued to serve on the ACDI/VOCA board as its chairman until June 17. Hoyt, who serves as GROWMARK’s vice president of strategic planning and corporate services, directs the strategic planning process and oversees communications, marketing, HR, government affairs and flight operations. More.

With support from ACDI/VOCA, the International Finance Corporation and local institutions, an important amendment to Kyrgyzstan’s tax code has been passed and signed into law. The legislation ushers in a modern leasing system and lays the groundwork for an expanded leasing sector in Kyrgyzstan. It is expected to encourage foreign and local investments in the leasing sector and expand access to finance on the part of small and medium-sized Kyrgyz businesses, particularly those involved in agriculture. The law will provide increased purchasing power, convenience and tax benefits while enabling businesses to obtain the equipment they need to operate more efficiently. On July 15, ACDI/VOCA’s Central Asia Microfinance Alliance II held a conference on the law’s implications. Participants learned about how to offer leases and how to either obtain or provide equipment through leasing under the new regulations. More.

A recent Los Angles Times editorial touted USAID’s Global Development Alliance (GDA) as an important way to curb global hunger. The GDA is a USAID development tool that brings together the public sector, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations in support of shared objectives. The editorial mentioned ACDI/VOCA’s and H.J. Heinz Company’s public-private sector partnership in Egypt, called the Four Thousand Tons per Day program. The program is designed to catalyze the potential for process tomato production and value-added horticulture in Egypt. The editorial said, “Such partnerships are also more cost-effective for taxpayers and appear to produce more lasting results.” Click to read the full article on the Los Angles Times website.

Workshop on Strengthening Women’s Rights to Land and Property Held in East Timor

On July 16, ACDI/VOCA and partner ARD, Inc., organized a meeting of the Gender Land Law Working Group to further the East Timorese government’s efforts to address gender equality in forthcoming legislation on land and property. The focus of the workshop, which was held in Dili, was the issue of women’s rights to matrimonial property, which is defined as property, including land, acquired before, during and after marriage. In Timorese culture when women are married, they generally do not have the right to own land. “The majority of women in East Timor enter marriage with few assets, and have few opportunities to acquire personal assets during their marriage,” said Idelta Maria, the secretary of state for the promotion of equality. More.

Applause filled the room as the audience raised a toast to Frontiers LLC’s five years of lending on July 18. Clients from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan gathered in Kyrgyzstan to honor Frontierss staff, its board of directors and themselves for the successful establishment of a unique lending program begun by ACDI/VOCA through a USAID grant. In addition to the celebration, Frontiers’ anniversary brought its board of directors to Bishkek to hold a strategic planning session for the staff and to create a five-year plan of action. Frontiers’ plan is to expand its outreach to 2 additional countries and grow its portfolio to $100 million. More.

Seven Georgian wine and brandy companies showcased their products at the two-day International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event organized by the National Restaurant Association in Chicago, May 19-20. ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded AgVANTAGE project and the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture facilitated the companies’ participation in order to introduce high-value Georgian products to new buyers, generate sales and allow the Georgian companies to survey the latest food industry advancements. The event connected the exhibitors to restaurant operators, importers and distributors looking for new trends and product lines. “U.S. customers who value authenticity are constantly seeking out new and promising product lines, and Georgian wines have enormous potential to secure a niche segment in the market,” AgVANTAGE General Director Nikoloz Grdzelidze said. More.

Robin Wheeler, ACDI/VOCA-Liberia chief of party and country representative, presented at Liberia’s Second National Roundtable Conference, which was held at City Hall in Monrovia, June 23-25. The event brought together key actors and donors in cooperative development to discuss the future of cooperatives in Liberia and the rehabilitation of the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA). Wheeler gave the opening and closing speeches at the event, remarking upon ACDI/VOCA’s roots in cooperative development and its legacy in Liberia. “It is very fitting to speak at this event considering that ACDI/VOCA grew out of the cooperative movement in the United States, is celebrating 45 years of existence this year and was instrumental in the early development of cooperatives in Liberia,” Wheeler said. More.

On May 1 the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy departed from its homeport in San Diego, Calif., to begin Pacific Partnership 2008, a humanitarian visit to Southeast Asia that brings together efforts from military and civilian agencies in the region. During the four-month deployment, USNS Mercy is visiting Micronesia, Vietnam, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. The mission focuses on providing medical, dental, veterinarian and construction assistance to communities in need. From May 29 to June 12, ACDI/VOCA Country Representative George Dalire and his staff supported the 2008 USNS Mercy mission in the Mindanao region, one of three locations the Mercy visited in the Philippines, providing healthcare to an estimated 26,383 people and veterinary care to 4,367 animals. More.

HQ Gets Coffee Upgrade

The work we do is interesting and rewarding, but these days ACDI/VOCA HQ staff are getting an extra kick—from gourmet coffee. The Tres Santos blend, roasted by Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee, satisfies on many levels. It not only tastes great, but it also stokes our pride. That’s because the three saints it’s named for were ACDI/VOCA staff in Colombia who worked on our coffee development project. One of them, Luis Alberto Cuéllar Gómez, still serves as our chief of party, now on the Coffee Alliances for the Expansion of Specialty Coffees project. The coffee is a direct outgrowth of our ongoing USAID-funded effort to promote higher-value Colombian coffee production. Intelligentsia’s coffee buyer Geoff Watts traveled to Colombia in 2004 as a volunteer consultant and saw tremendous potential in the local coffee. That year the company launched the Tres Santos blend, which is now sourced from growers in the country’s Huila department. Intelligentsia’s website describes the blend this way: “Full-bodied and balanced in its acidity, it adds juiciness and subtle hints of orange. Flavors of cherry and maple contribute to the front-forward sweetness while the clean finish lends itself to warm caramel notes.” We may not catch all those flavor notes, but we know it tastes good. Moreover it gives us a keen appreciation of the stakes of our work. By the way, don’t try to purchase it right now as Intelligentsia’s website says it’s out of stock. More on our coffee development work in Colombia.

Sally Iadarola (center), ACDI/VOCA’s managing director of the Emerging from Conflict Portfolio, and Lindsey Jones (left), senior project coordinator of the portfolio, attended the 18th Global Summit of Women June 5-8 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The summit is an opportunity for women from around the world to network and share experiences on peace preservation, economic cooperation and development as well as gender equality promotion. It was attended by nearly 1,000 women leaders from business, government and nongovernmental organizations representing more than 70 countries. The event was sponsored by IBM, Microsoft, USAID, the United Nations Development Program and others. More.

Female Farmers Gain Knowledge, Respect in Uganda

Uganda is a fertile country with enormous potential to feed its own people and respond to markets in neighboring countries. But smallholder farmers in Uganda, most of whom are women with many more responsibilities, cannot meet that potential working in isolation. Thanks to the USAID-funded PL 480 Title II program, farmers like Katie Saram (above) are learning how to pool their efforts, use better agricultural techniques and increase local and regional food security.

To read Katie Saram's full story click here.

Long-term Overseas and Consultant Positions: Current positions we're looking to fill include the following:

Mozambique: Team Leader

In addition, we're looking for applicants with expertise in

• conflict-affected regions
• infrastructure development
• horticulture (fruit and vegetables)
• specialty crops (cocoa, coffee, spices)
• cereals
• value chain or subsector analysis and value chain development

Please visit our website for more career opportunities.

Volunteer Positions: We need volunteers on an ongoing basis for short-term (typically two to three weeks) assignments who have the following expertise:

• horticulture, specifically relating to tomatoes and fruit trees
• dairy production and processing
• veterinary medicine and reproductive health
• strategic planning for ag associations and cooperatives

Current volunteer opportunities include the following:

Rwanda: Food Security Assessment—specialist with Title II food security experience needed to conduct an assessment of current project focusing on best practices and lessons learned. Three weeks, September/October 2008.

Armenia: Potato Storage Reconstruction—technical assistance in all aspects of potato storage technology. Two weeks, August 2008.

Georgia: Seafood and Fish Marketing—marketing specialist to assist in building seafood restaurant supply chains. Two weeks, August 2008.

Washington, DC: Donor Commodity Management—specialist needed to conduct training regarding the direct distribution of commodities. Three days, August/September 2008

Paraguay: Cotton Medical Supplies—cotton specialist needed to help identify value-added potential for cotton medical supplies. Two weeks, August/September 2008.

Please visit our website for more volunteer opportunities and information.