Help Plant the Seed of Technology for Egyptian Farmers
 Make a difference in Egypt today! Donate and give Wadi Nukra, an Egyptian community of farming families, the technology and specialized training they need to grow more food and earn more money in a sustainable way.
Your gift of $50, $100, $200—or more—will help these families have access to modern, locally sourced greenhouse, irrigation and seeding technology. ACDI/VOCA's own volunteer experts, through funding from USAID, will provide the necessary technical training to ensure the farmers get the most out of the equipment and, importantly, help them serve as models for the surrounding region. More.
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Climate Change Approach Puts Local Communities First
Climate change poses significant challenges in developing countries, including changes in growing seasons, desertification, migration and even natural disasters such as droughts. Responding to such a variety of far-reaching effects requires a holistic, coordinated effort that engages all sectors of a community. ACDI/VOCA experts recently presented a new methodology for community-based climate change adaptation at the 2011 InterAction Forum: the Communities Engaged to Drive Adaptation Responses, or CEDAR, approach, which incorporates many of ACDI/VOCA's best practices from community-driven development. More.
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Behavior Change Effects on Gender and Value Chain Approaches
 There is a clear consensus that women are central to economic growth in developing countries. However, certain behaviors can inhibit their full participation in development. ACDI/VOCA consultants Jennefer Sebstad and Cristina Manfre discussed research findings on how behavior change can affect gender and value chain systems at a recent USAID microLINKS breakfast seminar in Washington, D.C.
"We wanted to understand what were some of the behavior changes that were required by women if they were going to be involved in value chains and actually benefit from it," says USAID's Jeanne Downing, who introduced the presenters.
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Innovative Coffee Project Launches New Microprocessing Facility  Specialty coffee—and its high price premiums—has tremendous potential to lift rural Colombians out of poverty. USAID officials saw a pilot microprocessing facility that is expected to do just that in a field visit hosted by ACDI/VOCA, Cafexport and the Cooperative of Andes in Jardin, Antioquia, Colombia. The facility is expected to increase local farmers' net incomes by at least 30 percent, a significant boost for the farmers and their families. The visitors also celebrated the successful completion of the Mujeres Guías del Café ("women coffee guides") activity, which addressed how the wives of farmers would be impacted by the facility. Seventy-one women received training in rural tourism promotion and demonstrated their new skills to the delegation. More.
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Lebanese Smallholder Farmers Invest in Quality  Consumers pay top dollar for food that has been certified as safe and healthful. Lebanese farmers know that such certification can open doors to European markets and high-end retail outlets in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Yet many of them are daunted by the certification process and sell their goods for low wholesale prices. Now technical assistance from ACDI/VOCA's Lebanon Business Linkages Initiative is putting GLOBALGAP certification—and higher prices for vegetables and fruits—within reach of Lebanese farmers. More.
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