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Perspectives: |
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A Profitable Fence
The most recent issue of the National Peace Corps Association’s
WorldView magazine has this interesting take on our Malawi
project: “Villagers in communities near the Liwode National
Park have embarked on an ingenious way to prevent elephants
from leaving the preserve, destroying crops and trampling
people to death. With the help of the National Smallholder
Farmers of Malawi, a U.S.-funded group, they are planting
chili peppers along the park boundary. The success has been
two-fold. Not only are elephants staying away because they
dislike the smell of the plants, the chilies are being harvested
and sold to European Union countries, bringing in new income.”
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ACDI/VOCA Staffer Featured
 Headquarters project coordinator Michael McNulty
(left) and his work in support
of Colombian coffee farmers were highlighted this month in a packet
of high school teaching materials on globalization. Global Visions:
Today’s Youth and the World Economy is a 10-year-old nationwide
effort of the Proctor & Gamble Company to equip students with the
critical thinking skills required to assess the great debates
shaping our world. Participating classrooms receive a 4-page handout
for each student and a teacher’s guide.
Sprinkling the Word on Cocoa
ACDI/VOCA has become an important development partner of the cocoa
industry, helping to ensure a viable crop in four cocoa-producing
countries through the training and organizing of small-scale
growers, the introduction of environmentally responsible pest
management and market development activities. In April staff member
Maggie Meyer gave two presentations on our work, one at a World
Cocoa Foundation meeting in Brussels, and the other at a
Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners Association conference in
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ACDI/VOCA 10th in AID Funding
The USAID 2004 Report of Voluntary
Agencies ranks ACDI/VOCA tenth in USAID grant and contract funding
in FY2002. The nine higher-ranked organizations are: The Academy for
Educational Development, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, Family
Health International, Management Science for Health, Population
Services International, Save the Children, The Vaccine Fund and
World Vision.
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Tawi Tawi Launched
ACDI/VOCA helped launch a floating clinic in the remote Tawi-Tawi province
of the Philippines on July 14 to provide health care to otherwise hard-to-reach
residents of the 307 islands of the province.
The gala ceremony drew government,
NGO and U.S. Embassy officials, as well as the media whose coverage was
prominent across the country. “We thought that if people cannot go
to the health stations, we will go to them through this floating clinic,”
said health officer Dr. Sukarno Asri. The clinic is a component of the USAID-funded
Enhanced and Rapid Improvement of Community Health Project.
Frontiers at the
Frontier
After working through many thorny issues—anticipated and unanticipated,
Frontiers, the for-profit, wholesale lending facility established by ACDI/VOCA
under the CAMFA project has made its first loan to a Kyrgyz credit union.
Additional loans in Kazakhstan, Kyryzstan and Tajikistan are in the works
and, given the pronounced need for credit in the area, portfolio growth
is expected to be rapid.
MAC Ends
in Russia
 "The
MAC program led by ACDI/VOCA for six years in Russia is one of
the most successful programs in the Mission's portfolio….ACDI/VOCA
operations are commendable in providing technical expertise,
identifying proper partners and setting up partnerships,
dedication to the program and the knowledge of the subject
matter."
—June 14, 2004, Letter to ACDI/VOCA President Mike Deegan
from Ray Lewman, Deputy Director, Office of Economic Growth,
USAID/Moscow
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The ACDI/VOCA Mobilizing
Agricultural Credit (MAC) Program officially ended on June 30,
2004, after six years of success that, in the early stages, some doubted
was possible. The legacy of the project is the Rural Credit Cooperation
Development Fund and 152 rural credit cooperatives, of which 47 are
fully accredited. The Fund and the co-ops are the backbone of a robust
private rural credit system. So far $26 million in loans has been
disbursed and $18.2 million repaid almost entirely in accordance with
loan agreements. The project benefited from the involvement of expert
volunteers from the U.S. Farm Credit System. RCCDF is operationally
sustainable and is working towards achieving financial sustainability by
leveraging funds from financial institutions and covering the proxy cost
of funds from commercial sources in the Russian financial market. ACDI/VOCA
will continue to support RCCDF through funding in the EGAT-funded
Cooperative Development Project.
HIV/AIDS
Not Just Health Problem
 The 2005 House Foreign Operations Report agrees with ACDI/VOCA’s multisectoral
approach to combating the pandemic. It says: “Agricultural practices
must adapt to take into account fewer farmers and to meet the higher nutrition
needs of HIV-positive patients. Activities and services that lead to enhanced
agricultural productivity and increased rural employment will help fight
the spread of HIV/AIDS and increase the effectiveness of prevention, treatment,
care and support programs.”
Coffee that
Gives a Lift
Starbucks, one of the biggest specialty coffee roasters and retailers
in the world, paid a bonus of $91,270 to 4,094 coffee farmer members of
six cooperatives affiliated with the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative
Union. The bonus was received from the sale of 180 tons of Sidamo Grade
2 washed coffee through the Swiss broker Volcafe and is in addition to
the price paid at delivery and to the dividend payments of the cooperative.
Mr. Tilahun Mekuria of the Setamo co-op received the highest bonus of
$1,711. Sidamo, described by Starbucks as lemony with a floral aroma,
is one of the high-quality coffees produced by Ethiopian cooperatives
assisted by ACDI/VOCA. It fetches prices that allow for substantial grower
profits despite a generally depressed worldwide coffee market.
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