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Issue #61 | May 2017 |
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Credit: Philip Steffen, USAID |
Going Beyond the Farm to Build
Prosperity and Security
Food security is about more than just farming. For people to have steady access to quality food and the ability to buy it, their countries need strong connections and efficient operations from farm to market to table.
Feed the Future’s work extends beyond the farm to help communities and countries strengthen entire food systems. Storage and cooling technology help food keep, so producers retain more profit and food stays safe. Finance helps small agribusinesses thrive and create opportunities, particularly for young people. Processing adds value and helps food last longer. Better roads and infrastructure help producers efficiently get food to markets, especially urban ones. Good policies foster private investment and individual responsibility. Nutrition coaching helps moms and dads improve their children’s nutrition.
Stronger, more stable food systems mean that when our investments end, countries and communities can stand on their own two feet and engage with America as economic partners. And our investments in resilience help ensure they can continue to do so, even when disasters strike and risks rise. Over the long term, this saves lives and money as families are better able to maintain their food security and the need for emergency relief drops.
Feed the Future works with a range of partners to make this type of transformational change possible: From leveraging the best of American agricultural expertise to bringing businesses, civil society, scientists and governments together to find, share and implement solutions. Together we have strengthened markets, scaled game-changing technologies, and mobilized resources for sustainable growth.
Our efforts are paying off, both on and off the farm. Poverty and stunting have dropped by up to a third in some of the places where we’ve focused our efforts.
Read this month’s newsletter for stories of progress beyond the farm that’s building prosperity and security for a more secure world.
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Credit: U.S. Embassy in Niger
The Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a compact with Niger last year to help improve access to water and markets. In this guest interview, MCC’s Kristin Penn discusses how this investment is helping Niger’s people combat poverty.
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Credit: Jennifer Mujuni/RTI International
Farming was the easy part for Seraphine Mujawumukiza. Getting her produce to market was the challenge. But now, a local company is collecting farmers’ produce, selling it at premium markets, and helping farmers like Seraphine turn a profit.
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Credit: Sylvia Maina
Like many other dairy farmers in Kenya’s Rift Valley, Alfred Samoei had trouble getting good prices for his milk. A new digital scale and supply chain system is changing all that, giving farmers the technology to weigh their milk at collection centers, access extension services, and increase their productivity and profits in the process.
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Credit: Fintrac Inc.
For a husband and wife team in Honduras, starting a small plantain processing business was a labor of love. With Feed the Future’s help, they’re taking their business, Loma Alta, to the next level. Today, they’re expanding to nearby communities and increasing profits.
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Credit: Ry Saren
With conservation agriculture practices as well as better postharvest handling, packing, and transport, Cambodian farmers are growing fresher, higher quality produce. The approach is helping farmers build their customer base and earn more at local markets. |
Credit: Fintrac Inc.
In Malawi, a warehouse receipts system has enabled farmers to safely store their grain, which means they can now choose when to sell their product for better profit. The receipts act as collateral for credit too, helping farmers improve their cash flow and ability to invest in their businesses.
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Credit: Feed the Future Tanzania Nafaka
For years, rice farmers in Tanzania’s Nsonyanga village relied on middle men to secure buyers for their harvests. This often left them with meager profits. But after uniting to form a cooperative, rice farmers are boosting their access to markets and income.
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Credit: Fintrac Inc.
In Zimbabwe, 3,000 smallholder beef producers are turning their small operations into profitable enterprises. What’s made the difference? Feed the Future is connecting them directly to buyers and helping them improve the quality and quantity of their livestock.
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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May 31 - June 2, 2017
San Salvador, El Salvador
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May 31 - June 2, 2017
Kampala, Uganda
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VIDEO |
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Babban Gona, a Nigerian company partnering with Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation, organizes and supports farmer cooperatives in Nigeria to expand employment opportunities for the country’s growing population. With Feed the Future’s support, Babban Gona is organizing 20,000 additional farmers into cooperatives, thereby increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes, building a productive agriculture sector, and reducing instability in Nigeria.
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NEWS |
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This newsletter is intended to enhance collaboration and information-sharing about implementation of Feed the Future. To subscribe or to find out more information about Feed the Future, please visit our website.
Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
Feed the Future | [email protected] | www.feedthefuture.gov
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