USADF SIGNS FIVE NEW PROJECT GRANTS WITH THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

First Time Agency Invests Over $1 Million in the African Country in a Single Year

WASHINGTON - July 17, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 17, 2008 – The United States African Foundation (USADF) signed five new grants for the Republic of Zambia and presented them to Her Excellency, Ambassador Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, along with a commemorative plaque, in a ceremony at USADF headquarters today in Washington. The new grants are designed to directly fund community based level agriculture projects in Zambia. This is the first time the agency has funded over $1 million dollars in a single year in the sub-Saharan country.

Ambassador Mbikusita-Lewanika expressed her gratitude of the grants during the signing ceremony stating, “I am excited from the bottom of my heart.”

Four of the grants will benefit the Chinjara Livestock Cooperative Society Milk Project, Mpika Dairy Farmers Cooperative, Mpongwe Bulima Organics Cooperative, which specializes in groundnuts, and the Mumbwa District Farmers Association Paprika Project. With large, unmet demands for raw milk, groundnuts, and paprika in Zambia and elsewhere, the funds will help marginalized populations increase their productivity for export, ensuring higher wages and an improved quality of life for its workers.

USADF president Lloyd Pierson also signed a grant with local African partner Likando Mukumbuta, CEO and President of the Zambia Agribusiness Technical Assistance Center (ZATAC). The grant is designed to fund small enterprises to create jobs and income at the grassroots. The investment will fund small businesses and will be matched directly with funding from Woord & Daad, a Dutch NGO.

In speaking about ADF’s work, Mr. Mukumbuta stated “The model of ADF is the best I have ever seen. ADF funds small enterprises which are at the heart of economic development and sustainability.”

USADF President Lloyd Pierson expressed his excitement over the new grants, stating “USADF has partnered with Zambia for over twenty years, working at the community level to develop small businesses. These grants will directly impact the people of Zambia.”  USADF made its first grant after its founding in 1980 to an organization in Zambia more than twenty years ago

USADF grantee Dinah Koney, co-owner of YENOK Wood Products LTD, Ghana was also in attendance.

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is a United States Government agency dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunity in Africa. Currently USADF operates in 18 African nations.  Over the past 25 years, USADF has directly funded nearly 1,100 African projects representing in excess of $150 million in support of African enterprises and local African communities.

For more information on USADF, its programs and application guidelines, visit www.usadf.gov.

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