Activities have
included improving agricultural techniques and marketing systems, providing
education to farmers, helping to develop cooperatives, teaching irrigation and
land conservation techniques, supporting agribusinesses and microcredit
enterprises, and building the capacity to trade.
Food for Work and Food for Training
Program in Bolivia
One project that
demonstrates the success of this program was a Food for Work and Food for
Training program in Bolivia implemented by Project Concern International (PCI)
in fiscal 2006. Using a $5.9-million Food for Progress grant that provided 17,340 metric tons
of commodities, PCI sold some of the commodities in Bolivia and used the
proceeds to strengthen llama agribusinesses and build indigenous communities’
economies. PCI provided training and technical assistance to help llama
farmers’ improve their production technology and organizational capacity,
strengthen rural microenterprises, and improve rural markets. As a result,
34,000 beneficiaries improved their economic prospects. Llama farmers’ expanded
their ability to generate income, directly impacting their families’ food
security. The training and technical assistance helped prevent the deaths of
four llamas per farm per year, enabling 2,000 llama producers to increase their
incomes by 29 percent. New economic opportunities resulting from stronger
microenterprises and improved access to markets also contributed to household
income.
Catholic Relief Services Improves the Lives of 5,000
Households in Niger Through a Sesame Production and Marketing Project
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) awarded a two-year Food for Progress (FFP)
grant to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to improve the lives of 5,000 households
in 30 villages in the Sirba zone of the Tillaberi region of Niger, which is
close to the country’s capital of Niamey.
Women’s group in Tillaberi region of Niger,
who make products from sesame to sell in local markets. Photo courtesy of
Jennifer Burns, Communications Coordinator, Catholic Relief Services Niger.
Under the agreement, USDA donated 2,500 tons
of hard red winter wheat that CRS sold in Niger. The proceeds of the sale,
totaling nearly $800,000, were used to increase sesame production and trade,
expand the management skills of farmers, and empower women to become
entrepreneurs. USDA also donated 500 tons of bulgur, which CRS distributed in
the Tillaberi region, which is one of the poorest in Niger, in conjunction with
a Food for Work (FFW) program.
The activities conducted by CRS in conjunction
with its in-country partner Federation des Coopératives Maraichères du Niger (FCMN)
and the Government of Niger benefited nearly 25,000 people. Achievements
included the following:
-
The FFW program showed people in the community how to
rehabilitate degraded land through natural resources management techniques.
The result was an increase in production and revenue. Production of sesame
and other crops grew from a baseline of 158 pounds to 440 pounds per
household, while revenue increased from a baseline of $32 to $112 per
household in 2006 and increased again in 2007 to $232 per household. One
FFW participant noted that the techniques he learned helped him increase
production of millet from 785 pounds to 2,237 pounds in 2006.
-
Farmers were organized into sesame grower unions so that
economies of scale could be created to buy inputs and organize sesame
trade. Various training programs, including train-the-trainer, agricultural
marketing, agro-enterprise, financial management and best practices, and
credit systems, were provided to more than 1,800 people. The result was a
threefold increase in productivity and revenue and more diversified market
channels. In addition, the development of a new market channel for sesame
oil is being explored. One woman became president of her community’s sesame
seed union, which represents 250 farmers. Since starting to farm sesame in
2006, her income has tripled to $250 per year with which she has bought
goats and sheep that she has sold for a sizeable profit after fattening
them. Her success has gained the respect of men in the community. This is
noteworthy for a country in which men traditionally make most of the
important decisions. Another woman’s profits from the sesame project helped
her start an off-season garden that has improved her family’s diet and
provides income to finance the following year’s sesame production.
-
Five union warehouses were built by FFW participants in five
villages for each producer union to use for post-harvest storage of sesame
until prices reached their peak, at which time the sesame was sold. An
inventory credit system gave producers access to cash while their sesame was
in storage. In the first year of the project, sesame growers were provided
with seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides and then reimbursed their unions for
the value of the inputs after their sesame was sold. The reimbursements
were used to create a revolving fund for storing the sesame in union
warehouses.
Sesame products (oil, cream, soap, and
biscuits) made by women’s groups in Tillaberi region of Niger and sold on the
local market. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Burns, Communications Coordinator,
Catholic Relief Services Niger.
As a result of the successes achieved between
2005 and 2007, FAS signed a new three-year agreement with CRS in 2008 to
increase production of sesame, okra, onion, and other vegetables in another 30
villages in the Tillaberi region. The project will enhance private sector
development and give producers the ability to support their financial needs
through the sale of sesame, onion, and okra to national and international
markets. Under the agreement, USDA will donate 2,410 tons of vegetable oil that
CRS will sell in Niger. The proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the
project, which is expected to benefit 8,000 people directly and 32,000
indirectly.
Sesame seeds grown by farmers in Tillaberi
region of Niger. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Burns, Communications Coordinator,
Catholic Relief Services Niger.
The FFP program provides U.S. agricultural
commodities to developing countries and emerging democracies committed to
introducing and expanding free enterprise in the agricultural sector.
Commodities are provided on a donation basis to foreign governments, private
voluntary organizations, non-profit organizations, cooperatives, or
intergovernmental organizations that implement agricultural and rural
development projects, while helping to address food shortages. The development
projects are funded by sales of the donated U.S. commodities within the
recipient countries. Projects are chosen based on their agricultural focus, the
country’s needs, the proposal’s quality, and the organization’s management,
experience, and financial and technical capabilities.
The FFP
program is administered by USDA’s FAS and authorized by the Food for Progress
Act of 1985.
For more information about the FFP program go
to
http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFP/foodforprogress.asp For more
information about CRS, go to
http://crs.org/.
Questions or comments can be directed to the Food
Assistance
Division at 202-720-4221
or via e-mail at PPDED@fas.usda.gov.
