USADF's Pilot Program to Focus on POverty Reducation:

Seven Grants to Fund Various Community Projects in Botswana

WASHINGTON - October 7, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 7, 2008 – The United States African Development Foundation is funding seven projects in Botswana which focus on poverty reduction. Six of the seven grants make up USADF’s new grant initiative which focuses on community mobilization and discussion to determine the development needs of a community from the perspective of community sub-groups such as men, women, youth, the disabled, and other vulnerable populations.

IIn launching the new Participatory Development Methodology (PDM) grant initiative, USADF President Lloyd Pierson stated “This is another way in which USADF is working directly with populations in Africa to fund their ideas and meet their goals.”

The six PDM grantees include the Mosema Conservation Trust, the Molema Community Trust, the Mogapinyana Youth Association, the Kgagodi Development Association, the Diloro Development Association, and the Tamasane Development Association. The grants will focus on sectors including natural conservation and leatherworks, youth poverty reduction, horticulture production, grain milling, and livestock.

The seventh grantee is the Mmadinare Multipurpose Cooperative Society, an enterprise which produces and processes milk. The cooperative received a capacity building grant with the aim of increasing sustained growth by increasing their operational and management capabilities to meet the expanding market demand.  They will sell their milk products to small businesses, the army, and schools in and around Selibe-Phikwe.

"The true nature of the grants is to promote socio-economic empowerment of each of the communities receiving USADF funding,” stated Regional Program Director Tom Coogan.

The grants in total will provide nearly $780,000 to reduce poverty and ensure a better quality of life for all involved.

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.

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