Agriculture: Increasing Exports and Produce
Farmers in Badakhshan province in Afghanistan plant wheat seed distributed through USAID’s Agricultural Input Supply Program (AISP). Photo: USAID/Afghanistan
USAID AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, West Bank/Gaza, Vietnam and Yemen
CONTACTS
John Wilson
Supervisory Environmental Analyst, Technical Support
Tel: (202) 712-4633
Email: JWilson@usaid.gov Overview
For many in the Asia and Near East region, agriculture is a way of life. Sixty-two percent of the population lives in rural areas, and 58 percent earns a living from agriculture. This is particularly true in South and East Asia. Poverty is higher in rural areas than urban ones. In fact, one-third of the region’s rural population lives in abject poverty. This means that many of those working the land or in farm-related businesses are not earning enough to feed their families, send their kids to school or take care of their families’ health and other needs.
To address rural poverty and strengthen economies in the region, USAID invests in agriculture. Research has shown that higher incomes for farmers mean more money spent in rural areas, providing jobs and increasing the incomes of those who provide services and goods to farmers. This leads to higher living standards for rural areas.
Programs
Helping Farmers Compete in World Markets
Global markets mean that farmers must focus on areas where they have an advantage. Otherwise, they risk losing their livelihoods to countries with advantages in terms of scale, subsidies, climate or other factors. To give farmers a competitive edge, USAID focuses on diversifying agricultural products and on high value crops.
In Iraq, USAID sought to correct many of the agriculture’s ills by expanding agriculture productivity and restoring the capacity of rural agro-enterprises to produce, process, and market agricultural goods and services, as well as to improve soils and water management. In Afghanistan, where 80 percent of the population is dependent upon agriculture, USAID has supplied new seeds, irrigated over 300,000 hectares of land and fixed over 100 kilometers of farm-to-market roads. Consequently, farmers have had an 80 percent increase in their output.
Supplying Supermarket Chains
Part of USAID’s efforts also includes helping farmers break into supply chains for supermarkets, which make up a growing part of the demand. If farmers can meet the quality and steady supply demands of a supermarket chain, they have a greater chance for a reliable source of income.
In East Timor, USAID has helped the main coffee cooperative become the largest single producer of organically certified coffee in the world. Farmers who sell their coffee to the cooperative receive 40 to 75 percent more than they would if they sold coffee to other producers in the country. In Egypt, USAID works with businesses and the government to study global consumer demands and supply chains and build trade associations to help exporters sell to major global supermarket chains.
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