USADF Signs Two Grants with Community Groups in Malawi:

WASHINGTON - June 23, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 23, 2009 – In an effort to support communities, the United States African Development Foundation has signed two grants that will support grassroots groups in Malawi.  The grants will benefit Biriwiri Farmers Marketing (BIFAM) and Ndatani Investments.

Reflecting on the grants, USADF Chairman Dr. John Agwunobi stated, “USADF’s work is grounded in funding projects at the grassroots level to support African development.  With USADF funds, these projects will support and sustain members of the community.”

Located in the Ntcheu district of Malawi, BIFAM is an organization that works to increase the standard of living of its members and their families by growing, harvesting, and selling Irish potatoes.   By mobilizing rural communities to join the cooperative, BIFRAM is looking to increase the potatoes yields of farmers, contribute to food security at the household level, increase the organization’s revenues, and create additional employment opportunities within the cooperative.  The eighteen month, $95,500 grant will help to develop a business and marketing plan, procure trainings in food production, safety, leadership skills, and good governance, and hire a general manager and accountant.

Ndatani Investments produces and sells vitamin enriched dairy feed, trains dairy farmers in animal husbandry, and supplies cooking oil to farmers in the Central Region.  Previous assistance from Land O’Lakes allowed the enterprise to begin producing dairy mash, driving the demand for this product in Dowa, Lilongwe, and Dedza Districts.  With intentions to expand dairy feed production, Ndatani hopes to enable more farmers across Malawi access affordable and high dairy feed.  The twenty-four month, $95,000 grant will help develop manuals, procure trainings in financial systems, purchase processing equipment and working capital inputs, and hire a manager.

USADF established programming in Malawi in 2008 and began funding projects in 2009.  USADF receives co-funding from the Government of Malawi. The country’s current portfolio stands at five investment projects totaling nearly half a million dollars.  For more information about the portfolio, please visit the country’s quick source page at http://www.adf.gov/USADF-QuickSourceCountryPortfolioPage-Malawi.htm .

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 20 African nations.  Over the past 25 years, USADF has funded nearly 1,500 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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