USADF's Guinea Program

Guinea’s rural population has long been underserved, with limitedt investment in infrastructure or social services over the past decade.  Suspension of development assistance to Guinea over the past two years has reduced the already low level of development activities throughout the country to virtually zero.  The “Pockets of Poverty” identified by the UNDP’s poverty reduction program constitute the most marginalized areas in the country.  These are concentrated in Middle Guinea and the northern and eastern portions of the Fouta Djallon, where a combination of poor accessibility, relatively less favorable agricultural conditions, lack of mineral deposits generating foreign investment, and political marginalization result in almost inexistent education, health, and technical services.  In addition, road conditions are particularly poor, resulting in extremely high prices for goods brought in and low prices for agricultural commodities produced in these areas.