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Increased Regional Trade and Integration
USAID/ East Africa serves some of the world’s poorest nations. Economic growth throughout the region is inhibited by a poor business climate, high transport and energy costs and low on-farm productivity levels. USAID/East Africa works with bilateral missions and regional organizations to promote broad-based economic growth by supporting increased regional integration and trade; reductions in the cost of doing business; increased agricultural productivity; and by helping to raise incomes. USAID/EA is supporting improved agriculture and food security through the President’s Feed the Future Initiative and is working to increase the efficiency of regional transport corridors.
9 November 2012
The USAID COMPETE Trade Hub recently returned from a high-profile Origin Africa awareness and marketing campaign in Europe and Asia. Origin Africa is an ongoing...
6 November 2012 | Nairobi, Kenya
Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy, United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Assistant USTR, Florie Liser, visited the USAID East Africa Trade Hub (COMPETE ) on October...
26 July 2012
USAID COMPETE worked with the Tanzania Port Authority to establish a One Stop Center at the Dar es Salaam port. The One Stop Center (OSC)...
3 July 2012
It is six o’clock in the morning and the market is packed. Trucks of oranges, Irish potatoes, green maize, pineapples, watermelons, red onions, and cooking...
29 May 2012
Therese Iribagiza is Vice President and Master Seamstress of Indego Africa’s Cocoki Cooperative. She is one of Indego Africa's partner artisans who was accepted into the...
5 April 2012
Mara Scholars Program Benefitting Basin and Local Research Institutions The GLOWS Scholars Program is providing funding to ten Kenyan and Tanzanian Masters...
11 September 2012
USAID's regional mission in East Africa is pleased to announce the second round of review under the African Institutions Innovation Mechanism (AIIM), with concept notes...
28 August 2012
The East Africa regional mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID/East Africa) recently awarded the ACDI/VOCA Support for Food Security Activities ...
31 March 2011
Read- New Feed the Future Fact Sheet
2 June 2010
Livestock production is the lifeblood of the arid and semi-arid pastoral landscapes of the Horn of Africa - the lowlands of Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia, northeastern...
12 May 2010
USAID/East Africa’s Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoralist Areas (RELPA) project has recently published three new documents about pastoralist livelihoods in Eastern Africa that are available...
13 May 2010
The Mara-Serengeti ecosystem is a crucial, unique habitat for the wildlife that forms the back bone of the tourism industries in Kenya and Tanzania. This...
19 December 2012 | Hargeisa, Somalia
The 2012 Business Confidence Survey, released this week, shows that investment in medium‐sized enterprises more than doubled between 2011 and 2012. The Somaliland Ministry of...
29 November 2012 | Nairobi, Kentya
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) signed a memorandum of understanding today affirming their partnership and setting common...
18 October 2012 | Nairobi, Kenya
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) signed an amendment recently to the COMESA-USAID...
12 October 2012 | Arusha, Tanzania
The East Africa Community (EAC), with support from USAID/East Africa, has launched a three-year program to better understand and lower the risks of aflatoxin in...
15 July 2011
NEW YORK, NY – July 2011 – Adirée , organizer of Africa Fashion Week New York (AFWNY), is pleased to announce...
29 March 2011
In a major positive policy shift, since 2003, twenty-four countries in Africa have signed Compacts and committed to the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP),...
29 March 2011 | Arusha, Tanzania
The U.S. Government, represented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the East African Community concluded an amendment to the Assistance Agreement...
16 March 2011
The outlook is bright for Africa’s cotton, textile and apparel sector. The industry is undergoing a renaissance fueled by a global demand for cotton, diversification...
9 March 2011 | Bujumbura, Burundi
Market Linkages Initiative (MLI), a USAID/East Africa project, has awarded grants to two family-owned agribusinesses in Burundi, ETS Misago Sebastian and Sodea, with the potential...
5 November 2010 | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Swahili Fashion Week is partnering with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program (COMPETE) to host Ready to Wear...
USAID/EA is implementing a new Presidential Feed the Future Initiative on agriculture and food security focused on staple foods – crops and animal products produced by millions of smallholder farmers and consumed everywhere. Support to increase farm productivity and improve access to markets is also being scaled up. Activities are coordinated and aligned with national priorities and programs of other donors within the framework of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). Key partners include the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern & Central Africa (ASARECA).
USAID/EA is helping to increase trade, competitiveness and food security in the region. It does this by supporting increased regional integration, reducing the time and cost of transit, increasing trade in agriculture with a focus on staple foods, and by supporting increased US-Africa Trade under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).
Weak energy and transport infrastructures are the greatest inhibitors to intra-regional and international trade. USAID/EA is helping to stimulate transit and utility infrastructure development through improvements in operations/finance management practices and the policy/regulatory environment through regional partners such as the East African Power Pool, Regional Economic Communities and the Regional Customs Transit Guarantee.
USAID/EA works to achieve economic sustainability through appropriate natural resource management. The Transboundary Water for Biodiversity and Human Health in the Mara River Basin (TWB-MRB) project focuses on improving water resource management to reduce and mitigate threats to biodiversity. The Mara River Basin and Mara-Serengeti Ecoregion survival is dependent upon trans-national management of these critical natural resources. Partners include local and regional organizations who strive to increase their capacity to maintain critical water levels in the Mara River Basin for all users. The project also provides Basin households increased access to clean water; improved capacity for basic hygiene and sanitation; and support for policy and governance structures on water access.
USAID/East Africa is expanding programs to address mitigation and adaptation to Global Climate Change in the region, including the drylands and highlands of East Africa.
Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (‘Africa LEAD’)
Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA)
Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program (COMPETE)
East African Community Regional Development
Feed the Future
The Powering Progress Project
The Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System for Eastern and Central Africa (ReSAKSS-ECA)
Transboundary Water for Biodiversity in the Mara River Basin
Main Season Rainfall Likely to be Significantly Below-Average in the Eastern Horn
Aflatoxin: A Synthesis of the Research in Health, Agriculture and Trade
The Feed the Future (FTF) East Africa Fiscal Year 2011-2015 Multi-Year Strategy
Africa Lead Newsletter_September2011
ACTESA Newsletter - August 1, 2011
ACTESA Newsletter - March 30, 2011
ACTESA Newsletter - January 11, 2011 #16
ACTESA Newsletter - November 15, 2010 #15
ACTESA Newsletter - November 1, 2010 #14
ACTESA Newsletter - October 11, 2010 #13
ACTESA Newsletter - September 30, 2010 #12
ACTESA Newsletter, September 17, 2010 #11
ACTESA Newsletter, August 16, 2010 #10
ACTESA Newsletter, May 7, 2010 #4
ACTESA Newsletter - April 22, 2010 #3
ACTESA Newsletter - March 26, 2010 #2
Africa Lead Newsletter - August 2011
Africa Lead Update: June 3, 2011
Africa Lead Short Course Offerings - Monthly Update for May 2011
AFRICA LEAD Update: April 1, 2011
COMESA CAADP Newsletter Issue No. 25,
COMESA CAADP Newsletter Issue 23,
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 292 - April 29, 2011
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 290 - April 8, 2011
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 286 - March 18, 2011
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 264 - September 14, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue #261- July 30, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 257 - July 2, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 254 - June 11, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue 249, May 7, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No. 248 - April 30, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No. 242 - March 19, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No. 240 - March 5, 2010
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No.213 - August 7, 2009
E-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No. 212 - July 31, 2009
E-COMESA Newsletter Issue No. 204 - May 15, 2009
Mara River Basin Program Biodiversity and Water and Sanitation Newsletter - March 2012
EAST AFRICA Food Security Alert - March 15, 2011
EAST AFRICA Regional Food Security Update, July 2010
EAST AFRICA Regional Food Security Update, June 2010
EAST AFRICA Regional Food Security Update, April 2010
Mara River Flows: Integrated Water Resource Management … for people and for nature September 2009
UNOCHA Pastoralist Voices Newsletter, April 2008
ELMT-ELSE Newsletter, Volume 1 - July 2008
Photo: EAC
USAID East Africa Mission Director Jeffrey Ashley, helped launch the EAC Aflatoxin Control & Improved Nutrition Program, supported by USAID in Arusha, Tanzania.
Photo: CARE Tanzania
A successful constructed SanPlat pedestal.
Photo: Iman Yazdani
The Mara River EFA team collecting data during the low-flow sampling event held from 6 to 12 February 2012 in Tanzania.
Community members in the Serengeti District in Tanzania learn how to construct SanPlat latrines.
Training of community members in the fabrication of concrete water storage jars.
Soap Making by A VSL Group.
Photo: Dhahia Mbaga & Iman Yazdani
Training a VSL Group on Soap Making in Serengeti District, Tanzania.
Photo: MLI
A farmer weighing maize on a modern platform scale purchased with funding from USAID and a private sector grain bulking center (GBC). USAID support for GBCs results in increased availability and quality of staple foods.
On site at the grain bulking center of a USAID grantee in Rwanda that can now use a clean plastic sheet and a modern platform scale to ensure quality handling of maize. USAID co-financed the purchase of this equipment, which replaces rudimentary methods such as drying directly on the ground that results in contamination from pollutants.
A mobile dryer in field testing in Eastern Kenya. Smallholder farmers face many constraints to access adequate drying and storage facilities and are often forced to dry their maize through rudimentary means, such as roadside drying. This results in improperly dried grain, deterioration of the grain in storage, and the development of aflatoxins to levels which are fatal if ingested. Through USAID support, the mobile dryer—an innovative technique in Kenya—brings modern drying closer to farmers.
Farmer Field Day at UZ Investments, a grain bulking center and grant recipient under USAID’s Market Linkages Initiative. USAID and UZ co-funded the field days to reduce insect infestation and moulds and improve crop conditioning so that smallholder farmers can obtain a higher price (based on quality) when they sell their crops to the grain bulking center.
Collection centre for Smart logistics, a USAID grantee buying crops from smallholder farmers. USAID support for the refurbishment and expansion of staple crop storage warehouses and integration of smallholder farmers into these storage systems results in improved sales and income for smallholder farmers, such as the ones pictured above.
Photo: Indego Africa
An artisan at the Ingenzi Knit Union in Rwanda works on a scarf to be sold at Anthropologie.
Photo: USAID/COMPETE
Origin Africa Fiber to Fashion 2011: Modern African Chic is the theme of Ejiro Amos-Tafiri’s collection from Nigeria.
Ethiopian designer Fikirte Addis wins the Fiber to Fashion 2011 Designer Showcase Award and will be a featured designer at Africa Fashion Week New York in July 2011.
Origin Africa Fiber to Fashion 2011 – Mauritian designer Sweetie Ramlagun’s collection is inspired by the Masaai.
Origin Africa Fiber to Fashion 2011 – Towani Clarke of Kutowa Designs in Zambia presents her collection.
Origin Africa Fiber to Fashion 2011 – A collection of show stopping designs from the 12 participating designers from across Africa.
Photo: USAID/EA
Mr. Lee Brudvig, Charge d’Affaires, U.S. Embassy in Nairobi
Current class of Champions with Trainer in learning mode.
Ms. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, addressing group in a recorded video.
Permanent Secretary, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Romano Kiome.
Photo: U.S. Embassy, Dar es Salaam
East African Community Secretary General Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu (third from left, front row) with U.S. ambassadors to member states of the East African Community. Front row, left to right: Ambassador Pamela Slutz (Burundi), Ambassador Alfonso E. Lenhardt (Tanzania and the EAC), Ambassador Jerry P. Lanier (Uganda). Back row left to right: Ambassador W. Stuart Symington (Rwanda), Ambassador Michael Battle (African Union), Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger (Kenya), and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs Karl Wycoff after the U.S. Government and the East African Community signed, on March 28, 2011, in Arusha, an amended Assistance Agreement for Comprehensive Regional Development to promote East Africa’s regional economic integration and development.
A local Masaai from the village of Romosha greets the Transmara District Commissioner,welcoming him to the Mode Satellite Store MoSS).
Photo: CARE/Tanzania
Community Water Point for Kemugesi Village.
Photo: ReSAKSS
Participants Learn to Map.
Map of East Africa transportation and trade corridors.
Warehouse being refurbished for increased grain capacity.
Above, models show off new fashions during the Swahili Fashion Week in Dar es Salaam in November.
Photo: COMPETE
Flotea Massawe displays one of her clutch bags.
Photo: US Embassy
Left to right: Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu, Secretary General of the East African Community; US Ambassador to the East African Community Alfonso E. Lenhardt; and USAID/East Africa Regional Director Larry Meserve, at the signing of the Assistance Agreement for Comprehensive Regional Development in September in Dar es Salaam.
Storage and milling of grains in a storage facility.
Community leader Juliana Kaburia Jasper poses in front of the sign for Mwegiki’s Kithangene Commercial Producer’s Group.
Photo: Nexant, Inc.
Left, COMESA Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya, Candace Buzzard, USAID/EA Regional Economic Growth and Integration Office Director, and Dennis Weller, USAID/Rwanda Mission Director.
Front row left to right: Andrew Ngone, COMESA Senior Trade Advisor, Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya and Mr. Phillip Kiriro, President of the East Africa Farmers’Federation and Chair, ACTESA Advisory Committee.
Left to right, Candace Buzzard, USAID/EA/ Regional Economic Growth & Integration Office Director, Sindiso Ngwenya, COMESA Secretary General and Larry Meserve, USAID/EA Regional Mission Director.
Left to Right: Sharon Cromer, USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Africa Bureau; Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator; Sebastian Oggema, Deputy Chief of Party, Kenya Maize Development Program.
Monitoring Rangeland Health: A guide for Pastoralists and Other Land Managers in Eastern Africa.
A model shows off a new fashion at the ACTIF Origin Africa fashion show.
Models show off new fashions at the ACTIF Origin Africa fashion show.
Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga addressing the guests at the ACTIF launch.
The winning design!
Photo: USAID/East Africa
Kapsasian Rock Catchment gathers natural rain water into a 50,000 liter cement tank for the local community. In this way, water from the rivers and ponds will be sustained for the wildlife and unique habitat that cuts across two countries and two of the world’s best loved game parks.
Photo: COMESA
Left, COMESA Secretary General, Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya and right, the ACTESA CEO, Dr. Cris Muyunda after signing the agreement.
Left to right: USAID/EA Regional Economic Growth & Integration Director, U.S. Ambassador to Zambia and COMESA, COMESA Secretary General, USAID/EA Regional Mission Director, and USAID/EA Regional Trade Policy Specialist.
Photo: USAID/Rwanda
President Paul Kagame with the U.S. Delegation to the Rwanda CAADP Post-Compact: High Level Stakeholders Meeting.
Photo: RELPA
Conflict prone Horn of Africa.
Women tending to their livestock.
Christine Nyogi (center) , chairperson of the Koptigei Widows Group (KWG) displays the bill of sale from WFP.
Somali goats in Northeastern Province, Kenya. It is not the number of animals on the land that causes degradation, it is the time they spend on it in a given space and period.
Photo: East African Community
Left, Larry Meserve, Acting Regional Director, USAID/EA, Right, Dr. Julius Rotich, East African Community's Deputy Secretary General for Finance and Administration.
Buyers discuss potential orders with Rwandan firm UTEXRWA at the MAGIC apparel trade show.
Matchmaking session underway between MAA Garment factory of Ethiopia and buyers from a U.S. company.
Photo: U.S. Embassy, Kenya
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a lighter moment during the official AGOA dinner.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the AGOA Press Conference.
A constructed wetland for cleaning up waste waters from the Mara Sopa Lodge in the Maasai Mara, an example of corporate socially and environmentally responsible investment by the ecotourism industry, encouraged by USAID/East Africa's partner World Wildlife Fund, East African Regional Program Office.
Mara River Basin Users' Association.
Horticulture Association Representatives at the SuperFloral Show. From left to right, Raifa Bundhun (Secretary General, Mauritian Horticulture Exporters Association, APEXHOM), Finn Holm-Olsen (ECA Trade Hub Advisor, USAID COMPETE), Jane Ngige (CEO, Kenya Flower Council, KFC), Stephen Mbithi (CEO, Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya, FPEAK),and Solomon Sebhatu (Vice Chairperson, Ethiopian Horticulture Exporters Association, EPHEA), and Jacqueline Mkindi, (CEO, Tanzania Horticultural Association, TAHA).
View of the Africa Pavilion at the SuperFloral Show in Atlanta.
Photo: RATES/COMPETE
Mbula Musau, newly certified World Barista Championship Judge, at a coffee cupping competition in Burundi.
WBC Coffee Judges from left to right: Erina Nigrini, Teija Lublinkhof and Mbula Musau.
Left to right, Candace Buzzard, Director, Regional Economic Growth & Integration Office, USAID/EA, Pamela Slutz, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Chungu Mwila, Director, COMESA Investment Promotion & Private Sector Development, and Anil Bhandari, Senior Advisor, Africa Region, World Bank, Kenya.
Dr. Flora Musonda, East African Community Director of Trade addressing the meeting at the COMPETE launch.
Part of the Kenana Knitters display at the New York International Gift Show in New York- January 2008
Photo: RATES
Kip Langat, Executive Director of ESADA exchanging MOUs with Amb. Onen of the EAC.
Mrs. Lucy Karuga displays one of her company's popular products. Eldoville dairy products are consistent winners at the Eastern and Southern Africa Dairy Association's annual cheese festivals and exhibitions.
Photo: Steve Walls
A model displays a Brand Africa organic product at the ACTIF Conference in Kampala.
All-organic cotton apparel created by top fashion designer Sylvia Owori is showcased at the June 2008 ACTIF Conference in Kampala, Uganda.
USAID/Kenya Mission Director Erna Kerst cuts the ribbon at the official opening of the Warehouse Receipt Scheme program in Nakuru.
Photo: Albert Mwangi
John Muli prepares his signature drink for the judges during the semi-final competition. Competitors used a variety of ingredients, from chocolate and orange to cinnamon and chili, to give each drink a distinctive flavor.
Champion John Muli celebrates after winning the 4th Annual Kenya Barista Championship at the Junction. In addition to a trip to the World Barista Championship in Copenhagen, Muli will receive one week’s specialist barista training in Denmark, sponsored by Estates Coffee.
Photo: IITA
In East Africa, cassava is the second most important staple crop after maize. By planting disease resistant varieties farmers can harvest more food and stop the spread of cassava diseases.
Photo: ECA Trade Hub
The East Africa Pavilion featured flowers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi and Uganda.
The East Africa Pavilion was awarded the trophy for Best Stand Design at the World Floral Expo in Miami. The ECA Trade Hub organized the Pavilion for the third year in a row, sponsored all of the East African participants and designed the Pavilion through the use of the floral design consultants.
Photo: ECA Hub
The East Africa Pavilion, with floral displays from Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, won the Silver Award for Best Stand Design at the Miami World Floral Expo in March 2008. The ECA Trade Hub, funded by USAID, sponsors companies from the region to take part in trade shows in the U.S., helping to boost trade and increase jobs.
Participants at the Northern Corridor Spatial Development Programme in Kampala, Uganda. Stakeholders gathered to discuss the transformation of what is known today as the northern transport corridor into an economic development corridor.
U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Steven Browning meets with exporters during the Fifth Annual Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition in Kampala.
The Source Africa Pavilion at the MAGIC Trade and Apparel Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A South African barista competes at the EAFCA booth during the South Africa National Barista Competition at the Fine Food and Wine Show in Midrand, S.A. in November 2008.
Photo: Janet Bland
A top reporter from KTN puts together a cheese masterpiece during the Celebrity Ready, Steady, Cook Competition.
Customers sample cheeses at the Happy Cow Exhibit during East and Southern Africa Dairy Association's 2nd Annual Cheese and Wine Festival.
US Ambassador to Burundi Patricia Moller hands out prizes during the Coffee Club Celebration awards ceremony. Major coffee events, sponsored by USAID, are helping local specialty coffees gain worldwide recognition.
Kenya's flower production boosts exports to the U.S.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa officiates at the opening of the ESADA 3rd African Dairy Conference in Lusaka.
Over 32 exhibitors displayed a wide variety of products and services at the ESADA 3rd African Dairy Conference.
Rwandan Peace Baskets on display in Macy's Manhattan store. Income from the baskets is helping to transform the lives of many in Rwanda.
With assistance from the ECA Trade Hub, Rwandan genocide survivors were able to close a $150,000 deal with Macy's in New York in 2005, enabling them to sell their hand crafted Peace Baskets to the American market. The first shipments sold out within a month of their display and the overwhelming response in 2006 has left customers wanting more. The much-needed income is changing the lives of thousands of Rwandan women and their families.
Cassava Mosaic Virus Disease threatens food security in six East African countries.
Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) causes early ripening and rotting of fruits.
See New Feed the Future Web site and related materials at: http://www.feedthefuture.gov/
All About Africa Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA)!
Last updated8 Feb 2013
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