FRONTLINES www.USAID.gov NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

A NEW MODEL TO FEED THE FUTURE > TWO SIDES TO ACTION IN THE HORN OF AFRICA > USAID AT 50

5050thth Anniversary/FoodAnniversary/Food SecuritySecurity EditionEdition INSIGHTS From Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah

world today so we do not have to de­ The reality is we must do more to pre­ ploy our troops tomorrow. vent these crises in the first place. That is Because global development is so im­ why President Obama launched a global portant to our national interests, we have food security initiative called Feed the instituted a series of reforms to change the Future to help countries develop their way we do business—with new partner­ own resilient agricultural sectors and ships, a greater emphasis on innovation, food systems so they can feed them­ and a relentless focus on real results. selves over the long term. FIFTY YEARS AGO, President John As we continue to shape a brighter fu­ Through Feed the Future partner­ F. Kennedy called for the creation of ture for generations to come, we must re­ ships and investments, vitamin A-enriched an agency dedicated to saving lives, dedicate ourselves to continually improve sweet potatoes are now reaching mal­ building partnerships, and promoting the way we work and strengthen our ca­ nourished children in Uganda and peace and prosperity in the developing pacity to deliver meaningful results for Mozam­bique. In regions vulnerable to world. He believed that advancing op­ people around the world and at home. drought—like the Ethiopian high­ portunity and freedom to all people lands—we are particularly focusing was central to America’s own security, NOWHERE TODAY IS the chal­ on drought-resistant crops and im­ prosperity, and national conscience. lenge of hunger and food security more proved water management. Today, President Barack Obama and critical than in the Horn of Africa. As In August, I visited the Dadaab ref­ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham many of you know, the worst drought ugee camp in Kenya with Dr. Jill Biden Clinton have echoed President Ken­ in 60 years has put more than 13.3 mil­ and former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). I nedy’s call with strong leadership and lion people, especially women and girls, met families who had to leave behind incredible commitment to development at severe risk. That is larger than the their homes, their countries and— as a key pillar of our national security. populations of New York City and Los in some cases—faced the impossible Since its creation, USAID has worked Angeles combined. choice of leaving behind their children, on the frontlines of poverty and con­ In Somalia, where decades of civil who were too weak to survive the trek. flict, supporting communities and coun­ war and disorder have contributed to Families are facing this reality every tries to build a better future. In the past the complete breakdown of gover­ day in the Horn—a reality made even five decades, the Agency has graduated nance, drought has led to famine. more heartbreaking by the fact that it over 30 countries from assistance to Within the next three months, 750,000 doesn’t have to be this way. partnership. From Brazil to Poland to Somalis are likely to die if they don’t Through Feed the Future, we can Indonesia, developing nations have get additional assistance—assistance help ensure countries sustainably de­ transformed into stable and prosperous that is being blocked by Al-Shabaab velop their agricultural infrastructure coun­tries, vibrant trading partners, and and other groups in the region. and diversify their economies so they foreign assistance donors. These coun­ As the single largest humanitarian and never succumb to another drought tries serve as beacons of hope for people development partner in the region, the again. And we can help lift 18 mil­ striving for democratic political sys­ United States is supporting life-saving aid lion people, including more than 7 tems, free economies, and respect for for millions of people, including food, million children, out of hunger and their human rights. water, and medical services. And though poverty forever. ■ The critical work of USAID enables the American people will always provide these peaceful transitions, helping to aid in times of urgent need, emergency prevent and end conflict around the assistance is not a lasting solution. www.usaid.gov/frontlines “I realize that there are among us those who are weary of sustaining this continual INSIDE THIS ISSUE effort to help other nations. But I would ask them to look at a map and recognize that many of those whom we help live on the ‘front lines’ of the long twilight struggle for freedom—that others are new nations posed between order and chaos— and the rest are older nations now undergoing a turbulent transition of new From Famine to expectations. Our efforts to help them help Feast in Brazil themselves, to demonstrate and to strengthen the vitality of free institutions, 4 are small in cost compared to our military Feeding the outlays for the defense of freedom.” 02 Passing the Torch Present and the —John F. Kennedy, Special Message to the 08 Feeding the Future by Future in the Congress on Foreign Aid, March 13, 1962 34 Documenting the Past Horn of Africa FrontLines is published by the Bureau 10 Transmigrational Diplomacy for Legislative and Public Affairs 33 Message from USAID U.S. Agency for International Development 12 The Domino Effect of Reform Bureau for Food Security Chief David Barth, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs 16 Testing Democratic Waters 40 Rwandan Fruit Salad in Honduras FRONTLINES STAFF: 42  From Soup to Nuts 18 When You Can’t See Kelly Ramundo, Managing Editor 44 Empowering Women to the Forest for the Trees… Claire McIntyre, Production Editor Feed and Lead Angela Rucker, Writer/Editor 20 “Democratic Heart Patricia Adams, Photo Librarian 46 Pepsi and Chickpeas: Marquita Wise-Williams, in a Bolshevik Body”; Human Resources An Interview with Derek Yach Coordinator and Employee Liaison Albania after the Wall Adriana DelGizzi, Intern CORRESPONDENTS: 22 From Tragedy to Action: USAID’s See the online version of FrontLines for Environmental Trajectory links to additional reading and videos. AFGE – Willy Hardin; AFR – Susan Quinn, Diana Harper; AFSA – Francisco Zamora; 26 For Kyrgyz Farmers, ASIA – Jan Cartwright, Joseph Truong; a Model Partnership CFBCI – Heather MacLean; DCHA – www.usaid.gov/frontlines Rebecca Gustafson, Sven Lindholm, Jessica Hartl; EGAT – Jane Stanley, Elisa Walton, In this issue, all stories with a “First Ranta Russell; E&E – Michael Hathaway; Person” banner are excerpted from OCRD – Gloria Blackwell; GC – Harmony a 50th anniversary retrospective Wade; ODP – Todd Kirkbride; GH – Sandra compiled by career Foreign Service Jordan, Chris Thomas, Jessica DiRocco; Officer Janet Ballantyne. IG – Debra Scott; LAC – Maxine Hillary; LPA – Barbara Bennett; M – Lauren Gabler; ME – Hope Bryer, Jan Cartwright; SEC – Dwayne Moore, Lorraine Meehan Cover: A young boy stands amid a thriving cassava field in the Democratic Republic of Submit notices, story ideas, feedback to FrontLines articles, and requests to be added Congo. The field includes several disease-resistant to the mailing list to [email protected]. varieties of the country’s staple food. www.usaid.gov/frontlines Go to Photo by Alain Mukeba, USAID

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 50TH ANNIVERSARY

side with all levels of the Thai Ministry Passing the Torch of Education.” He adds: “What made our work Long-Serving Education Officer successful was our willingness to put ourselves in the Thai Ministry of Edu­ Reminisces over his Career at USAID cation’s shoes. The ministry had its own internal dynamics and we By Rina Dhalla [USAID] had to merge what we thought needed to be done with their Hal Freeman, 80, began a long and distinguished career as an way of doing things and what they education Foreign Service Officer (FSO) for USAID and its predecessor wanted to accomplish. This way we agency 53 years ago. This career took him to Indonesia, Pakistan, were able to find the middle ground.” As an aside, Freeman posits that Laos, Tunisia, Barbados, the Philippines, and Washington. Recently, those projects where technical experts Rina Dhalla, a presidential management fellow in the Agency’s Office moved ahead more or less on their of Education, had the opportunity to speak with him about his career, own to “get something done” were often not sustainable—after the tech­ his passion for education, and his advice for the latest group of FSOs nical experts left, much of his work heading into the field. would be dropped. “Why?” he asks rhetorically. “Be­- cause, however qualified the officer, the AL FREEMAN was already theory was that younger officers were people of the country did not think of immersed in the field of edu­ more adaptable to cultural factors, his work as theirs. It took a lot longer for cation—first as a high school travel, and hardship. They could develop people to say it was their project, theirs… teacher, and on track to camaraderie with local people. and it paid off in the long run….” Hbecoming a principal. After obtaining a Freeman finishes relaying his experi­ master’s degree in education adminis­ 1957–1959 ence in Thailand with an observation: tration and supervision, he found out Freeman’s first assignment was in “The Thais are unique because they through a contact at the State Depart­ Thailand, where he was the only learned how to take the ideas of outsid­ ment that USAID had started a new young officer in the education team. ers and adapt those ideas to their polit­ program for junior officers. The experienced FSOs took him ical and cultural situation. They “The year was 1957,” he reminisces. under their wing. He pauses and wouldn’t just follow in the precise way “Education officers in missions at that reflects, “I learned more from working USAID wanted.” time were career professional educa­ with these people than what I would In my mind, this characteristic does tors, all of whom were not the manage­ have learned from 30 years teaching not seem to be uniquely Thai. It did, ment, but rather the technical type.” experience.” however, sound like a There were about six or seven tech­ One of the main proj­ goal we should all strive nical specialists working in missions— ects Freeman worked on GO ONLINE for at USAID—to en- with impressive backgrounds. They in Thailand was a project to read more about able developing coun­ had been professors, deans of schools, on education develop­ USAID’s new tries and their people to superintendents, and chief state school ment in a handful of Education Strategy own and craft their own officers. The Agency was looking for provinces—four elemen­ solutions. It should be bright young people with three to five tary schools, two second­ our job, as development years of teaching experience and a ary schools, and one teacher training professionals, to steer them in the master’s degree to work alongside such school. This project stands out in his right direction, which is the path of experienced technical specialists. The mind because they “worked side by their choosing.

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likely to bring their daughters to an- other women’s home than to a formal school, just like 18th century English dames schools. “In light of all the types of develop­ ment USAID does, why is education important?” I ask. “The effect over time of having a lit­ erate workforce is undeniable,” he responds. “Education yields trained men and women who contribute to society in the workplace and in families through, for example, health and family plan­ ning—waiting longer to have children and spacing them out so as to make time for a career. There is a broader effect than learning ‘the three Rs.’” Education wasn’t the focus in some Meo tribe children and Hal Freeman, right, look at textbooks provided by USAID in missions. Mission directors cared about Laos. In the background, a parachute serves as a roof. infrastructure—roads and dams—and short-term gains. A critical aspect of 1976–1978 came up—to put it lightly—and we had Freeman’s job was to advocate for edu­ “What was your favorite place to work, to close the program before it even cation, despite its long-time horizon. and why?” I pose to him. began. Any ongoing projects could con­ There was also a difficulty in not sway­ “Pakistan, without a doubt,” he tinue but no new programs could get ing to the fads in education, but rather, answers. [Freeman headed the Near started,” he says. Freeman persevered to determine critically what the coun­ East/South Asia Education Program and worked with World Bank mission try needed the most, and what could in Washington from 1970-1976 before staff to adopt the program and carry it be achieved, given the ministry and heading to Pakistan.] “The guys in the through for several years. host country leadership interests. That Ministry of Education planning unit Initiating such a program in a con­ could mean basic education, workforce were dedicated, bright people who servative society was challenging. The development focused on technical skills cared about their country’s develop­ education team theorized that supply or higher education. ment and worked around the clock. I could create demand and that, if they “What was the best thing about had the greatest joy working with supplied the teachers and the class­ being an education officer?” I ask. them. [Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali] room, 40 to 50 percent of the women Freeman responds: “It was an excit­ Bhutto had just been assassinated and would go despite society’s perceived ing career, working with top leaders of General Zia [Muhammad Zia-ul- restrictions. Female teachers came education in a country, the intellec­ Haq] had just taken over. In the ‘70s, from urban areas and were provided tual atmosphere, USAID’s dedicated Pakistan had a large population, yet dormitories, so they could teach in staff, and those on the forefront of only about 20 percent of boys and 7 rural areas. On the weekend, the knowledge.” percent of girls were in schools.” teachers would go back to their cities. Freeman provides this advice to new Freeman spent two years developing a As a complement to the traditional Foreign Service Officers: “Because an rural primary education program with a classroom in schools, the team also officer is helping a country develop, it focus on female education. “We almost designed the project to enable some is important to be eyes wide-open, not had the signature on the dotted line “schools” to be conducted in women’s dewy-eyed. Listen and learn from your when the issue of nuclear proliferation homes. Many rural mothers were more host country counterparts.” ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 3 50TH ANNIVERSARY

From Famine to Feast in Brazil

By Isadora Ferreira

Decades ago, Brazil was facing rapid population growth and a food crisis. Today, it is the third largest agricultural producer in the world. See how, with USAID support, the country was able to transfer knowledge from scientists to farmers and develop a successful, sustainable agricultural industry.

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Brazil is one of the world’s largest producers of grains and oilseeds, thanks to Embrapa, which received USAID support. ONSIDERED ONE of the fastest growing economies in the western hemisphere, Bra­ zil is currently the third larg­ Cest agricultural producer in the world. The country produces about 150 mil­ lion tons of grains and oilseeds annu­ From Famine to ally. Thirteen million tons of meat are sold, and national production records are outdone year after year. Brazilian agriculture has not always Feast in Brazil been such a booming industry. In the 1970s, education, health, and food security were major challenges despite strong economic growth. Rapid popu­ lation growth increased the demand for food, creating a gap between what was needed and what was produced. In 1972, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, better known as Embrapa, was created to overcome the food supply crisis. The goal was to develop agriculture in the country through the generation and transfer of knowledge from scientists to farmers. The U.S. Government had been working in partnership with the Bra­ zilian Government, through USAID, since 1961 to promote Brazil’s devel­ opment in areas such as education, health, agriculture, sanitation—and to improve public administration. As part of its overall strategy in the country, the Agency invested in Embrapa in its first years of operation. USAID’s perception at the time was that it was worth investing in an activ­ ity that might produce slow results, but have a lasting impact. Eliseu Alves was the second presi­ dent of the institution between 1979 and 1985. Still working at Embrapa, he serves as the entity’s living memory

Photo by Isadora Ferreira, USAID IsadoraPhoto by Ferreira, and talks about the priorities during the first years. “USAID played a key

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 5 50TH ANNIVERSARY

role in modernizing agriculture in In the 1960s and 1970s, USAID also Brazil by supporting Embrapa during promoted the exchange of Brazilian and a critical period in the first years of American scientists to bring the most operation. This support was aimed at advanced techniques of cultivation to two areas: the training of human Brazil. The investment has paid off. resources and the formation of the Though it started with about 950 institution’s physical capital, including people on its payroll, currently, Embrapa laboratories and research centers,” he has over 9,000 employees, of whom explains. 2,215 are researchers. Of these, 18 per­ In addition to direct support for cent have master’s degrees, 74 percent professionals who made up Embrapa’s have doctorates, and 7 percent have technical staff, USAID supported two post-doctorate degrees. In 1972, 93 public universities in Piracicaba and employees had master’s and doctorate

Viçosa, helping to strengthen their degrees. USAID IsadoraPhoto by Ferreira, agricultural science courses. Four Embrapa currently conducts re- decades later, both schools are now search and provides technical knowl­ Eliseu Alves, the second president of agricultural knowledge centers in Bra­ edge to farmers in 45 research units Embrapa, says USAID played a major zil and worldwide. throughout the country. Agricultural role in strengthening Brazilian agriculture.

producers growing coffee, cotton, beans, soybeans, cattle, and corn have massively benefited from this research. Since 2000, every dollar invested in Embrapa has translated into $10 in agricultural output.

AS A RESULT OF Embrapa research, Brazil is today a major food exporter. From 1975 to 2009, the supply of beef and pork multiplied four times. In the same period, milk production rose from 2.1 billion gallons per year to 7.03 billion gallons, and the produc­ tion of vegetables rose from 9 million tons to 19.3 million tons per year. All this was achieved without any large increase in the cultivated areas. In 1980, the cultivation of grains and oil­ seeds in Brazil occupied 40 million hectares and produced 50 million tons per year. Today, Brazil produces 160 million tons on 50 million hectares.

Photo by Isadora Ferreira, USAID IsadoraPhoto by Ferreira, This productivity gain is directly related to the new techniques intro­ Brasília’s food distribution center: Embrapa improved the production and the duced in Brazil through Embrapa and distribution of food in Brazil. the agriculture schools.

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“The steady and strategic invest­ other developing countries through Back in the 1960s, Brazil was one of ments made in Embrapa increased the Obama administration’s Feed the the largest recipients of development agricultural production, which not Future initiative. assistance provided by USAID. Fifty only advanced food security, but also “To achieve large-scale country years later, Brazil is partnering with improved Brazil’s balance of pay­ transformation, it is essential to have USAID to provide assistance to other ments. We used to import food, and strong government commitment to countries in the developing world. Four now we are one of the world’s largest agriculture development, robust pri­ decades ago, Brazil had a $45 billion exporters,” explains agronomist Fabi­ vate sector participation, and coordi­ gross domestic product (GDP). Brazil ano Toni, professor at the Center for nation of various actors and efforts,” now has a $2,087 billion GDP, and in Sustainable Development of the Uni­ says Paul Weisenfeld, who heads up just three years, will join the ranks of versity of Brasilia. “The fact that we USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, wealthy countries that have played host did it without expanding the culti­ which leads Feed the Future. “With to soccer’s biggest attraction: the World vated area shows the importance of good governance and development Cup. The event will be a warm-up of agriculture intensification to reduce investments, sustainable outcomes can sorts for the Olympic Games to take pressure on Brazil’s natural resources,” be achieved. Working in a select group place there two years later. he says. of focus countries with a strong poten­ Brazil’s experience is not just a suc­ Today, Embrapa has bilateral agree­ tial for agriculture-led growth, Feed cess story—it’s a global model for secur­ ments with 56 countries and 89 for­ the Future hopes to see some of the ing a country’s future. And for Brazil, eign institutions. Their methodologies same successes achieved in Brazil.” it’s looking brighter every year. ■ are being shared with countries facing similar food-security and nutrition challenges. For example, since January of this year, Embrapa has partnered with the University of Florida and Michigan State University—with support from USAID and the Brazilian Coopera­ tion Agency—to promote food secu­ rity and nutrition in Mozambique by strengthening policies for small-scale agriculture and school meals. Alves thinks the same strategies that pulled Brazil out of its food crisis will work well in Mozambique. “The general principles that helped Brazil­ ian agriculture are the same worldwide and will certainly help Africa. Our experience can be very useful in Mo- zambique because the challenges there are the same we faced— a lack of tech­ nical knowledge, well-trained human

resources, and institutional capacity,” USAID IsadoraPhoto by Ferreira, he explains. In a sense, the Brazilian model of Tropical fruit production was professionalized and now is one of the major success is one that the U.S. Govern­ economic activities in Brazil’s semi-arid region, one of the poorest regions in the ment is trying to emulate in several country.

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 7 Feeding the Future by Documenting the Past

Interns from the Al-Korna Agricultural Technical School in Luxor, Egypt, learn about colored pepper cultivation for export at Al-Heba Farm, Wadi El-Natroon, from their teacher Hamdy Hamed. Photo courtesy of USAID

By Anne Williams and Philip Steffen nature of the Agency has contributed identified major themes and achieve­ to the difficulty of telling this story. ments that reflect broad successes, VER ITS first half century, “Many of USAID’s achievements in as well as lessons learned over the past USAID has been at the fore­ agriculture have been undocumented, 50 years. front of agricultural de- unrecognized, or simply forgotten,” Having documented key USAID velopment as a driver of says Emmy B. Simmons, former achievements in agricultural develop­ Oeconomic transformation and growth. USAID assistant administrator of the ment—through a report and informa­ Operating in more than 100 countries Bureau for Economic Growth, Agri­ tion sheets—ALAD is ready to tell spread out around the world, the culture and Trade. this story to the Ameri­ Agency has tailored its work in agricul­ To ensure the Agency can people. This fall, the ture to fit the needs of specific coun­ is learning from the past, GO ONLINE products will be accessi­ tries, and has done some remarkable including mistakes, and for more information ble at www.agrilinks. things. building on successes, on Feed the Future kdid.org. Though the list of achievements is USAID’s Legacy in Ag- After the global food long, USAID has traditionally focused ricultural Development price crisis of 2007- more on “doing” development than (ALAD) was launched at the end 2008 increased the number of hungry documenting its successes in concrete of 2010. Through a nine-month pro­ people around the planet by an esti­ and specific terms or telling its story. cess of interviews, document searches, mated 75 million, governments, donor In the same vein, the decentralized and peer reviews, the project has agencies, and research networks around

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the world started showing new interest 160,000 students, USAID, its imple­ in agriculture’s powerful contributions menting partners, the Midwest Uni­ During its first 50 years, to expanding economic growth and versity Consortium for International USAID has: reducing poverty. Agriculture is mak­ Activities (MUCIA), and the Govern­ n helped millions of households ing a comeback in the Agency and ment of Egypt are building the skills secure access to land and other mission programming. demanded by Egypt’s commercial resources; While the ALAD project helps to farming sector. tell USAID and the larger global “Egypt is experiencing unprece­ n mobilized science and technology (both conventional and biotech development community where the dented change,” says USAID/Egypt approaches) that tripled yields for Agency has been, it can also help point Mission Director Walter North. “Our the basic food crops; the way to where it is going through work is preparing Egypt’s youth to new efforts like Feed the Future, the build a world-class commercial farm­ n built dozens of agricultural U.S. Government’s global food secu­ ing sector in some of the poorest, most education institutions overseas rity initiative. remote parts of the country.” and trained thousands of foreign students in the United States, One of ALAD’s success stories fo- creating lasting agricultural cuses around Egypt’s fruit and vegeta­ PRESIDENT BARACK Obama’s capacity in developing countries; ble trade. For decades, Egypt’s horti­ Feed the Future initiative, led by USAID, culture exports idled in neutral, av- seeks to help developing countries n invested in job-creating small er­aging $150 million per year between achieve the kind of agricultural suc­ and medium rural agricultural enterprises and value chains; 1975 and 2002. But by 2008, the cess accomplished in Egypt and else­ value of Egypt’s fruit and vegetable where through country-owned, country- n expanded global and regional exports increased more than sixfold— led strategies. agricultural trade opportunities to $1 billion per year. For example, Kenya—a regional and helped agricultural exporters The increase was made possible in leader in both dairy and horticulture— comply with food quality and part through decades of USAID tech­ is a Feed the Future focus country and is safety standards; nical support to the country. The an example of how the Agency can use n integrated environmental and Agency’s contributions included help­ lessons learned from Egypt for the ben­ natural resources management ing to establish the Horticultural efit of other countries. Feed the Future’s into agricultural practices and Export Improvement Association and goal for Kenya is bold: to help 3 mil­ livelihoods. the perishable terminal at Cairo Inter­ lion Kenyans exit poverty by 2015— national Airport, strengthening agri­ 550,000 of whom will benefit from cultural research capability, promoting USAID’s contribution. a particular focus for Feed the Future policy reform, and enhancing the mar­ Kenya’s agriculture sector shows sub­ programming—are in an excellent ket for business development services. stantial potential for growth, and, there­ position to capture the emerging Today, Egypt is the third largest fore, a path out of hunger and poverty global demand for new value-added exporter of fresh fruits and vegetables for millions who live there. With the products as well as the local and on the African continent, supplying 14 largest dairy herd in East and Southern regional fresh market valued at more percent of the total fruit and vegetable Africa and a relatively well-developed than $2 billion. exports. industry, Kenya is poised to meet the Work in these sectors is important This is not to say that USAID’s agri­ growing local demand for milk as well because both horticulture and dairy culture work in Egypt is complete. as target the regional market. will be critical commodities in small­ Agribusiness and food production Kenya’s horticulture industry is also holders’ diversification out of maize remain a key aspect of Egypt’s econ­ an established leader among African in Kenya—a crop that is grown by omy and a means for broadening pros­ suppliers of fresh produce to Europe. 98 percent of the rural farm house­ perity. Working with 117 agricultural Known for their competitiveness, holds and makes up a large share of technical schools with more than Kenya’s producers—including women, continued on p. 11

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 9 50TH ANNIVERSARY

FIRST PERSON FROM THE FRONT LINES

1978, the two of us were whisked in a Transmigrational U.S. Embassy car to the New Delhi residence of the India Prime Minister Diplomacy Morarji Desai. Desai was a longtime politician and part of Mahatma Gan­ By Jack Sullivan dhi’s inner circle. He had broken with the Indian National Congress Party to found his own political grouping Jack Sullivan has been involved in international development and served as prime minister from for over 40 years. He was head of the House Foreign Affairs 1977–1979. Committee staff for USAID authorization and oversight, USAID Greeted by Desai’s aides, we were strictly advised that our meeting assistant administrator for Asia and the Pacific, and a consultant would be no longer than 15 minutes— to USAID as well as other development organizations and and that we would be timed to the sec­ governments. He has worked in 64 countries worldwide. ond. Soon after we were seated, Desai appeared without any aides and bid us be comfortable. I found that difficult URING THE second Bush aid relationship in 1971 in retaliation given the standoff that the meeting Administration it became for the Indian military backing Ban­ might produce. Gilligan was more fashionable in the State gladesh’s break from Pakistan. relaxed, however, and began a genial Department to talk about President Jimmy Carter and his top theological discourse comparing Hindu D“transformational diplomacy.” Secre­ advisers were India-philes but in the and Christian religious thought. Desai tary of State Condoleezza Rice defined Congress there was an evident reluc­ responded enthusiastically and soon the term in January 2006 this way: tance to renew development aid to the two were deep in an animated con­ “To work with our many partners India. The word from Capitol Hill was versation on comparative religion. Five around the world to build and sustain that assistance programs could be minutes went by. democratic, well-governed states that resumed, but the Indian Government The conversation began to focus will respond to the needs of their peo­ would have to formally request them. more particularly on the transmigra­ ple—and conduct themselves respon­ On the Indian side, officials were tion of souls. At some length Desai sibly in the international system.” still miffed about the earlier cutoff. explained the Hindu view; Gilligan Long before some Foggy Bottom The word from New Delhi was that no responded with the Christian per­ wordmeister thought that one up, as request would be forthcoming and spective, again in detail. They saw assistant administrator for Asia, I was that the United States would have to some similarities. Another five min­ involved with an event that can best be take the first step and offer aid; only utes flew by. described as demonstrating “transmi­ then would the government decide I could feel the cold sweat begin­ grational diplomacy.” whether to accept it. ning to run down my sides. Transmi­ The story begins in 1977 when the In other words, it was a perfect gration continued to dominate the Carter Administration determined to dilemma. dialogue as both participants seemed reestablish a foreign assistance rela­ Into this situation I stepped, along to be warming to the subject even tionship with India. Secretary of State with the new head of USAID, John more intensely. A voice inside my head Henry Kissinger had broken off the Gilligan. One dark and rainy night in began to shout: “Time, time, time!”

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Feeding the Future continued from p. 9

households’ crop income. Like what was done in Egypt, USAID, through Feed the Future, will help the initiative’s focus countries increase their agricultural produc­ tivity and profitability to achieve the same kinds of agriculture and trade gains that will help rural households increase their income, nutrition, and food security. It is often said that USAID works to create the conditions for countries to graduate from aid to trade. That’s a major goal of Feed the Future as the U.S. Govern­ ment works to alleviate global hunger and poverty. Rob Ber­ tram, director of the Agricultural Research and Policy Office in USAID’s Bureau for Food Secu­ rity, sums it up: “The ALAD proj­ ect, in its review of 50 years of USAID progress in agriculture thus far, helps us to appreciate that Photo by U.S. Army Signal Corps U.S. Photo by journey and celebrate our many successes along the way.” ■

India Prime Minister Morarji Desai with U.S. President Jimmy Carter More about ALAD: The first phase of the ALAD work, with a retrospec- tive on USAID’s achievements and Barely a minute remained when Satisfied that the Gordian knot had lessons learned culminating in a Gilligan broke off the theological dis­ been cut, Gilligan immediately stood report and information sheets, is cussion and asked abruptly: “If the up, shook Desai’s hand, told him we scheduled to wrap up in fall 2011. United States were to offer foreign would meet with his top government But telling USAID’s story remains a assistance, would you be willing to officials the next day to hammer out work in progress. Anyone interested take it?” the details, and we left. Fifteen sec­ in providing documentation of what In a Zen-like response, Desai replied, onds remained. We did not look back. USAID has accomplished in the past “If we were willing to take it, would We resumed a full-fledged program five decades should contact Phil Stef- you offer it?” to India in a matter of weeks, which fen and Anne Williams, ALAD Barely perceptible affirmative nods continues to this day. Transmigrational activity co-managers, at psteffen@ ensued simultaneously on both sides. diplomacy had proven its worth. ■ usaid.gov and [email protected].

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 11 THE DOMINO

Photo by USAID Photo by EFFECT OF REFORM By Wade Channell and Elisa Walton

Today, countries such as Georgia are benefitting from a model that helped streamline business and daily life in former Central and Eastern Europe communist nations decades earlier.

A farmer harvests apples in Georgia.

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THE DOMINO N THE Republic of Geor­ unnecessary inspections, this process has also EFFECT gia of just a few years ago, reduced opportunities for corruption. McDonald’s wasn’t a fast The new system is straightforward, which OF REFORM food. The journey from pro­ allows managers like Megrelishvili to plan Iduction to plate used to be ahead of time: “When the cargo reaches the ter­ By Wade Channell and Elisa Walton arduous and long. Along the minal, I can fix precisely the timeframe of all Georgian border, McDon­ operations to be undertaken after the clearance ald’s trucks could be spotted process. Loaders, who waited for cargo in the languishing—sometimes garage for hours, sometimes even for days, can up to two or three days— now enjoy a normal work schedule and go home waiting for customs offi­ in time.” cials to inspect and clear In addition to the personal benefits for man­ their cargo. agers and loaders alike, the savings for busi­ The process was as nesses add up to an estimated $90 million arbitrary as it was frus­ annually. trating: “You could nev- The new customs regulations are just one of er say which terminal the many reforms that have moved Georgia was better or worse. All from number 112 to number 12 out of 181 were the same: a long countries ranked by the World Bank in its physical inspection pro­ annual Ease of Doing Business survey, all in the cess, poor professional­ span of four years. The transformation was ism, flourishing bribery, called “unprecedented” by World Bank econo­ and a permanent wasting mist Simeon Djankov. Georgia is now ranked as of time and nerves,” having a more attractive regulatory climate than according to Tamaz Meg­ France, Germany, and the Netherlands. re­lishvili, purchasing man­ Other results of this transformation include Today, countries such ager of McDonald’s Geor- more efficient hospitals, gas pipelines to heat gian franchises and T&K remote villages, and a range of improvements to as Georgia are benefitting Restaurants LTD. make government offices more responsive to cit­ from a model that helped Now, a series of customs izens. In Zugdidi, in western Georgia, local offi­ reforms by the Ministry of cials and a construction company were finally streamline business and Finance and the State Revenue able to build a children’s playground after regu­ Service have expedited clearance lations and paperwork were simplified. daily life in former Central and procedures, in part by promoting “The commitment of the Government of an efficient allocation of state Georgia was a key factor in the impressive impact Eastern Europe communist resources. The physical inspections of this project,” says David Gosney, who directed nations decades earlier. previously undertaken on all shipments the Office of Economic Growth in the Tbilisi were replaced by an automated, risk-based mission during the project. “The Government system to identify suspect cargo—with now worked with us at every step, from initial project only the 15 percent of cargo flagged as risky design, through implementation, and even receiving physical inspections. By eliminating design of the follow-on project. It wasn’t always

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 13 50TH ANNIVERSARY

assistant administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. Poland and the other former planned economies, emerging from economic stagnation in the 1980s, needed market- based structures, institutions, regula­ tions, and private-sector businesses. The United States contributed to the process through the 1989 SEED (Support For East European Democracy) Act passed by the U.S. Congress with bipartisan support. The law provided for critical assistance to promote democracy and economic reforms throughout Central

Photo by USAID Photo by and Eastern Europe. “From late November—when the A watermelon stall in Tbilisi, Georgia. Many small businesses in Georgia have SEED Act was passed—through Christ­ benefitted from reforms that streamlined business and property registration, and mas we were working night and day,” improved business regulation. said Donald Pressley, former USAID mission director in Poland. “We had easy finding the balance between pre- Both Poland and Hungary have six weeks left in 1989 to develop a determined performance targets and inspired the successful package of plan.” the flexibility to respond to real-time, business, legal, and institutional re- By December, Poland was suffering changing needs, but working directly forms implemented in Georgia. While from hyperinflation, a currency that with the prime minister’s office helped Hungary transitioned gradually to a could not be converted, and an ineffi­ us prioritize based on political will.” more market-oriented system, known cient economy with subsidies amount­ USAID provided comprehensive as “goulash communism,” Poland ing to 15 percent of the gross national technical and material support for the took a dose of “shock therapy”— product. All governmental services were process. For example, the Agency unleashing market forces soon after centralized, but the system had broken brought in tax experts to simplify the the first opposition government in the down and social benefits were deterio­ filing system only once the govern­ Eastern bloc took over in August rating; the regulatory framework and ment was in a position to act. USAID 1989. The Balcerowicz Plan, named financial infrastructure were also weak. also provided analysis, proposals, and for Poland’s visionary finance minister, The economy struggled due to a lack of implementation assistance on laws, eliminated price controls, abolished trained entrepreneurs with adequate regulations, and institutional capacity preferential credits for state-owned access to credit as well as an industrial building in support of Georgia’s dy- companies, and allowed companies sector incapable of adapting to the new namic reform agenda. to declare bankruptcy, among other conditions of a market economy. The rapid progress seen in Georgia had measures. To help Poland achieve the double another element as well—years of experi­ “Nineteen eighty-nine marked the transition from a centrally planned ence and knowledge from USAID’s work beginning of a new era. It was com­ economy to a private-sector led com­ in other parts of Central and Eastern pletely unexpected, and there was no petitive economy, and from a society Europe. Beginning with the earliest pro­ road map for transition. In the midst of ruled by a single-party political struc­ grams just after the fall of the Soviet bloc, all the hope and confusion, USAID had ture to a vibrant participatory democ­ USAID and its partners have built a deep to rethink every approach. That invest­ racy, USAID worked in partnership bank of expertise that yields positive ment is still paying off in the work with the Polish Government. The impacts around the world today. we do today,” said Paige Alexander, Agency provided technical advice and

14 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY

other support as Poland’s leadership our Polish counterparts, our own staff, passed but not implemented—to the privatized state-owned enterprises, and and our donor partners, combined government and private sector institu­ improved the regulatory and institu­ with a willingness to rethink and tions crucial to success. tional environment in which businesses rework approaches, the path for future Building on the first CLIR analysis and civil society operate. reformers has become clearer. Our conducted in Poland in 1998, USAID Over the next years, USAID supported work made a difference for Poland, and has now developed a series of policy Poland’s ambitious efforts to restructure the lessons learned continue to provide environment diagnostics, including a public debt, private banks, and set the a foundation for improved assistance.” gender-sensitive agricultural policy tool flailing economy on a stronger macro- And what a difference—Poland is used in the Feed the Future initiative, economic footing. Poland worked with now a member of the European Union. the Obama administration’s global food USAID, other U.S. Government security effort, led by USAID. agencies, and other development Tools born in Poland have partners to pull itself out of reces­ since been adapted and used sion and fundamentally trans­ on every continent. form its society and economy. “USAID’s ability to learn from the past has paid off,” DURING that time, USAID says Jock Conly, acting mission also worked directly with the director for Georgia. “What Polish private sector to rein­ took 10 years in Poland took vigorate the economy. Private only four in Georgia.” businesses needed financing USAID/Georgia is currently to grow and adjust to the new implementing the Economic market realities, and USAID/ Prosperity Initiative, a project Poland responded to this need that focuses on accelerating by creating a fund to provide growth in the private sector to loans to viable businesses. The help create a brighter economic

Polish-American Enterprise USAID Photo by future for all Georgians. And Fund, established in 1989, was lessons of Georgia—flexibility a commercial venture, started A woman harvests potatoes in the Shida-Kartli region in design, direct support to with sufficient capital to cover of Georgia. country-owned initiatives, and operating costs, but structured increased private-sector partic­ to earn enough income to become “One of the major lessons from our ipation in policy—will inspire the self-sustaining. work in Eastern Europe was the impor­ next generation of reforms. For businesses with little experience tance of the laws, regulations, and insti­ When Tariel Chanturia, one of Geor­- in a market economy, USAID helped tutions that underpin a well-functioning gia’s most renowned poets, wanted to entrepreneurs develop business skills— market economy,” notes Nick Klissas, publish his poetry, he found out that marketing, management, finance, and USAID senior commercial law adviser. he had to register as an individual a host of other fundamental abilities. Poland served as the starting point entrepreneur first. Instead of the night­ Says Eric Postel, assistant adminis­ for USAID’s well-established Com­ mare experience he expected, he was trator for USAID’s Bureau for Eco­ mercial Legal and Institutional Reform helped in no time—and with no nomic Growth, Agriculture and Trade: (CLIR) programs and tools. Frustrated bribe—thanks to the streamlined tax “When Poland began down the reform with slow progress in the early years of registration process. It was “a fairy route in 1989, there was no clear path reform, the Agency developed analyti­ tale” according to Chanturia. “A cou­ to move from a command economy cal tools for identifying constraints to ple of years ago it would have taken all to a market system. Thanks to the growth in the commercial sector, mov­ my lifetime, nerves, and half of thoughtful and successful efforts of ing beyond laws—which often were my honoraria.” ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 15 50TH ANNIVERSARY

FIRST PERSON FROM THE FRONT LINES

United States and its style of represen­ Testing Democratic tative democracy would gain credibil­ ity in Honduras and throughout Waters in Honduras Cen­tral America, and other important development and security priorities By Richard Martin and Robert Murphy would be advanced. U.S. Ambassador John Ferch and USAID/Honduras Mission Director Richard Martin began his career as an education adviser in the Anthony Cauterucci decided that Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. He served in several USAID should take the lead in the overseas USAID missions including Honduras, Egypt, and Peru. Since effort to assure the efficiency and transparency of the election. They his retirement in 2008, he has worked as a consultant on a number approached the National Election Tri­ of USAID programs. Robert Murphy was a Peace Corps volunteer in bunal (TNE) and agreed that USAID Nepal and worked as a USAID personal services contractor in Peru, would provide ballot paper, clear plas­ tic ballot boxes, ink, printing services, Nepal, Honduras, Guatemala, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Panama. a signature machine for the ballots, and election observers. To implement INETEEN eighty-five was and a disaffected population created this high-profile, politically critical an important year for de- the conditions for revolution. assistance, Cauterucci chose Bob Mur­ mocracy in Central Amer­ Honduras at the time was governed phy, who was a contractor working on ica. The Marxist Sandinista by President Roberto Suazo Córdova, a special USAID initiative in the east­ Nrevolution had taken control in Nica­ whose regime was characterized by ern region of Honduras. ragua and the United States was deter­ incompetence and corruption. Hon­ Bob was a trusted USAID veteran, a mined that neighboring countries durans were pretty much resigned to good Spanish-speaker, and knew how to would not follow suit. To promote its the likelihood that Suazo or a surro­ make things happen. What he was not priorities in the area, the United States gate would be perpetuated in power was an expert on international donor launched a program of military and through a fraudulent electoral process support for elections; his electoral expe­ development assistance in Central of some kind. There was no tradition rience amounted to voting. He imme­ America, including the establishment of transparent elections, and cynicism diately went to work researching re- of modern democratic processes and ran deep. A rigged election would dis­ quirements and initiating procurements. institutions. credit democracy and set back U.S. A signature machine was urgently Honduras was a keystone of this objectives in Central America. needed to put the TNE official signa­ strategy. It had a tortured history of The U.S. Government therefore ture on every ballot, as required by the coups and dictatorships, exacerbated decided to take the risk of becoming Honduran Constitution. Bob located a by its position as a banana republic directly involved in the upcoming machine that met the technical and that had often been manipulated by Honduran presidential election, hop­ legal requirements, placed the order, foreign economic and political inter­ ing that an honest election would and traveled to Miami to pick it up. ests. Honduras’ long border with make the citizens feel empowered and The machine was there waiting for him, Nicaragua invited cross-border subver­ install a government committed to but the supplier insisted on payment sion, even possible invasion. Poverty social and economic development. The paperwork that USAID/Honduras had

16 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY

not provided. After several fruitless phone calls, Bob finally bought the sig­ nature machine himself. He charged it to his American Express card, carried it back to Honduras on the plane, and settled up later with the USAID comp­ troller. Disaster was averted and the TNE went to work producing the bal­ lots with the required signatures. But another disaster was just around the bend. Long-lasting ink had to be at every electoral table; voters were required to dip a fingertip into the ink, leaving a long-lasting stain and mak­ ing it impossible for dishonest voters

to attempt to vote repeatedly at multi­ USAID Photo by ple polling stations on Election Day. After much research and consultation, Children involved in a USAID democracy program sing the Honduras national anthem. Bob found that the recommended ink The Agency has supported democracy programs in Honduras for five decades. formulation contained silver nitrate, a chemical used in photographic paper silver nitrate in the ink, if ingested (as attached, and they were re-packed in that turns black when exposed to light. opposed to having ones finger dipped their boxes. It deeply stains the skin and is difficult in it), was potentially carcinogenic. After many hours of hard work, all to wash off. Bob ordered 8,000 bot­ Obviously, the consequences of this 8,000 bottles had been re-labeled. tles—two for each of the 4,000 elec­ label were potentially disastrous. Vot­ Some ink had leaked into the water toral tables throughout the country. ers would see it and be afraid to vote; used to soak off the poison labels, and When the shipment of ink arrived, rumors would quickly spread that the everyone went home with their hands there was no place to store it. Normal government had supplied poisonous and arms blackened by election ink commercial storage sites and the Gov­ ink to scare off voters. When word got that didn’t disappear for days. Another ernment of Honduras—including the out that the United States had sup­ potential calamity had been averted. TNE itself—wanted nothing to do plied the ink, the reaction would be The second surprise was that the ink with it. They feared that it would be even worse. The election would almost looked clear, colorless, and trans­ tampered with as part of the expected certainly fail and the image of the parent—just like clean water. When electoral fraud, and that those respon­ United States would go down with it. asked, the ink supplier explained that sible for storage could be implicated. In an effort to salvage the situation, the silver nitrate changes quickly to Nobody would take the ink. In the Bob organized an emergency label- black when exposed to light and that end, the 8,000 bottles wound up in changing operation. A few friends along no other colored pigment is needed. Bob’s house in Tegucigalpa. One day, with their spouses and kids agreed to Not so in Honduras. Voters’ suspicions he decided to have a look at the ink help. An assembly line was formed one of fraud would cause them to assume and opened one of the boxes stacked in Saturday morning on the patio of Bob’s the worst—that water had been substi­ his house. He got two big surprises. house. Ink bottles were removed from tuted for the ink. Clear, ineffective ink First, he was shocked to find that all their boxes and placed into boiling could make it easy for dishonest voters 8,000 ink bottles were labeled with a water to soak for a few minutes; the to vote repeatedly and throw the election. skull and crossbones, indicating that bottles were removed and the offensive Crisis meetings ensued at the em- they were poison. Upon investigating, labels peeled off; the bottles were dried, bassy, the USAID mission, and the he was told by the supplier that the new labels reading “indelible ink” were continued on p. 30

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 17 50TH50th ANNIVERSARYanniversary

Nyalama Forest Land Use / Land Cover Change whose welfare depends on ensuring When You Can’t See the that their environment is managed sustainably. Forest for the Trees… Although locals have great pride in Nyalama ForestNyalama Forest the projects, it had always been diffi­- By Vicky Fakan Land Use / LandLand Use Cover / Land Change Cover Changecult to concretely measure the extent Nyalama Forest 1969 (Corona) and quality of the program’s impact. Land Use / Land Cover Change “Early biodiversity programs did not A partnership between USAID and of four of Guinea’s forest reserves, undertake widespread agriculture or the U.S. Geological Survey develops which cover more than 350 square income surveys, nor were they able to miles. This approach decentralizes invest in costly satellite surveys to Nyalamaan Forest inexpensive and effective way miles. This approach decentralizes invest in costly satellite surveys to control from the Guinean Forestry run ongoing comparisons,” said Ibra­- Land Useto monitor / Land the Coverimpact of forest-ChangeDepartment to local communities, hima Camara, USAID/Guinea’s rural Department to local1986 communities, (Landsat) hima Camara, USAID/Guinea’s1969 rural (Corona) conservation activities. 1969 (Corona) SAID has long been a major actor helping to conserve 1969 (Corona) Guin­­ea’s ea’s forest reserves, which replenish many of West 2007 (ASTER) 1986 (Landsat) UAfrica’s lifelife-sustaining-sustaining waterways. Now, a recent partnership between USAID a recent partnership between USAID 1969 (Corona) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Nyalama (ha) can 100%better measure just how well these can 90%better measure just how well these 1969 1986 2007 efforts80% are working. Officials from the Land Cover Class Names 1986 (Landsat) 70% two agencies believe the system—which Agriculture 75 163 150 two 60%agencies believe the system—which Gallery Forest 194 206 206 analyzes50% decades’ worth of satellite analyzes decades’ worth of satellite Bowé 206 594 681 data40% to measure impact—just may 1986 (Landsat) data30% to measure impact—just may Dense Forest 381 256 225 2007 (ASTER) 20% Wooded Savanna 6638 5994 7300

revolutionizePercentLand /Use Land Cover forest and conservation 10% Open Shrub and

monitoring0% worldwide. Tree Savanna 2400 2681 1331 “Before this1969 partnership,1986 only2007 about Total Area (ha) 9,894 9,894 9,894 Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA 1986 (Landsat) a third of worldwide forest conserva­- 100% Nyalama (ha) tion programs had monitoring and 90% 1969 1986 2007 evaluation systems in place, so we have 80% Land Cover Class Names evaluation systems in place, so we have 70% Agriculture 75 163 150 been unable to concretely track longlong-- 60% Gallery Forest 2007194 (ASTER) 206 206 term improvements or setbacks,” said 50% 40% Bowé 206 594 681 USAID/Guinea Mission Director Nancy Dense Forest 381 256 225 30% 2007 (ASTER) Estes. “The use of remote sensing tech­- 20% Wooded Savanna 6638 5994 7300 PercentLand /Use Land Cover Open Shrub and nology is revolutionary because it has 10% 0% Tree Savanna 2400 2681 1331 creatively solved the problem100% and allows 1969 1986 2007 Total Area (ha) 9,894Nyalama 9,894 (ha) 9,894

us and our Guinean partners90% to see with Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA 1969 1986 2007 2007 (ASTER) our own eyes the results of80% our work in 100% Nyalama Forest Reserve: land cover in 1969,Land 1986, Cover and 2007. Class Wooded Names savannaNyalama (ha) preserving Guinea’s forests.”70% is the predominant forest type. It has remained intact, retaining its density and 90% is the predominant forest type. It has remainedAgriculture intact, retaining its density1969 and75 1986 163 2007 150 For 18 years, USAID 60%has pioneered overall integrity. A minor level of cultivation within the reserve is permitted by the 80% Gallery Forest 194 206 206 conservation by increasing50% the involve­- forestforest managementmanagement plan,plan, andand itsits areaarea hashas beenbeenLand stablestable Cover sincesince Class1986.1986. Names 70% Bowé 206 594 681 ment of local people in the40% management Source: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS CenterAgriculture 75 163 150 100% 60% NyalamaDense (ha) Forest 381 256 225 30% Gallery Forest 194 206 206 90% 50% 20% 1969Wooded 1986 Savanna 2007 6638 5994 7300

PercentLand /Use Land Cover Bowé 206 594 681 80% 18 40% Open Shrub and www.USAID.gov 10% Land Cover Class Names Dense Forest 381 256 225 70% 30% 0% Agriculture 75Tree 163 Savanna 150 2400 2681 1331 60% 20% 1969 1986 2007 Wooded Savanna 6638 5994 7300 PercentLand /Use Land Cover Gallery Forest 194Total 206 Area (ha) 206 9,894 9,894 9,894 50% 10% Open Shrub and Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA 40% 0% Bowé 206Tree 594 Savanna 681 2400 2681 1331 1969 1986 2007 30% Dense Forest 381Total 256 Area (ha) 225 9,894 9,894 9,894

20% Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey,Wooded EROS Center, Savanna Sioux Falls, SD, USA6638 5994 7300 PercentLand /Use Land Cover 10% Open Shrub and

0% Tree Savanna 2400 2681 1331 1969 1986 2007 Total Area (ha) 9,894 9,894 9,894

Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA 50TH50th ANNIVERSARYanniversary

This satellite image comparison of the southern part of the Balayan-Souroumba National Forest from 1967, left, and 2007, right, confirms that tree density has significantly increased over the years—a very positive development that is a testament of long-term successessuccesses inin forestforest co-management.co-management. AreasAreas thatthat werewere onceonce openopen (light(light tones,tones, leftleft image)image) areare nownow quitequite wooded.wooded. NoteNote alsoalso thethe complete respect for the forest boundary, demarcated by the road. The images cover an area about 4.2 kilometers wide. ImageImage sources:sources: Corona,Corona, left;left; WorldViewWorldView I,I, right.right. development specialist. Until recently, USGS Landsatlandsat satellites, which have a educators, and significantly, develop­- thethe impactimpact hashas beenbeen hardhard toto gauge.gauge. moderate spatialspatial-resolution.-resolution. That means ment agencies such as USAID.USaID. The new collaboration between viewers can’t distinguish fine detail, USAIDUSaID and the USGS Earthearth Resourcesresources suchsuch asas singlesingle homes,homes, onon aa Landsatlandsat TOTO DETERMINEDeTermIne THETHe realreal impactimpact Observation and Science (EROS)(erOS) Cen­- image,image, butbut theythey cancan easilyeasily seesee largelarge of USAID’sUSaID’s 18 years of coco-management-management terter inin SouthSouth DakotaDakota isis exploringexploring aa structuresstructures suchsuch asas roadsroads andand areasareas ofof projects in Guinea, the USAIDUSaID mission promising new way to assess the effects general urban development. “With teamedteamed upup withwith EROSerOS in 2008 to under­- of conservation work by analyzing thesethese images,images, youyou cancan easilyeasily seesee thethe taketake somesome sophisticatedsophisticated beforebefore-and-after-and-after decades of satellite data in areas where patterns of natural and human land­- comparisons. Using 40 years’ worth of USAIDUSaID projects have been active. scapesscapes andand wherewhere andand howhow humanshumans areare imagery,imagery, includingincluding thethe Landsatlandsat series, impactingimpacting theirtheir environment,”environment,” sayssays thethe USAIDUSaID--EROSerOS partnership has suc­- FORFOr ALMOSTalmOST 40 years,years, EROS,erOS, Gray Tappan, a geographer with cessfully tracked how forest conditions which has been working with Agencyagency USGS. changed over time, both missions in West Africaafrica since 1987, SinceSince 1972,1972, usersusers inin thethe areasareas thatthat receivedreceived has collected and archived satellite worldwide have been GO ONLINEOnline USAIDUSaID assistance and in imagesimages ofof thethe Earth’searth’s land surface. Its able to purchase Landsatlandsat toto browsebrowse thethe areas that did not. images,images, takentaken byby civiliancivilian satellites,satellites, imagesimages fromfrom thethe USGSUSGS publicly available Allall four of the forest have traditionally been used for EROS.erOS. In 2008, USGS EROS data reservesreserves supportedsupported byby researchresearch andand aa widewide rangerange ofof environenviron­- decided to make its USAIDUSaID have shown rere-- mental, development, and conserva­- worldwide Landsatlandsat arar-- markable progress. tiontion purposes.purposes. chive available to the public, at no The images show that in nNyalamayalama For example, the center has collected cost. EROSerOS now shares this treasure Forest Reservereserve in northwestern Guinea, a series of images taken by NASAnaSa-- trovetrove withwith policypolicy makers,makers, scientists,scientists, continuedcontinued onon p.p. 3131

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 19 50TH ANNIVERSARY

FIRST PERSON FROM THE FRONT LINES

HAD THE PRIVILEGE of “Democratic Heart serving as the assistant adminis­ trator of the Bureau of Europe when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. in a Bolshevik Body”; IFrom their rebirth as free nations, the countries of Central and Eastern Eu­- Albania after the Wall rope (CEE) were way ahead of many aid recipients. By Carol Adelman The Czech Republic called for “trade not aid,” Poland was pushing us to move faster on privatization assistance, and Carol C. Adelman was a Foreign Service Officer for 12 years, serving Hungary’s small businesses were coming as a program officer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of out of garages all over the country, where Congo) and then in the Office of Nutrition and Health of the Near stealth entrepreneurs had been hiding them during the communist years. East Bureau. She returned to USAID as a presidential appointee from We were able to help these countries 1988-1993, served as assistant administrator for the Bureau for Asia quickly and efficiently due to new leg­ and Near East, and was serving as assistant administrator for the islation, the Support for Eastern Euro­ pean Democracy, or SEED, Act of Bureau of Europe when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. 1990, which allowed us to write our own streamlined procurement system; gave us the ability to work easily with small U.S. private institutions; and allotted one lump sum of money for all of CEE, thus eliminating country and functional earmarks and allowing us to distribute money based on per­ formance, rather than entitlement. My golden memory of these years is from Albania, a tiny country of fewer than 3 million people that had been ruled by the last Stalinist dictator, Enver Hoxha. The first USAID team to go there in 1991 came back with eye-open­ ing stories of ether still being used in hospitals, of just 200 cars in the entire country, of dilapidated infrastructure, Photo by Ed Anderson, U.S. State Department U.S. Anderson, Ed Photo by of the fanciest hotel in the capital city of Tirana offering its premiere guests hot Mother Theresa appears at a State Department ceremony hosted by Secretary of water for one hour each evening, of State James Baker, in background, Dec. 8, 1991. political prisoners tossed into camps for

20 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY

busily talking with the child’s nurses and caregivers. I walked alongside her and Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Trea­ sury John Robson, as she seemed to never stop moving. Robson and I were there to follow up on Baker’s trip, and to design assistance programs that responded to Albanian needs and desires. While walking with Mother Teresa, I asked her: “What can we do to help Albanians the most?” She turned and looked up at me straight in the eye, and answered: “Get them jobs. Get them jobs.” She clearly stood for sustainable development,

Photo by ChrisPhoto by Hill helping people to help themselves. Food shortages in Albania had reached crisis levels. In response, the Mother Teresa on a U.S. military plane blessing the first shipment of food aid to Albania. U.S. military flew in Meals Ready to Eat (MREs). The first American plane complaining in bread lines or for listen­ would consider success in the country’s loaded with MREs into Albania landed ing to Voice of America—and being transition from totalitarianism to democ­ on a bumpy, grassy runway with peas­ held there, along with their children, for racy: “We will be measured by the win­ ant women hoeing the adjoining field two or three decades. dows in our shops and how full they will and goats and cows wandering about. When James Baker—the first secre­ be with goods that people can buy.” Mother Teresa joined the hundreds tary of state to visit Albania—arrived My most interesting exchange with of other Albanians awaiting the plane in the summer of 1991, more than Ruli, however, happened over lunch in at this tiny airport. When the military 50,000 Albanians were cheering like King Zog’s palace, which towered over airlift-command crew came out of the mad. In a country that had been com­ the Adriatic Sea. At our small table, cockpit, the Albanians cheered and pletely repressed for a half-century, away from his official entourage, Ruli rushed the plane. They were especially where the United States had been peppered me with questions about amazed to see that the pilot was a painted as the devil incarnate, he was America. Was it true that teenagers 20-year-old woman. welcomed as a hero. I was told that 40 had their own cars? Were our stores Mother Teresa stood in a circle with percent of Albanians spoke English, really as long as their airfield in Tirana? the wide-eyed crew, handing out rosaries and that a popular name for children Finally, he leaned forward, looked me and blessing them. Before anyone could was Wilson, after President Woodrow in the eye, and asked me in a quiet voice: notice, she slipped away to the plane, Wilson. Even skeptics of humankind’s “Now, what is this tummy tuck?” went up the steps, and, standing over the innate desire for freedom and democ­ Thinking about Albania’s food shortage MREs, held her hands in prayer, closed racy understood the message here. crisis and all its other woes, I said sim­ her eyes, and blessed them. When the newly elected President Sali ply: “It’s an operation, Minister Ruli. This and other experiences in Alba­ Berisha was asked how we could best help, But, don’t worry; it’s not your problem.” nia reminded me, once again, how the he replied: “We have a democratic heart What I remember most fondly from United States can help people turn and a democratic head that are stuck in a Albania was meeting the most wonder­ their hopes into reality and how Bolshevik body.” The 28-year-old Minis­ ful Albanian, Mother Teresa. When I USAID, the State Department, and the ter of Finance and Economy Genc Ruli first spotted her, she was carrying an U.S. military can work together to help was optimistic when describing what he Albanian child with a club foot and people in need around the world. ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 21 50TH ANNIVERSARY

From Tragedy to Action: USAID’s Environmental Trajectory

Indigenous communities located at the shorelines of the Gatún River have received technical assistance and training from USAID to help develop sustainable tourism.

N the border between Ecua­ participate in a program with the Gov­ work around the globe. Environmen­ dor and Colombia, commu­ ernment of Ecuador under which they tal programs have become one of the nities of Cofan Indians are receive annual payments for upholding larger components of USAID’s portfo­ using improved cocoa-pro­ conservation agreements. lio—and a key factor in the design of Oduction techniques to increase their These conservation efforts in Ecua­ all projects. income as well as to reduce pressure to dor, supported under USAID’s Initia­ To manage this effort, USAID convert neighboring forests to agricul­ tive for Conservation in the Andean employs 44 environmental specialists tural lands. Three indigenous groups in Amazon, are just one example of throughout its overseas missions as well this highly biologically diverse region USAID’s innovative environmental as 37 staff in Washington. Of these 81

22 www.USAID.gov Photo by USAID Photo by

From Tragedy to Action: USAID’s Environmental Trajectory

specialists, 33 were brought in through experts on loan from other U.S. Gov­ urgency. USAID had no environmental USAID’s Development Leadership Ini­ ernment agencies. Well-established fed­ procedures and no environmental offi­ tiative as budding Foreign Service Offi­ eral procedures ensure careful evaluation cers. Environmental consciousness was cers. For almost 30 years, the American of potential environmental impacts, and growing, albeit slowly, at home and Association for the Advancement of Sci­ mitigation of negative effects of all abroad due to an emergent environmen­ ence (AAAS) fellows have provided USAID’s development efforts. tal movement, but it was not yet seen as invaluable technical support. Addi­ This was not always the case. an integral part of international devel­ tional expertise is provided by in-coun­ In the early 1970s, environmental opment work. Then, during a USAID- try environmental specialists as well as issues had not yet taken on their current funded campaign to eradicate malaria

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 23 50TH ANNIVERSARY

reorient towards more environmentally sound plans. Hester recalls a proposed project in Peru: “The initial plan was to clear-cut the trees from vast areas of Amazonian rainforest in the eastern part of the coun­ try. The thought was that if trees grew so well, then this could become the bread­ basket of South America with wide-scale planting of crops in place of trees.” The environmental impact assessment found the agricultural potential would

Photo by USAID Photo by be minimal and that clearing the land would be an environmental disaster, The mouth of the Chagres River feeds 40 percent of the water for canal operations adversely affecting people who lived in and 80 percent of the water for human consumption in Panama City and Colón, that part of the country. Instead, USAID which represent more than half of the country’s population. redesigned the project to use the jungle sustainably as a forest and create incomes in Pakistan, five people died from over- apprehension that new regulations that would far exceed what could be exposure to the insecticide malathion. would prove too onerous. earned under the original plan. USAID was sued by a consortium of Robert Otto, the Agency’s first re- U.S. environmental groups, which gional environment officer in Latin AFTER SUCCESSFULLY embed­ brought the Agency’s environmental America and Caribbean, found that ding environmental assessments and impact assessment procedures under when he arrived, people were “happy to safeguards into the Agency’s work, the scrutiny and sparked action. see me . . . as well as a bit edgy. The edgy next step was to insert environmental In 1977, USAID developed a set of part had to do with the prospect that components into existing projects. One environmental regulations that required environmental impact issues would stop, such project was a rural development it to systematically consider the poten­ or at least delay, most development activ­ effort in northern Costa Rica, along the tial environmental impacts of all its ities and projects because of the need for border with Nicaragua, in the early actions. However, this was a new area lengthy impact analyses. [However], I 1980s. The effort planned to improve for the Agency, and was not well under­ found that mission project development roads, schools, and health clinics as part stood by its staff. With only a couple of officers were usually quite concerned of a comprehensive plan to address rural environment officers on its payroll, pro­ about avoiding negative impacts.” poverty and avert destabilization from active thinking and planning, as well as In 1979, Jim Hester—currently the conflict across the border. However, an enforcement, lagged behind. Agency environmental coordinator assessment predicted that new roads Says Jane Stanley, who began work­ and director of USAID’s Office of would bring heavy deforestation and ing at USAID/Panama in 1977 as the Natural Resources Management— more people to the area, among other mission environment officer: “I got the was brought on to help energize a impacts. Not only did construction need feeling when I first got this assignment rewrite of the regulations and lead to proceed in an environmentally sound that many in the mission viewed this as USAID’s efforts to implement them way, but the pristine and ecologically a new fad that would go away after a more methodically, creating a system critical Caño Negro river and wetlands, while… that environmental assessments of mandatory assessments of the envi­ used as a habitat for a range of migratory were another pesky box to check off in ronmental impact of USAID projects. threatened and endangered species, the project design process.” These new regulations, known as needed to be protected. For others, genuine concern about Regulation 216, helped USAID spot Responding to these concerns, the environment was combined with problematic projects early on, and USAID supported the creation of a

24 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY

wildlife refuge to both protect the natu­ Authority with a ministerial-level exec­ cattle ranching; and developed a water­ ral habitat and provide revenues from utive director. shed governance structure that is a eco-tourism, creating an incentive for With USAID’s help, RENARE model for decentralization. local citizens to support the project. “gained watershed management expe­ “Today, the Caño Negro reserve is a rience by implementing soil conserva­ ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS thriving, though remote, bastion of eco- tion, improved pasture practices, and weren’t always focused on preserving tourism,” said Hester. 4,000 hectares of reforestation,” ac- nature from the influence of people. In On a much larger scale, efforts in cording to David Bathrick and Bruce Sri Lanka, the tables were turned. In neighboring Panama starting in the Kernan, former USAID officers, in an the 1980s, USAID and other donors late 1970s integrated a host of activi­ evaluation report on the project. supported a large irrigation and rural ties ranging from protection of parks USAID also helped raise awareness of development program in the Mahaweli and forest reserves to environmental environmental issues more broadly, Ganga basin. An environmental assess­ governance. These efforts re- ment of the project indicated sponded to a series of ecosys­ that elephants, deprived of their tem impacts stemming from natural habitat, would threaten deforestation and cattle graz­ local populations and their ing that potentially jeopar­ crops by straying into agricul­ dized the operation of the tural areas. Working with the Panama Canal. Sri Lankan Parks and Wildlife Bob Jordan was a mission Department, USAID sup­ project development officer ported an effort to create na- when he helped design the Pan­ tional parks, and corridors ama Canal Watershed Project connecting them, to accommo­ in 1978. The project was date elephant movements. The designed to mitigate the impacts aim was to preserve habitats of through a conservation pro­ both the elephants and the local gram that protected 95,000 citizens. hectares of natural parks and USAID Photo by As implementation of envi­ reserves in the Panama Canal ronmental work surged in the watershed, and provided techni­ USAID has helped to improve community incomes by field, safeguards continued to be cal assistance to improve the building environmentally friendly, women-run private codified in Washington. In the Government of Panama’s water­ and community nurseries located in the Panama Canal 1980s, Congress passed regula­ Watershed. shed management capacity and tions requiring environmental increase environmental aware­ impact assessment, and conser­ ness among citizens. leading to a number of locally based vation of tropical forests and biodiver­ “It sparked my life-long interest in environmental NGOs. sity. This legislative action spurred natural resources management,” said USAID’s watershed management further proactive attempts to address Jordan recently. work in Panama, which continued environmental issues. One crucial aspect of the program was over a span of 30 years, not only pro­ To meet the congressionally man­ working with Panama’s Renewable Nat­ moted the creation of protected areas dated requirements, USAID ramped up ural Resources Directorate (RENARE). in the Panama Canal Watershed, but its technical staff. By the mid-1980s, 10 Although at first RENARE had limited also promoted environmental regula­ environmental officers were located in capabilities, with ongoing USAID help tions for protection and sustainable field offices throughout the world and in it grew into a semi-autonomous in- management of natural resources; Washington. In 1982, Hester, along stitute. Eventually it became a fully strengthened government institutions; with USAID Science Adviser Howard autonomous National Environmental promoted sustainable agriculture and continued on p. 32

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 25 For Kyrgyz Farmers, A MODEL PARTNERSHIP Photo by Guljamal Chokmorova, KAED Guljamal Chokmorova, Photo by

USAID’s Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development project helped to stimulate the production of 2,500 metric tons of corn and sunflower for high-quality edible oil. Over 800 farmers and 50 seed producers received training on modern cultivation.

By David Mack food insecure. Economic opportunity growth and creating access to finance for is also constrained by the fact that small businesses. While this support T SEEMS THAT tiny, land­ two-thirds of the country’s 5 million allowed Kyrgyzstan’s shopkeepers and locked Kyrgyzstan has seen it all inhabitants live in rural areas, yet only traders to improve their cash flow, the in recent years: drought, harsh 7 percent of the land is arable. country’s small farmers lacked the qual­ winters, ethnic tension, and a USAID has been active in Kyrgyzstan ity fertilizer or adequate machinery to Ipopular uprising. As a result of these since the country’s independence in adapt to a demand-driven agricultural challenges, both natural and man- 1992, and opened an office a year later to market. Farm production in Kyrgyzstan made, an estimated 47 percent of the support the transition to a market econ­ is made more uncertain by frequent population lives in fear of hunger or omy. USAID’s early programs were water shortages, flooding, border clo­ starvation or is otherwise considered focused on unleashing private-sector sures, and social unrest.

26 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Persistent threats to the food supply Increasing food security is a major a farmer from northern Kyrgyzstan. “I in the country prompted USAID to U.S. international development goal, was very happy not only with the high move beyond stopgap assistance and and creating sustainable new markets yield, but also with the quality of the develop a sustainable solution. In and supply chains is a necessity for seeds that had high output, which 2001, the Agency invested $1 million the private sector. “Over the course of meant that I could sell my seeds for a in a two-year pilot project with the our two-year partnership with the better price.” International Fertilizer Development Eurasia Group, both these goals are Additionally, 1,200 kilograms of Center (IFDC) to facilitate trade and being met in a sustainable way,” said livestock feed was distributed through technology transfer between agro- Cole. Through the partnership, farm­ private-sector markets to ensure the input dealers and farmers in southern ers receive a supply of high-quality survival of a targeted 70,000 dairy Kyrgyzstan. Crop yields dramatically seed, crop-protection products, and cows (14 percent of all dairy cows in increased between 25 and 35 percent, access to the newest agricultural tech­ Kyrgyzstan) during the 2008-2009 a resounding success, which stimu­ nology and machinery at subsidized winter months. The mortality rate lated additional USAID investment prices. among these animals was just 3.6 per­ in the Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Pioneer is providing quality hybrid cent, compared with 13.5 percent for Development (KAED) program. seeds to farmers while Du Pont and unassisted animals. Among program- USAID extended its support to IFDC Monsanto are contributing a range of assisted farms, the average milk yield in 2003 to reach more farmers, and in products to protect their crops. John rose 26 percent from the same period 2006 to replicate the program’s suc­ Deere has contributed $1.95 million the previous year. cesses in northern Kyrgyzstan, and worth of agricultural machinery, includ­ The combination of a highly pro­ again in 2008 to respond to a food ing tractors, planters, cultivators, spray­ ductive crop yield and an effective crisis. ers, and harvesters required during the livestock management campaign dur­ In 2009, while the Agency was growing season. These critical agro- ing the particularly cold winter months expanding this partnership, it identi­ inputs complement USAID’s technical staved off what would have surely been fied a new private-sector alliance with assistance program, which provides a food crisis. the Eurasia Group LLC Switzerland— business training to 120 local input “Through our technical assistance Pioneer, John Deere, DuPont, and dealers and distributors, cultivation and activities, partnerships with private Monsanto. Together, they built upon product usage trainings to 750 com­ companies, and the provision of U.S.- the previous successes of KAED to mercial farmers, and other activities to financed fertilizer and seed to over help move the country beyond sub­ link farmers with output markets. 40,000 farmers, project beneficiaries sistence agriculture toward greater As a result of a decade-long effort in have already improved yields in key food security. Kyrgyzstan, roughly 123,000 commer­ food and feed crops by 20 percent,” The current project, known as cial and smallholder farmers have said Hiqmet Demiri, chief of party for KAED Follow-On, was formed received USAID support, and are able the program. through a USAID Global Develop­ to produce enough for commerce and ment Alliance (GDA)—the premier larger distribution. Producing 4,000 JUST AS THE original KAED proj­ model for public-private partnerships metric tons of winter wheat, for the first ect was ending in the spring of 2010 since 2001. At its core, GDA reflects time in many years, the country met and the project was celebrating the the current realities that a project able the annual demand for wheat harvests successful 2009 harvest, political tur­ to sustain itself through the capital with a record-making yield in 2009. moil and ethnic violence in Kyrgyz­ marketplace is more likely to survive, Bread wheat production increased by stan jeopardized the agricultural and that, says Erin Cole, USAID’s 40,000 metric tons to a total of 1.2 mil­ supply system, making seed, fertiliz­ GDA liaison in Central Asia, “many of lion, the highest production level in ers, and other agro-inputs scarce. the largest issues in development Kyrgyzstan in the last 15 years. Kyrgyzstan’s southern communities require solutions that no single actor “The results exceeded my best around Osh and Jalalabad were most could hope to tackle alone.” expectations,” said Kurbanaly Mitiev, affected by a sudden wave of ethnic

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 27 50TH ANNIVERSARY

violence in June 2010 that displaced name throughout the country. It cur­ of agriculture. “This will set the stage thousands of citizens from their homes rently works with 20,000 farmers to for receiving high yields of agricultural and disrupted local markets. plant USAID-funded improved wheat crops in the future.” To counter the agricultural setbacks varieties and 80,000 farmers to collab­ Since opening Kyrgyzstan’s rela­ caused by the unrest and ensure the orate with private-sector partners and tively small and isolated agricultural stability of the program, USAID, the adopt “best practices” in farming and market to large international suppliers, IFDC, and the Eurasia Group LLC animal care. over 40 new business relationships Switzerland joined together to support “[USAID’s] support significantly have been established with an initial the KAED Follow-On project for reduced the shortage of seed material value of $4 million and growing. The additional seed and funding to recover in the country, expanded the acreage Association of Agribusinessmen of the high output from 2009. sown with crops compared to last year, Kyrgyzstan, a non-profit organization The successes of the KAED and and increased the use of high-quality established with the support and assis­ KAED Follow-On projects have trans­ certified varieties and hybrids,” said tance of the KAED project to repre­ formed the program into a household Torogul Bekov, Kyrgyzstan’s minister sent and coordinate the work of the country’s agriculture producers, sup­ pliers, and dealers, has been instru­ mental in fostering the growth of budding Kyrgyz agro-businesses as they enter world markets. USAID and a local Kyrgyz com­ pany—Oasis Agro, LLC—have also created a new public-private partner­ ship to promote poultry and high- value feed crops. The partnership is providing farmers with training and access to key business resources in the feed and poultry industries, thus improving production of high-quality edible oil and eggs. Because of the project’s success in Kyrgyzstan, talks with private-sector partners have already begun in an effort to expand the program to other countries in Central Asia.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR has always had a significant role in development, but the benefit of public-private part­ nerships is becoming an increasingly important part of sustainable devel­ opment.

Photo by Guljamal Chokmorova, KAED Guljamal Chokmorova, Photo by In 2001, USAID embraced a new approach to partnerships that fully Sabira Jumabaeva’s corn field in Kyrgyzstan yielded 15 tons of corn in 2010 welcomes and encourages direct col­ thanks to high-quality seeds provided by Eurasia Group Kyrgyzstan as part of a laboration with the private sector. The USAID program. move was driven by the recognition

28 www.USAID.gov 50TH ANNIVERSARY Photo by Daniya Baisubanova, KAED Baisubanova, Daniya Photo by

USAID’s seed assistance voucher program provided high-quality seeds to over 34,000 farmers across Kyrgyzstan, including this family in Jail Rayon.

that new stakeholders were making its development programs. With more persistent efforts to attract interna­ significant contributions to interna­ than 900 alliances formed with over tional companies to the relatively tional development and developing 1,700 distinct partners over the past small Kyrgyz market. This alliance has countries. These new actors included decade, the Agency has not looked already proven to be a mutually bene­ non-governmental organizations back. According to alliance officer ficial and effective relationship that (NGOs), private voluntary organiza­ Cole, “The GDA program was de- will be expanded through the KAED tions (PVOs), cooperatives, faith- signed to combine the assets and Follow-On project. based organizations, foundations, experience of strategic partners and to “The alliance serves as a prime cor­porations, financial institutions, the leverage their capital, investments, example of how public-private part­ higher education community, remit­ creativity, access to markets, and nership can address food security tances from diaspora communities, skills to solve complex problems fac­ issues through increased agricultural and even individuals. ing government, businesses, and productivity. KAED hopes its suc­ In light of this new reality, USAID communities.” cesses will serve as a signal to other launched the GDA model of public- The continued GDA partnership firms in the region and lead to new private partnerships in 2001 to deepen between USAID and the Eurasia public-private initiatives that address the scale, impact, and sustainability of Group LLC Switzerland is a result of food security needs,” said Demiri. ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 29 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Fair Elections continued from p. 17

TNE. The ink was tested repeatedly to determine how quickly and completely it blackened when touched by skin and exposed to light. After much debate, the TNE decided that the ink would work and should be used, but that voters should not know in advance about its lack of color. If people knew what the ink contained, the TNE feared, some­ one with knowledge of chemistry would figure out that it could be removed using bleach. Over the next few weeks, election materials were distributed to thousands of voting sites throughout the country, energetic campaigning took place by USAID has supported democracy and governance in Honduras since 1961, political parties, election workers were including the primary elections in 2008 and general elections in 2009. trained, and voter registration and edu­ cation took place. Everything seemed dark. Furthermore, the polling place everywhere re-opened and the election to be going smoothly, in spite of linger­ was in a school that was not electrified was a success. By the end of the day, the ing concern that somehow, somewhere, and had no lights. At the appointed electoral process and the TNE were electoral fraud might take place. hour, the doors opened and the first praised by the observer teams for being In the final lead-up to Election Day, voters entered. In the near darkness of efficient and transparent. the mood of the country turned festive, the schoolrooms, the work of checking Twenty-five years later, in 2010, almost euphoric; it appeared that a voting lists, confirming ID credentials, Honduras experienced another chaotic clean election was finally going to take and voting was difficult. But worst of and non-democratic change of govern­ place in Honduras and Hondurans all, without light, the USAID ink on ment. Obviously, creating democracy were going to freely choose the good voters’ fingers didn’t change color. By is not quick or easy. USAID’s success­ government they wanted. It felt his­ 6:15, dismayed local officials closed the ful—if white-knuckled—support for toric, and it felt good. polling stations and announced that Honduras’ 1985 election didn’t mirac­ USAID staff members traveled with water had been substituted for the ink, ulously transform the country’s history international observers to view the vot­ invalidating the election. This scene of troubled and weak democratic insti­ ing throughout the country. One of was repeated simultaneously in thou­ tutions, but it undoubtedly made an them, Dick Martin, a USAID/Hondu­ sands of places across Honduras. important short-term contribution to ras education officer, helicoptered to a Moments later, the head of the TNE U.S. foreign policy objectives in Cen­ remote city with a contingent of U.S. came on the national radio network tral America at the time. congressional staffers. The polling places and announced that the ink was a It demonstrated once and for all that were scheduled to open at 6 a.m. Com­ chemical that took a couple of minutes elections in Honduras can be credible, munity officials proudly received and to change color. At the same time, God fair, and transparent if the conditions escorted the observer team past long smiled on Honduras, the sun came out, are right. Hard work, risk-taking, com­ lines of cheerfully expectant voters. and the voters’ fingers turned black. mitment, a sense of humor, and team­ However, 6 a.m. didn’t dawn the The sense of relief was palpable and work—characteristics of USAID way it should have; the sun had yet to spread almost instantaneously by radio missions throughout the world—clearly rise, and the morning was cloudy and to the whole country. Polling places saved the day in Honduras. ■

30 www.USAID.gov 50th50TH anniversaryANNIVERSARY

GuineaGuineaBalayan-Souroumba ForestForest ConservationConservation and Fello-Selouma Forests continuedcontinuedLand fromfromUse p.p. /1919 Land Cover Changeemphasizeemphasize thethe needneed toto looklook afterafter thethe isis betterbetter nownow thanthan inin thethe 1960s.1960s. “The“The Vicinity Map forestsforests inin thethe longlong term.term. ForestForest covercover empowermentempowerment ofof thethe locallocal communicommuni-­ thethe communitycommunity hashas respectedrespected anan isis visiblyvisibly denserdenser andand evidenceevidence ofofFello-Selouma thisthis tiesties hashas delivereddelivered tremendoustremendous outout-­ importantimportant chimpanzeechimpanzee habitat.habitat. InIn regenerationregeneration isis confirmedconfirmed byby locals,locals, comes,comes, withwith localslocals activelyactively plantingplanting Souti-YanfouSouti-Yanfou ForestForest ReserveReserve inin southsouth-­ whowho saysay thatthat waterwater sourcessources thatthat hadhad treestrees andand goinggoing soso farfar asas toto reducereduce westernwestern Guinea,Guinea, theythey showshow evidenceevidence drieddried upup areare nownow flowing.flowing. destructiondestruction byby relocatingrelocating entireentire vilvil-­ Balayan-Souroumba thatthat twotwo decadesdecades ofof chaoticchaotic slash-and-slash-and- InIn neighboringneighboring Balayan-SouroumbaBalayan-Souroumba lageslages toto lessless sensitivesensitive sites,”sites,” sayssays Estes.Estes. burnburn agricultureagriculture hashas beenbeen supersed-supersed- andand Sincerey-OursaSincerey-Oursa ForestForest Reserves,Reserves, ByBy contrast,contrast, thethe imageryimagery showsshows thatthat ededBalayan-Souroumba byby managementmanagementBalayan-Souroumba practicespractices and Fello-Selouma and thatthat Fello-Selouma thethe images imagesForests Forests alsoalso showshow thatthat treetree densitydensity thethe Fello-SeloumaFello-Selouma Reserve,Reserve, whichwhich Land LandUse / UseLand / LandCover Cover Change Change remainedremained outsideoutside USAID’sUSAID’s projectproject Vicinity Map Vicinity Map area, has been subject to creeping agri- Fello-Selouma area, has been subject to creeping agri­ Fello-Selouma Land Cover / Land Use Percent Change culturalcultural encroachmentencroachment andand steadysteady de-de- Balayan-Souroumba 1986 2004 2007 Agriculture 3.1% 4.6% 5.6% forestation.forestation. Balayan-Souroumba Gallery Forest 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% Balayan-Souroumba InIn mostmost cases,cases, thethe reservesreserves areare nownow Bowé 7.3% 7.3% 7.3% Dense Forest 1.9% 1.5% 1.5% inin betterbetter conditioncondition thanthan atat anyany timetime Wooded Savanna 71.4% 70.0% 70.8% since the 1986 set of images. While Open Shurb and Tree Savanna 16.0% 16.3% 14.5% since the 1986 set of images. While Settlements 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% thisthis partnershippartnership usesuses satellitesatellite imagesimages Land Cover / Land Use Percent Change Land Cover / Land Use Percent Change Fello-SeloumaBalayan-Souroumba 19861986 2004 2004 2007 2007 Balayan-Souroumba 1986 2004 2007 to look downward, one local says that AgricultureAgriculture 3.1%8.6% 4.6% 10.3% 5.6% 14.6% to look downward, one local says that Agriculture 3.1% 4.6% 5.6% Gallery Forest 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1986 (Landsat TM) Gallery Forest Forest 0.1% 0.1%0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% Bowé 7.3% 7.3% 7.3% now,now, “we“we seesee aa wayway forward.”forward.” Bowé 7.3% 7.3% 7.3% Bowé Dense Forest 1.9%1.7% 1.5% 1.7% 1.5% 1.7% Dense Forest 1.9% 1.5% 1.5% Wooded Savanna 71.4% 70.0% 70.8% “The results are not only a source of DenseWooded SavannaForest 71.4% 70.0%3.0% 70.8% 2.7% 2.7% “The results are not only a source of Open Shurb and Tree Savanna 16.0% 16.3% 14.5% Open Shurb and Tree Savanna 16.0% 16.3% 14.5% Wooded SavannaSettlements 0.1%70.8% 0.1% 65.1% 0.1% 65.4% Scale 1 : 300 000 Settlements 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% optimismoptimism andand hopehope forfor Guinea’sGuinea’s forfor-­ Open ShurbFello-Selouma and Tree Savanna 198615.9% 2004 20.3% 2007 15.6% km 1986 2004 2007 Fello-SeloumaAgriculture 8.6% 10.3% 14.6% SettlementsAgriculture 8.6% 10.3% 14.6%00 0 0 1986 (Landsat5 TM)10 ests, but the information is already Gallery Forest 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1986 (Landsat TM) ests, but the information is already Gallery Forest 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Bowé 1.7% 1.7% 1.7% Bowé 1.7% 1.7% 1.7% Dense Forest 3.0% 2.7% 2.7% beingbeing usedused byby USAID’sUSAID’s partnerspartners toto Dense Forest 3.0% 2.7% 2.7% Wooded Savanna 70.8% 65.1% 65.4% Scale 1 : 300 000 Wooded Savanna 70.8% 65.1%Fello-Selouma 65.4% Scale 1 : 300 000 Fello-Selouma Open Shurb and Tree Savanna 15.9% 20.3% 15.6% km identify what works and to help guide Open Shurb and Tree Savanna 15.9% 20.3% 15.6% identify what works and to help guide Settlements 00 0 0 5 km 10 Settlements 00 0 0 5 10 futurefuture conservationconservation activitiesactivities throughthrough-­ Fello-Selouma Fello-Selouma Fello-Selouma Fello-Selouma outout thethe region,”region,” sayssays GregGreg Booth,Booth, whowho Balayan-Souroumba workedworked onon thethe partnershippartnership beforebefore Balayan-Souroumba Balayan-Souroumba becomingbecoming thethe U.S.U.S. DepartmentDepartment ofof Balayan-Souroumba Balayan-Souroumba Balayan-Souroumba AgricultureAgriculture regionalregional programprogram managermanager forfor ArmeniaArmenia andand Georgia.Georgia.

ThTHANKSAnkS TOTO TTHEhE evidenceevidence genergener-­ atedated byby thethe USAID-EROSUSAID-EROS efforts,efforts, thethe partnership’spartnership’s boundariesboundaries havehave ex-ex- pandedpanded outsideoutside ofof thethe USAIDUSAID projectproject areas.areas. AlthoughAlthough thethe GuineanGuinean ForestryForestry 2004 (ASTER) 2007 (ASTER) 2004 (ASTER) 2007 (ASTER) Department has given up some direct Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA Department has given up some direct Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA controlcontrol overover forestforest management,management, thethe Balayan-SouroumbaBalayan-Souroumba andand Fello-SeloumaFello-Selouma2004 (ASTER) ForestForest Reserves:Reserves: landland covercover inin 1986,1986, 200420042007 (ASTER)effectivenesseffectiveness ofof thethe communitycommunity ap-ap- andand 2007.2007. Balayan-SouroumbaBalayan-Souroumba benefitedbenefited fromfrom USAID-supportedUSAID-supported effortsefforts toto proachproach hashas wonwon thethe authoritiesauthorities over.over. Produced by: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA introduceintroduce andand useuse co-forestco-forest management,management, whilewhile Fello-Selouma,Fello-Selouma, whichwhich servedserved asas aa ThisThis formform ofof forestforest regulationregulation isis nownow aa control site for this study, did not benefit from a co-forest management plan. In control site for this study, did not benefit from a co-forest management plan. In governmentgovernment imperativeimperative forfor allall ofof GuinGuin-­ Balayan-Souroumba,Balayan-Souroumba, thethe areaarea ofof woodedwooded savannasavanna andand densedense forestforest hashas beenbeen stable,stable, ea’s forest reserves. Said one govern- andand treetree densitydensity hashas increased.increased. AgriculturalAgricultural encroachmentencroachment increasedincreased slightlyslightly alongalong ea’s forest reserves. Said one govern­ thethe easterneastern fringe.fringe. The The Fello-SeloumaFello-Selouma ReserveReserve hashas sufferedsuffered fromfrom higherhigher levelslevels ofof mentment agencyagency representative:representative: “We“We areare deforestationdeforestation resultingresulting fromfrom agriculturalagricultural encroachment.encroachment. nownow educators,educators, notnot policemen,”policemen,” andand Source:Source: USUS GeologicalGeological Survey,Survey, EROSEROS CenterCenter “our“our victoryvictory isis ifif thethe experiencesexperiences ofof

FRONTLINESFRONTLINES •• November/DecemberNovember/December 20112011 3131 50TH ANNIVERSARY

efforts were aimed at conservation and the results were poor. In contrast, over the last 25 years, farmer-managed nat­ ural regeneration of on-farm trees has grown from a few thousand hectares to over 5 million hectares in the Sahel and continues to expand. Driving this expansion were increased crop yields and greater resilience to climatic vari­ ability. But, in addition to these eco­ nomic drivers were changes in the forest codes that conveyed forest man­ agement authority and responsibility from the state to farmers and commu­ nities. These two factors—economic

Photo by Gray Tappan, US Geological Survey, EROS Center EROS US Geological Survey, Tappan, Gray Photo by incentives and local control over resources—were critical to successes.” The edge of the Balayan-Souroumba forest in the dry season. Tree density and With global climate change an in- diversity is excellent up to the forest perimeter. Communities are now managing creasing concern, USAID is also consid­ the forest resources in partnership with local forest agents. ering how its activities affect greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts that a co-management are shared and used “This creative partnership between changing climate is already having (and elsewhere.” USAID and USGS has not only gen­ will continue to have) on the globe and Indeed, this positive philosophy is erated a new and inexpensive way on USAID’s work. To that end, the already spilling over Guin- of monitoring and Agency plans to release a new Climate ea’s borders into the whole benchmarking the Change and Development Strategy that Mano River region, includ­ GO ONLINE impact of this pro­ provides guidance and a roadmap for ing Ivory Coast, Liberia, to read more ject in Guinea, says USAID’s climate change work, includ­ and Sierra Leone. USAID about USAID’s Booth. “It has also ing integration of climate considerations is working with partners environmental work provided a solid ba- across its development portfolio. there to implement action sis for conservation­ Today USAID takes an integrated plans to extend effective forest-man­ ists every­where to illustrate, justify, approach to natural resources manage­ agement practices through the Mano and share information about what ment. Land and water must be man­ River Forestry Initiative. works.” ■ aged skillfully so they are able to produce food for the world’s growing population. Water quality must be Environment not only takes into account natural maintained and improved to keep pop­ continued from p. 25 resources such as water, forests, and ulations healthy. Forests must be main­ land, but also economic growth and tained by people who live in and near Minners, initiated USAID participation good governance. USAID’s Mike them, and depend upon them for their in the AAAS program to attract highly McGahuey, who has worked on nat­ livelihoods. qualified scientists to work on environ­ ural resources management issues in If decades ago the environment was ment and science. Africa for more than 30 years, high­ not yet seen as an integral part of inter­ USAID’s diverse history of environ­ lights the importance of such an national development work, today, at mental work has led to a natural- approach: “In the African Sahel in 50, the Agency is that much wiser for resource management approach that the 1970s, project-driven reforestation its years. ■

32 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY

MESSAGE FROM USAID Bureau for Food Security Chief FEED THE FUTURE: A Model for Doing Development Differently

By PAUL WEISENFELD

T USAID, we’re doing helping to sustainably feed com­ business differently. munities in developing coun­ And that includes how tries, we’re building a foundation we help other coun­ to prevent crises that have the Atries feed their people and drive potential to lead to human con­ economic growth. flict. We are also increasing our As the head of USAID’s new own national security here in the Bureau for Food Security (BFS), United States. I’m thrilled to be able to celebrate The current drought and fam­ our work promoting global food ine in the Horn of Africa pro­ security in this month’s edition vides a stark illustration of why of FrontLines. I’m proud to be a short-, medium- and long-term part of BFS, which was created in strategies (see page 34) to ensure part to lead the U.S. Govern­ food security are needed. USAID’s ment’s Feed the Future initiative, efforts, under the leadership of a whole-of-government, multi- the Bureau for Democracy, Con­ agency effort to address the root flict and Human­itarian Assis­ causes of hunger that limit the tance, to provide food and other potential of millions of people. Paul Weisenfeld emergency assistance to those in Reflecting the values of the need must continue. But equal- American people, President undernutrition. And because an esti­ ly important, Feed the Future’s Barack Obama announced Feed the mated 70 percent of the poor in devel­ approach reflects our firmly held stance Future at the 2009 G8 Summit in oping countries live in rural areas, where as development professionals that aid L’Aquila, Italy, where global leaders agriculture can be a key driver to foster is not an end in itself; our goal is to committed to “act with the scale and economic growth, which in turn is one help create conditions where it is no urgency need-ed to achieve sustain­ of the fundamental forces to transform longer needed. able global food security.” the developing world and eradicate A key approach of Feed the Future is Why is there such urgency to achieve poverty. working with partner countries and oth- global food security? Because almost 1 Food security is also about so much er donors to co-invest in selective, tar­ billion people—more than one-seventh more than just food—in addition to geted regions that have the best chances of the world’s population—suffer from agriculture and nutrition, food security of flourishing, and in value chains (see chronic hunger, and each year more is inextricably linked to economic, page 42) that have the greatest potential than 3.5 million children die from environmental, and human security. By continued on p. 39

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 33 FEEDING THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA By Jessica Hartl

In 2010, USAID forecasting tools warned that Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia would be hard hit on many fronts by serious drought conditions. Now, in the midst of the region’s worst crisis in decades, the U.S. Government—among other interventions—is ramping up its multi-pronged emergency An Ethiopian woman feeds Plumpy’nut food response and planting the peanut paste to her 1-year-old daughter

at a therapeutic feeding center. seeds for long-term, country-led USAID House-Moshi, Aysha Photo by agricultural resiliency.

34 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY FEEDING THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA By Jessica Hartl

T WAS not unexpected. USAID failed. The drought is the worst the sanitation, and hygiene services through­ has been working in the eastern region has seen in 60 years, affecting out the Horn of Africa as well as cash Horn of Africa for years, so cli­ more than 13.3 million people. In May and vouchers to strengthen livelihood mate scientists, USAID teams, 2011, FEWS NET reported: “This is the opportunities. Iand partners saw the cyclical droughts most severe food-security emergency But countries cannot be sustained by happening more and more often. From in the world today.” emergency aid. To address challenges every 20 years, to every 10 years, and Starting in October 2010, USAID pre- such as global food insecurity, longer- now more frequently. positioned food in the region, ramped term solutions must be part of the equa­ Soaring global food prices, combined up food assistance programs in Ethio­ tion. The U.S. Government’s Feed the with drought in 2007 and 2008, hit pia and Kenya, and considered ways to Future initiative aims to reduce poverty the region hard. In response, USAID respond in the famine-affected areas of and undernutrition by supporting coun­ worked with government, U.N. and Somalia. These areas have largely been tries to develop their agriculture sec­ NGO partners to increase the resil­ inaccessible due to the threat of the ter­ tors as a catalyst to generate broad-based iency of drought-prone communities. rorist group al-Shabaab, which has held economic growth. These efforts have helped many escape de facto control of much of southern As the overall framework to address the worst effects of the current drought. Somalia for several years. global hunger, Feed the Future recog­ But for some, the scorched landscape Despite these challenges, the U.S. nizes the importance of food and other returned too soon, before they had a Government is using all available tools humanitarian assistance, such as nutri­ chance to recover. In August 2010, to help those in need. Projects under­ tion, during crises to save lives and protect USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems taken by USAID and its livelihoods. The initia­ Network (FEWS NET), in conjunction partners include food dis­ tive also supports conflict with partners such as the U.S. Geological tribution, nutrition, health, GO ONLINE mitigation and good gov­ Survey, NASA, and the National Oce­ water and sanitation, eco­ For more on the ernance efforts required anic and Atmospheric Administration, nomic recovery, and agri­ crisis in the Horn of to ensure that reductions warned of La Niña weather conditions on cultural development. Africa and how to in poverty and gains in the Indian Ocean. La Niña is a natural The largest part of the get involved, visit nutrition stick. change in sea-surface temperatures that response, food assistance www.usaid.gov/fwd occurs every few years. The phenomenon through USAID’s Office SOMALIA IS perhaps would reduce rainfall and cause drought of Food for Peace, amounts the most complicated in parts of the Horn. Officials from the to two-thirds of current U.S. Government coun­­try in one of the world’s most del­ organizations expected Ethiopia, Soma­ emergency assistance to the Horn. In icate regions. Not surprisingly, it has lia, and Kenya to be hit the hardest. addition, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign borne the brunt of the drought. Accord­ The predictions came true—both Disaster Assistance has provided critical ing to UNICEF, as a result of this crisis, the autumn 2010 and spring 2011 rains life-saving health; nutrition; and water, a child dies in Somalia every six minutes.

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 35 FOOD SECURITY

Fleeing Severe Drought north, the lack of access in southern (EFSP), food is purchased locally and in a Country at War Somalia has exacerbated the drought regionally, which saves on distribution After making the difficult decision to conditions, resulting in the July 2011 dec­ time and shipping costs. flee their homes due to worsening laration of famine in six southern areas. Additionally, in Somalia, USAID is drought conditions in southern USAID’s response to the current cri­ providing $13.2 million to private volun­ Somalia, thousands of women, men, sis began with the FEWS NET alert in tary organizations to support cash trans­ and children are embarking on an arduous 20- to 30-day trek to reach fall 2010. fers to households faced with extreme Dadaab, Kenya—home to the largest Shortly after this forecasting tool food insecurity, enabling them to pur­ refugee camp in the world. Many are warned of impending trouble, the Agen- chase foods directly in their local mar­ undernourished. All are physically ­cy prepositioned approximately 19,000 kets. These cash programs are a rapid and emotionally exhausted. metric tons of food in the region. In fis­ method of getting cash resources into Their first stop is one of three cal year 2011, USAID has contributed people’s hands. They not only give benefi­ recently established reception more than 31,000 metric tons of food ciaries the freedom to purchase the kinds centers where they receive aid for WFP distribution in accessible and quantities of food that they prefer, assistance from the American areas of the country, including Somali- but also help infuse cash into the local people: high-energy biscuits, a 21-day land, Puntland, Mogadishu, border economy, which in turn helps local shop­ food ration of maize meal, wheat areas with Kenya and Ethiopia, and keepers and farmers. flour, vegetable oil, pulses (beans, peas, or lentils), corn-soya blend some central areas in Somalia. EFSP resources also have been used flour, and a variety of non-food The Agency is also using innovative to purchase regional ready-to-use ther­ items to meet their basic needs new food aid programs to complement apeutic foods to treat 66,450 acutely prior to formal registration by the WFP food distribution. Under the new malnourished children, primarily in the Government of Kenya as refugees. Emergency Food Security Program southern areas of Somalia. In fiscal year 2011, USAID provided food commodities valued at $50.7 million to support the reception centers and ongoing monthly food distributions managed by the World Food Program for Dadaab’s more than 440,000 registered refugees. USAID is the World Food Program’s largest donor—both globally and for the Dadaab refugee operation.

Limited access has played a large role in shaping the current situation. Historical- ly, USAID has been the largest food aid donor for Somalia. However, in January 2010, the World Food Program (WFP) suspended part of its emergency opera­ tion because the security risks became too high in the areas controlled by al-Shabaab. Between 2008 and 2010, 14 WFP staff were killed while providing food assis­ USAID House-Moshi, Aysha Photo by tance in Somalia. While WFP has con­ tinued to operate in accessible areas in the Ethiopian women at a therapeutic feeding center in a pastoralist camp in Dire Dawa.

36 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY

Across Somalia’s two borders, in A Model of Preparedness in Ethiopia Kenya and Ethiopia, a more encourag­ If Somalia has borne the brunt of the current drought and ensuing famine, Ethiopia ing panorama has evolved amidst the has fared comparatively better. The reasons are manifold, but among them includes a concerted government and donor response following a prior crisis. crisis. “In both countries, where gover­ nance is strong and U.S. Government After a severe drought in 2003, the Government of Ethiopia and donors designed and launched the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), the largest labor-based investments can reach people in need, social safety net program in Africa. The USAID-supported PSNP focuses primarily on prior development investments have chronically food-insecure households in 318 woredas, or districts, which consistently paid off, and stable environments have suffer food gaps of three months or more because of poverty and little access to food. allowed emergency aid to reach those This program is a flagship component of the government’s food security program. in need,” says Greg Gottlieb, sen­ The PSNP aims to protect rural families’ assets so they are not forced to sell off ior deputy assistant administrator in livestock or send school-aged children to work to buy food to cover consumption USAID’s Bureau for Food Security. gaps during lean seasons. It is also intended to improve community assets through In Ethiopia, Africa’s largest labor- conservation (e.g., reforestation, anti-erosion, improved water sources) and based social safety net program—put infrastructure (e.g., feeder roads, farmer training centers) improvements made through labor-based public works. in place after a 2003 drought—is reaping large dividends by mitigating According to Dina Esposito, director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace, the program works like this: “Most donors supporting the PSNP pool their resources, the impacts of the current drought. which the Government of Ethiopia makes available to the designated district-level USAID is now helping 2.3 million of authorities. These local authorities distribute cash or in-kind food payments the 7.5 million chronically insecure to designated beneficiaries and oversee the public works activities. USAID’s individuals supported by the Govern­ Food for Peace resources go through our PVO [private voluntary organization] ment of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety awardees, who partner with the local authorities to provide both food payments Net Program through a combination and resources for the public works activities, as well as training for local officials implementing the program.” of in-kind food assistance and financ­ ing for public work projects that im-­ In 2011, USAID’s PVO awardees supported 2.3 million of the 7.5 million chronically food-insecure individuals that fall under the PSNP umbrella, providing them food prove food security. (See sidebar.) for three to six months and also funding public works projects in 59 districts. In Kenya, the Agency supports WFP Ethiopia’s PSNP allows these 7.5 million chronically food insecure individuals to drought-relief operations such as food retain their assets and maintain their food intake levels during hunger periods, rather distribution, and nutrient-fortified feed­ than selling their assets and depending on emergency-relief support year after year. ings for vulnerable mothers and chil­ dren affected by drought or floods, as well as large numbers of refugees at Led by USAID, Feed the Future is opportunities for the poor and improved camps along the border. an interagency effort designed to im- food security for all. But there is another key difference. prove agricultural development in 19 In Kenya, as in Ethiopia, USAID Both Kenya and Ethiopia are Feed the count­ries, helping to prevent future assistance is addressing both emergency Future focus countries—beneficiaries of food crises. It concentrates on small­ aid and long-term development. international efforts to build internal holder farmers, many of whom are wo- Regions receiving emergency aid are agricultural resiliency. In 2009, Presi­ men, as critical drivers of this potential most vulnerable to cycles of flood and dent Barack Obama pledged $3.5 billion economic growth. drought, and largely found in the arid to support agricultural development and The details may be complex, but the and semi-arid lands of Kenya and Ethio­ improved global food security, which lev­ theory is simple: Improving the yields pia. In and around the refugee camps, eraged another $18.5 billion in pledges of subsistence farmers through tools including the world’s currently largest from the international donor commu­ like improved fertilizers, drought-and- camp at Dadaab, Kenya, on the border nity in the wake of the 2007/2008 food- disease tolerant seeds, and finding with Somalia, the U.S. Government pro­ price crisis. In the United States, this markets for their crops in environmen­ vides crucial emergency supplies and sup­ pledge became Feed the Future. tally sustainable ways, means better port to ballooning numbers of refugees.

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 37 FOOD SECURITY

Support to these refugees did not dams—all things that support pastoral these arid lands to save crops that would begin with the current crisis. USAID’s or agriculture-based livelihoods. otherwise wither and die from drought. refugee assistance started in 1992, sup­ Since 2010, the Agency has also been But in Kenya as a whole, as in Ethio­ porting over 2 million refugees fleeing supporting WFP’s pilot cash-for-asset pia, a longer-term framework has been conflict after the fall of the Siad Barre programs in select parts of Kenya. Previ­ crafted to buttress these emergency mea­ regime in Somalia. Currently, there are ously, WFP had investigated which areas sures. Feed the Future supports projects more than 920,000 Somali refugees in of the country would be most appropriate that build food security by improving the Horn of Africa region and Yemen, for the use of cash transfers and identified key agricultural value chains, conducting many of them having left their home two—Mwingi and Tharaka districts— crop research, promoting better natural country because of poverty, conflict, that are classified as semi-arid lands and resource management, and including im- drought, and extreme hunger. have ongoing food-for-assets activities. proved water management processes. Though much of the emergency Through the water conservation proj­ Feed the Future efforts in Kenya began food assistance is distributed directly ects, beneficiaries have been able to in September 2010, emphasizing the role to refugees, WFP has also created extend their water sources for an extra of small-scale farmers, women in agri­ some food-for-asset programs for ref­ two to four months, and increase their culture, and the private sector while ugee-hosting communities and other yields for sorghum and other crops. complementing efforts by the Govern­ drought-affected Kenyans. Food for This is particularly important in the ment of Kenya and other donors to assets involves providing individuals a Turkana region, which has benefited enhance agricultural and dairy produc­ wage in food for their participation in greatly from the construction of ponds tion and marketing. construction activities such as rainwa­ for thirsty livestock and improved In Ethiopia, Feed the Future efforts ter catchments, irrigation canals, and irrigation to allow communities in focus on strengthening selected value chains—including maize, wheat, cof­ fee, honey, livestock, and dairy—while also encouraging private-sector engage­ ment and improving market function. Regionally, USAID’s mission cover­ ing the whole of East Africa is also working to open up access to regional markets with a focus on staple crops and livestock, as well as reduce trade barriers and increase the capacity of key regional African institutions and firms as part of the Feed the Future platform.

THE LATEST forecasts indicate aver­ age rains in the fall of 2011 in the most drought-affected areas of the region, and conditions are expected to improve in most pastoral areas. Even so, FEWS NET forecasts that famine conditions will persist in southern Somalia into at least January 2012.

Photo by Tony Karumba, AFP Karumba, Tony Photo by As long as millions of people around the world remain vulnerable to fluc­ Aden, a 3-year-old Somali refugee recovering from severe malnutrition, is fed by his tuating climates and food prices, the father at a stabilization center in Hagadere in August. U.S. Government will continue to use

38 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY

Message from Paul Weisenfeld continued from p. 33 WHAT THE F***? Internet Appeals Ask People to Think Bigger, Act Bolder to alleviate poverty and end under­ The F-word. Coming out of the mouths of top-tier entertainers. That’ll nutrition. Feed the Future strategies get a second look…and listen. The suggestively potty-mouthed celebrities are country-owned and country- (and a few politicians, too) are part of a symbolically bleeped Public Service led, fostering the kind of national Announcement, or PSA, called “The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity.” pride and enduring spirit exhibited The attention-seeking Internet ad is not only asking for a donation for famine by our inaugural Feed the Future relief in the Horn of Africa, but is stepping beyond the usual appeals of this sort with a call to action. The ads ask people to pressure politicians around “Hunger Hero” David Nyange (see the globe to make long-term investments in agriculture in developing countries online version of FrontLines). that struggle to feed their people. Our work to create this lasting While not exactly the sexiest of marching orders, the ad does appear to be change within focus countries cen­ part of a larger global effort that acknowledges donor fatigue, a global-get- ters around important cross-cutting involved spirit especially among young people, and that the root causes of issues such as empowering women famine are preventable. (see page 44), as well as cross-sector The ONE Campaign says it created the PSAs as part of its broader campaign collaboration (see page 46) with to support long-term strategies to end famine. both traditional and non-traditional USAID’s own PSA, “FWD,” is taking a similar albeit less provocative tact. partners. FWD stands for Famine, War, Drought. The campaign—it includes USAID’s work over the past 50 appearances by actors Josh Hartnett, Geena Davis, and Uma Thurman; years has resulted in some great suc­ model Chanel Iman; and professor and vice presidential spouse Jill Biden— cesses in agriculture and food secu­ provides instructions to help people make financial donations to relief efforts rity (see page 8), many of them and includes a primer about the origins of the current crisis. previously untold. In addition to The aim is to unite the public, NGOs, and corporations to respond to the progress outlined in this issue, the immediate crisis and to promote the kinds of long-term measures to we’ve also added 62 new agriculture prevent famine that characterize the Feed the Future initiative. The tagline: “Do more than Foreign Service Officers; expanded donate. Forward the role of the presidentially ap- the facts.” pointed Board for International Go online to watch Food and Agricultural Devel­op­ the ONE Campaign’s ment, or BIFAD; and continued “F Word” and to promote new and innovative sci­ USAID’s “FWD” entific research. videos and for Our goals are ambitious, as they other links. should be for an issue that goes to the heart of USAID’s development agenda. Over the next five years, emergency-response mechanisms to providing a potential platform for Feed the Future’s interagency part­ address immediate needs in large- further developmental growth.” ners together will aim to help an scale crises. According to USAID Administra­ estimated 18 million vulnerable Dina Esposito, director of Food for tor Rajiv Shah, the U.S. Government women, children, and family mem­ Peace, explains: “In the face of devas­ will also continue to view long-term bers—mostly smallholder farm­ tating crises, the Agency supports food security—support for the devel­ ers—escape hunger and poverty. As activities wherever possible that not opment of countries’ agriculture sec­ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham only provide relief but also enable tors—as the best preemptive response Clinton has said: “The question is communities to protect and rebuild and most effective tool to curtail not whether we can end hunger, but their assets and infrastructure, thus future food crises. ■ whether we will.” ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 39 FOOD SECURITY

growth and impaired cognitive devel­ Rwandan Fruit Salad opment. Children can also suffer from anemia, goiter, and night-blindness By Christine Spetz when they are deficient in specific micronutrients, namely iron, iodine, Nutrition education program at district hospital is helping close the and vitamin A, respectively. knowledge gap and is fighting malnutrition one classroom at a time. In Rwanda, 44 percent of children under age 5 suffer from chronic mal­ nutrition according to 2010 Demo­ VERY day, Josephine Muka­ participated in a nutrition education graphic and Health Survey preliminary mana* straps her 18-month- program at Kibagabaga Hospital in results. old daughter to her back and Rwanda’s Gasabo district. “After hospital staff conducted a walks the short distance from The 11-month program—the first of small survey of malnutrition in the Eher home to the market. During the its kind at Kibagabaga Hospital— Gasabo area, we discovered that the walk, she composes a grocery list in launched in August in response to sur­ problem is not so much a lack of food, her head. There was a time when vey findings that showed many but rather the choices being made about Mukamana’s list would not have in- children in the district are under­ what to eat. The biggest problem is cluded locally grown fruits such as weight and malnourished. Malnutri­ knowledge. Understanding which foods bananas, oranges, pineapple, and pas­ tion in children can cause irreversible, keep the body healthy and help it grow,” sion fruit, but that was before she long-term damage such as stunted says Dr. Christian Ntizimira, acting director at Kibagabaga Hospital. “Chronic malnutrition is associ­ ated with a number of long-term fac­ tors including chronic insufficient protein and energy intake, frequent infection, sustained inappropriate feeding practices, and poverty. Some causes of malnutrition among chil­ dren under 5 are insufficient food intake, infectious diseases, household food insecurity, and inappropriate care for children and women,” says Josephine Kayumba, nutrition spe­ cialist at USAID/Rwanda. The nutrition education program that Mukamana participated in re- ceives funding from the USAID- financed HIV/AIDS Clinical Services Program, which is run by IntraHealth International. The effort aims to com­ bat malnutrition by teaching the Gasabo community about the impor­

Photo by Christine Spetz, IntraHealth ChristinePhoto by Spetz, tance of nutrient-rich foods and how to prepare these foods in the most A fruit salad takes form during a nutrition education program at Rwanda’s nutritious way. In addition, moth­ Kibagabaga Hospital. ers enrolled in the prevention of

40 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY

mother-to-child transmission services energy, and her skin is improving,” From Hunger to Famine and their children are the primary tar­ Mukamana says. Vitamin-deficient get group for participation in order to skin is prone to developing rashes or Hunger: The sensation that comes minimize the side effects from antiret­ becoming dry and thick. from a lack of food in a person’s roviral drugs and to strengthen the “When others learn more about nutri­ stomach. immune system. tion it will change the way they live and eat. People will realize that their children Chronic Hunger: Hunger becomes AT THE PROGRAM launch, Muka­ can be healthy too,” she adds. chronic when a person doesn’t eat enough to get the energy he or she mana, along with 50 mothers accom­ “In general, Rwanda produces enough needs to lead an active life. panied by their children under 5, food to overcome malnutrition prob­ received a lesson on nutrition and lems in the country. However, due to Undernutrition/Malnutrition: The fruit—the theme of that day’s pro­ the limited food in the standard diet, outcome of insufficient food intake gram. During the program, the wo- children’s nutrient requirements are and repeated infectious diseases. men learned about the relationship not being met,” says Kayumba. “More It includes being underweight for between nutrition and child develop­ education is needed across the country one’s age, too short for one’s age (stunted), dangerously thin for one’s ment starting at birth; the importance on how to diversify the contents of height (wasted), and deficient in of hand washing and other good meals, including the appropriate quan­ vitamins and minerals (micronutrient hygiene practices when preparing tity, quality, and frequency to feed a malnutrition). UNICEF says one- food; and the need to include appro­ child, as well as proper food prepara­ third of all child deaths in the world priate amounts of carbohydrates, pro­ tion and feeding practices.” can be attributed to undernutrition. teins, vitamins, minerals, and fats in In September, the nutritionist at Ironically, malnutrition can also refer their daily diets. Kibagabaga Hospital took the pro­ to overnutrition, or “globesity.” “I learned that I’m not always prepar­ gram to another health center in Underweight: This is measured ing nutrient-rich foods like vegetables Gasabo district to give a second educa­ by comparing the weight of a and fish,” Mukamana says, adding that tional session. As part of this session, a child against children of his or her she now regularly includes small fish, group of mothers learned to make a same age who are considered particularly the dry ones called “Indag­ vitamin-rich stew. The program was well nourished and healthy. ara,” from the market in the meals she scheduled to offer a third classroom prepares, in addition to carrots, cauli­ session this fall for district community Wasting: This term indicates acute malnutrition, reflecting a recent flower, spinach, peppers, and onions. health workers with the aim of encour­ and severe situation—usually As part of the program, Mukamana aging them to talk more about nutri­ starvation or disease—that has led also participated in a demonstration of tion with their clients. to substantial weight loss. how to prepare a fruit salad using The program aims to reach a differ­ locally available produce. ent group every month and educate Famine: The United Nations Although Mukamana says she and 250 to 300 families in the area. declares a famine when at least her husband cannot afford to purchase In the future, hospital staff also 20 percent of a population consumes all the fruits needed to make a salad want to reach schools, local leaders, fewer than 2,100 calories of food a day; when malnutrition rates exceed every day, they buy enough produce to and public institutions with essential 30 percent for children; and when make sure everyone at home eats a nutritional information to prevent more than two people per 10,000 banana, an orange, or a piece of pine­ malnutrition and the kinds of non- people die each day (or when there apple after every meal. The family is communicable diseases like diabetes are four child deaths per 10,000 also consuming more vegetables and that it can lead to. ■ people each day). protein on a daily basis—small changes Sources: United Nations, World Food that are starting to make a difference. Christine Spetz is with IntraHealth Program, UNICEF, U.S. Centers for “My daughter is happier now [that Disease Control and Prevention she’s eating healthier]. She has more *Name has been changed for privacy reasons.

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 41 FROM SOUP TO NUTS: Reviving Mozambique’s Cashew Industry

Cashew farmers and their children sell roadside as part of Mozambique’s informal cashew trade. Around three- fourths of the country engages in agriculture, mostly subsistence farming. Photo by Kelly Ramundo, USAID Ramundo, Kelly Photo by

By Kelly Ramundo conflict and unfavorable economic pol­ with the countries’ more informal road- icies left it crippled in the late 1990s, side sellers to produce over 60,000 tons ASHEW may be informally according to John McMahon senior of the nut, about half of which were known as a poor man’s crop, agriculture policy adviser for USAID/ exported for around $40 million. but that reputation may have Mozambique. During the last five What is clear is that over the past more do to with the sandy, years, the Mozambican cashew pro­ decade, the beloved nut has reemerged Cnutrient-poor conditions in which the cessing industry, with USAID assis­ as one potential path out of poverty for crop thrives than its impact on farm­ tance, generated approximately 4,500 rural Mozambicans up and down the ers’ incomes in parts of East and new jobs in rural Mozambique, and production chain: from the farmers Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and contributed directly to the income of who grow it to the factory workers South America. When cultivated skill­ 22,500 family members. Thirty-nine who process it. Buoyed by ballooning fully, the bean-shaped under-hanging percent of those new jobs are held by demand, and with USAID assistance, of the juicy, bitter fruit can be a life- women. the cashew is helping to transform the changing commodity. In most districts where factories are economic structure of rural areas in In Mozambique, a once dominant located, they are the only source of wage one of the world’s poorest countries. cashew sector has slowly been regaining income. Since 2002, a rash of small, If Mozambique’s cashew industry steam in recent years after decades of labor-intensive factories have combined can be imagined as a pyramid, at its

42 www.USAID.gov FROM SOUP TO NUTS: FOOD SECURITY Reviving Mozambique’s Cashew Industry base are the country’s roughly 3.7 processing industry to export the ker­ say: ‘How can we influence here?’” million small-scale, subsistence farm­ nels to higher-end buyers in the West. explains USAID’s McMahon. ers, 1 million of whom engage in In his factory, Martins pays his cashew production—managing an AT THE OPPOSITE end of the chain, employees a guaranteed minimum sal­ estimated 18 million trees in the at CondorNuts in Anchilo, Nampula ary and treats them well: offering child country’s northeast. province, hundreds of Mozambicans care and up to two meals during their USAID and its partners are helping operate foot pumps to shell raw cashews, shifts. If the value chain continues to reintroduce the lucrative tree to small­ their hands stained an oily black from improve, Martins is convinced that holder farmers, teaching growing, the acidic shell liquid. Instead of being Mozambique can reemerge to rival Bra­ grafting and pruning techniques for shipped abroad in their raw form, as zil, India, and Vietnam as a premier maximum yield, and encouraging most of Mozambique’s cashews are, or exporter of processed nuts. them to unite into associations to pool roasted on open fires and sold cheaply Jeanne Downing, a USAID value- crops and fetch higher prices for their on the side of the road in the informal chain expert, explains that a functioning raw material. market, these high-quality cashews are value chain is not about com­petition And with world prices rising and being processed for export mainly to among industrial buyers and local expected to remain steady, life is Europe and the United States with sellers, but rather, symbiosis: “In the changing for many growers in Mozam­ USAID assistance. case of cashews, you’re not really com­ bique’s cashew production areas located Because of how easy it is to break a peting with your neighbor; you are in Nampula, Zambezia, and Cabo cashew, and the premium paid for per­ really competing with Vietnam. You’re Delgado provinces. fect nuts, humans are better than really competing with Brazil. And un- Arlindo Chaleira received plants machines at shelling the cashews. At less, as an industry, you can find a way and the technical know-how to see its two factories, Condor employs of working together, none of you will them thrive through USAID imple­ around 2,000 workers to both extri­ win,” she says. menter ADRA (Adventist Develop­ cate the fragile nut and then export it to ment and Relief Agency). With just Europe for further processing (flavor­ IN MOZAMBIQUE, AS in many one hectare of land, he is the epitome ing, roasting, and retail packaging). of the countries where USAID works, of the smallholder farmer benefiting Silvino Martins is a young Mozam­ the Agency and its partners are active from the nuts’ global popularity, and bican businessman and the manager at up and down the value chain: impart­ from a network of USAID-supported Condor, one of the 12 cashew-processing ing technical knowhow to farmers; technical advisers. factories in Nampula province. helping processors access finance, and “I used to plant things any which Though he is situated at the top end then working with them to ensure way,” he says. “This project teaches me of the value chain, he knows—thanks healthy competition and standards for how to plant. Life has changed. With in part to USAID-supported technical workers; fostering public-private part­ this knowledge and one hectare, I can advisers—that his success is inextrica­ nerships; helping with quality control get 500 kilos [of nuts].” bly linked to that of the farmers that for the end product and marketing it Chaleira now combines his crop provide his raw material and the work­ to international buyers; and even work­ with other growers in his farmers’ ers processing it. ing to influence the policy environ­ association, and with the profits, he Because of these linkages, Martins ment for the industry as a whole. has made enough to place all eight of is looking at ways to help his suppliers In the case of Mozambique’s Con­ his children in school, an anomaly in increase their yields. dor, the Agency has helped partially rural Mozambique. “What you are getting now is some guarantee a bank loan to get the fac­ But the farmers are only one part a of the processors working to encour­ tory up and running and see that it long chain linking crop, industry, and age more planting of quality seedlings. expands. markets in the Southern African coun­ Though it might be five years until McMahon compares the full range of try. The value of cashew increases con­ those come into production, you are USAID assistance to a three-legged stool: siderably where there is a functioning seeing some interest by industry to continued on p. 48

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 43 Photo by Agathe Diama, ICRISAT Agathe Diama, Photo by

Empowering Women to Feed and Lead

By Kimberly Flowers, Alina Paul, and Elisa Walton

HE U.S. hunger and food managing household consumption and nations, and the world,” Secretary of security initiative, Feed the food preparation. State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a Future, is improving the lives But a woman’s world is often laden Sept. 19 U.N. General Assembly event of smallholder farmers by in- with constraints—from less land own­ highlighting women and agriculture. Tcreasing food production, improving ership; to less access to credit, exten­ Reaching female farmers is a top nutrition, expanding access to markets, sion, and other services; and less ability priority for Feed the Future to trans­ and boosting incomes. Many of the to hire labor on their farms. Too often, form agriculture and achieve a sustain­ farmers are women, who play vital roles these production constraints go unrec­ able, long-term impact in food security in agriculture and food security. They ognized. Closing gaps in women’s ac- and nutrition. This can include foster­ participate in paid employment, trade, cess to resources increases agriculture ing leadership among women in pro­ and marketing as well as many unpaid productivity and reduces hunger. ducer groups, encouraging the growth activities such as tending to crops and “When we liberate the economic po- of women-owned farms and enter­ animals, collecting water and wood for tential of women, we elevate the eco­ prises, designing and delivering gen­ fuel, caring for family members, and nomic performance of communities, der-sensitive training, and introducing

Malian Aïssata Konaté is president of her local women’s group, supplying female farmers with high-yield seeds. 44 FOOD SECURITY

new crops and innovations to increase producing more nutritious crops. Most but lacked the experience and techni­ crop productivity. importantly, the famers now make five cal knowledge to sustain a business. For example, one Feed the Future hor­ times more income a month. When the project contacted them, ticulture program in Tanzania targets In Honduras, the United Nations’ they found the ponds filled with con­ women in the community by working 2008 Gender Inequality Index esti­ taminated water and unhealthy fish. with women’s groups and encouraging mates that the country suffers a 68 The project—also implemented by other, established groups to include more percent loss in human development as Fintrac—trained the farmers on pond female members. The program empha­ a result of gender inequality. Although management, fish weighing, breeding, sizes gender equality as a guiding princi­ there has been a rise in employment and feeding as well as best practices for pal and provides trainings that benefit for women over the last two decades, water management to produce larger, entire families. Trainings take place at most openings are for low-skill, low- healthier fish that will provide not times that are convenient for women and paying jobs with poor working con­ only nutrients and vital protein to include nutrition education. The pro­ ditions. A Feed the Future-funded the local community, but also a self- gram is implemented by Fintrac, a project in Honduras aims to lift more sustaining food resource and source woman-owned U.S.-based com­ of income. pany that has been leading agri­ In Mali, where women do cultural solutions to end hunger more than one-third of the farm and poverty for more than 20 work, and nearly 68 percent of years and has a long legacy of the population is considered promoting the participation, au- poor, increasing opportunities tonomy, and well-being of wo- for women can have a power­ men in all of its projects. ful impact on productivity and In Tanzania, half of the pro­ agriculture-led growth. There, a gram’s field managers are wo- Feed the Future-supported proj­ men, serving as role models ect helps to train farmers, many and leaders for all farmers. of whom are women, to become “My work involves helping all quality-certified seed producers. family members, but I partic­ USAID has been working with ularly enjoy seeing women be- ICRISAT Agathe Diama, Photo by the International Crop Research come confident in their ability Institute for the Semi-Arid Trop­ to contribute to their families’ Aïssata Konaté with her children in front of their new ics (ICRISAT) since 2007 to well-being,” said Halima Abu- house. encourage high-quality seed bakary, one of the program’s production and improved live­ field managers. than 30,000 households out of extreme lihoods for farmers in the country. poverty and undernutrition by increas­ Certified seed, which helps guaran­ THE UPENDO WOMEN Farmers ing incomes. The project, which just tee purity and meets certain quality Group in Mlandizi, Tanzania, has been got off the ground this year, has al- standards, is more costly to produce growing vegetables since 2005, but the ready made significant progress reach­ but sells at a higher price. The project crops were plagued by pests, disease, ing female farmers. looks at the entire seed value chain, and bad weather. Feed the Future’s pro­ For example, in Dolores, Honduras, from training farmers to become pro­ gram provided the members with train­ where the average family income is less ducers, to building capacity of rural ing on how, what, and when to grow, as than $8 per day, the Nueva Esperanza agrodealers. It also supports active ru-­ well as leveraged money from a local Women Tilapia Farmers’ Group has ral marketing—such as demonstra­ bank to build a low-cost greenhouse. joined together to raise tilapia to sell in tion plots, farmer field days, and seed The greenhouse is protecting their the local market. The first-time farm­ fairs—to develop local demand for crops, extending crop cycles, and ers inherited two abandoned ponds, continued on p. 49

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 45 FOOD SECURITY Pepsi and Chickpeas: An Interview with Derek Yach, PepsiCo’s Senior Vice President of Global Health and Agriculture Policy

Derek Yach is senior vice president of global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo, where he leads the internal Global Human Sustainability Task Force and engagement with major international policy, research, and scientific groups. He is also a member of the International Food and Policy Research Institute’s Strategic Advisory Board. Yach previously headed the global health program at The Rockefeller Foundation, was professor of public health and head of the Division of Global Health at Yale University, and acted as

Photo by PepsiCo Photo by executive director of the World Health Organization.

On Sept. 21, PepsiCo Inc. announced environmental sustainability, and drive for new ready-to-use supplementary a unique, trilateral partnership with the long-term growth and profitability foods (RUSF)—often called food aid. USAID and the United Nations World of our company. PepsiCo’s work in At a time where 13 million people are Food Program during the Clinton Ethiopia was triggered by a dis­cussion suffering from famine and malnutrition Global Initiative’s 2011 annual meet­ between PepsiCo, the World Food Pro­ in the Horn of Africa, there is both an ing in New York. A key achievement gram (WFP), and USAID which led to acute and a long-term need to address of the U.S. Government’s Feed the the signing of a Memorandum of Un- famine and chronic malnutrition in the Future initiative, this partnership will derstanding on Jan. 28 at the World region. With our chickpea project, not help build long-term economic stabil­ Economic Forum at Davos. The idea only will we be helping to alleviate fam­ ity for smallholder chickpea farmers in behind Enterprise EthioPEA was initi­ ine and malnutrition, but we will also Ethiopia by involving them directly in ated at the request of Ethiopian Prime ensure that local farmers will get more PepsiCo’s product supply chain. And Minister Meles Zenawi, who wanted to work and guaranteed income while en- that’s just the beginning. use local crops to solve nutritional prob­ abling our long-term growth, innova­ lems and build his country’s export tion, and relevance among customers. QUESTION: Most people don’t think market. Knowing the nutritional bene­ Consumers worldwide are demanding of chickpeas or Ethiopia when they think fits of chickpeas and considering our that healthier food options be made more of PepsiCo. How did PepsiCo get involved long term business, we worked closely available and affordable. PepsiCo is look­ in this project? with the prime minister, as well as other ing at every point of the supply chain to partners like the Ethiopian Institute meet our consumers’ demands, with the DEREK YACH: At PepsiCo we are for Agricultural Research, to make the aim of developing sustainable agriculture constantly seeking ways to create new vision a reality. that benefits communities, farmers, con­ markets, invest in emerging econo­ Given their health benefits, chickpeas sumers and business. Enterprise Ethio­ mies, advance healthy nutrition, ensure are an important, innovative ingredient PEA will work with smallholder chickpea

46 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY

farmers to increase the productivity and business. Of course, it also brings together viewpoints to the table. However, the pri­ value of their crop and grow the domes­ private enterprise, governmental agencies, vate sector alone cannot change the world. tic market and export markets for chick­ NGOs, and the local community for a Partnerships, collaboration, and knowl­ peas. With the expected growth of our new and impactful way of helping others. edge exchange between the private and business in chickpea-based products such With so many stakeholders involved, we’re public sector, as well as civil society, is what as hummus, we expect to source at least blending collaboration, know-how, exper­ will truly help solve development chal­ 10 percent of our supply from Ethiopia, tise, and resources to benefit local commu­ lenges and benefit communities world­ which amounts to at least 2,000 tons of nities and global consumers. wide. We have seen how our agronomists chickpea per year. are able to bring modern approaches to Q: One of the interesting things about agriculture needed by smallholder farmers Q: As a private entity, what does PepsiCo this partnership is the transition from if they are to transition from being aid hope to accomplish through this work? involvement by a company’s foundation recipients to becoming entrepreneurs. Our And why is it important now? arm to involvement by the profit-making logistics teams are providing critical side. Can you talk more about that? insights related to enhancing the efficiency Yach: With Enterprise EthioPEA, Pep­ of distribution systems, warehousing, and siCo hopes to use chickpeas to address Yach: Indeed. For PepsiCo, Enterprise many other aspects of operations. Our famine and malnourishment in the Horn EthioPEA is by no means just about marketing teams have already highlighted of Africa, stimulate economic develop­ altruism. Like other initiatives, this one the im­portance of understanding the ment in Ethiopia, and support PepsiCo’s is absolutely central to our business per­ needs and desires of the poorest consum­ business strategy for Africa more gener­ formance and long-term growth. The ers as food-based solutions are developed. ally. Today, PepsiCo is one of the world’s foundation has been able to really help Administrator Shah has demonstrated largest manufacturers of chickpea-based communities while “testing” our ability leadership and acumen in tapping into hummus, a product that is experiencing to enter a new market. That’s why we try the strengths of the private sector. He rapid growth in demand. Chickpeas will to keep the foundation and our business understands what business can offer and, play an important role in growing Pepsi­ units working closely together. Founda­ as we have seen with this initiative, he Co’s nutrition business to $30 billion in tion support is appropriate to address has helped to create the right conditions revenue by 2020. This is truly a great nonprofit aspects of our work. That for partnerships to work. example of what we at PepsiCo call “Per­ includes our work in this project with formance with Purpose.” The project will the WFP and in other related projects, Q: If this project goes well, what’s next? create new markets for products and in­ the support the foundation provides to ing PepsiCo to create healthier, locally capacity building in science and learn­ Yach: Enterprise EthioPEA is one of sourced foods and beverages that benefit ing. We believe that by simultaneously a series of efforts to understand and the whole community while driving long- investing business dollars in the project, improve the link between agriculture, term growth for the company. we are assured of creating a profit stream nutrition, and sustainability. Our work in time that will allow the overall proj­ with Mexican sunflower famers is Q: What is unique or different about this ect to grow and thrive. Remaining as a another, and we have other related proj­ partnership? foundation project would leave it as an ects underway around the globe. Success interesting but limited pilot. in our initial tests will pave the way for Yach: Enterprise EthioPEA works on expansion of both the chickpea work, as three levels. It benefits the long-term health Q: Last year, USAID Administrator Rajiv well as our broader Social Enterprise and nutrition of the people of Ethiopia— Shah said that “private sector com­panies Agriculture Initiative, which plans to and potentially beyond. It potentially ben­ can bring fresh perspectives to address­ tackle other crops grown across sub- efits the economic livelihoods of millions ing the principal development chal­lenges Saharan Africa. Each new crop will hold of smallholder Ethiopian farmers and their of our day.” Do you agree? importance to both PepsiCo and the families. And it benefits PepsiCo by pro­ people of Africa. In fact, we see sesame viding us new insights into a growing mar­ Yach: Companies like PepsiCo can farming as offering one of the most im- ket and helping us grow our nutrition cer­tainly bring fresh perspectives and mediate and ripe opportunities. ■

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 47 FOOD SECURITY

Cashew Value Chain continued from p. 43 employment for about 3,400 Mozam­ needed, we can quickly be involved. It’s a bicans, had a production capacity of broad spectrum.” “The first leg is strong focus on technolo­ about 20,000 tons of cashews, com­ Downing explains that the Agency’s gies [such as research, improved crop vari­ pared to just 120 tons in 2001, when value-chain strategy is anchored in the eties, production processes, and fertilizer] the first of nine units supported by reality that a focus on production must to improve productivity for both income USAID began operating. also consider markets. “There are no in- and nutrition; the second is integrated Cashew is not the only value chain centives for farmers to produce crops programs, so that means building capac­ that USAID supports. In Mozambique, unless they can sell them,” she says. ity of community-development and there is also a focus on oilseeds (ground­ farmers groups and giving them better nuts, sesame, soybeans), fruits (bananas, IN MOZAMBIQUE, AS in many access to inputs, markets, and credit; the mangos, pineapple), and pulses (cow­ places with emerging industries, the third is agribusiness—linking farmer peas, pigeon peas). cashew industry still faces many chal­ associations together into unions, then And throughout its global network, lenges, among them, how to massively federations, so they have better access to the Agency has incorporated integrated increase production. international or regional markets and support of value chains into the U.S. Because cashews trees have a produc­ can benefit from economies of scale.” Government’s flagship food security tive lifespan of around 50 years, it often According to McMahon, it is those program, Feed the Future. takes a great deal of effort to convince a three pieces working together that makes According to William Garvelink, who farmer to replace a fully-grown tree— the program so successful. From 2005 to helped stand up the new bureau leading albeit an unproductive one—with a sap­ 2008, the nine processing factories sup­ the initiative and is now at the Center ling that will take five years to yield nuts. ported by USAID operating in Nampula for Strategic and International Studies: One of the approaches that may work, and Zambezia provinces generated $31 “[Feed the Future] looks at the entire according to McMahon, is to actually million in revenues by exporting pro­ value chain, so the U.S. Government can involve processors in commercial seed­ cessed cashews to the European mar­ intervene in any way from planting ling production, which they can then kets. These nine plants, which generated seeds to marketing products; whatever’s sell to farmers for a small price, “giving them a commercial interest in that tree.” Another opportunity, says McMa­ hon, is to start supporting larger-scale commercial agriculture “that includes opportunities for the small-scale farmers either as out-growers, contract farmers, or, in some cases, laborers.” But still, worldwide demand for cash- ew is increasing at around 5 percent annually. To help quench that thirst, Mozambique now has around 10 pro­ cessors, when years ago there were vir­ tually none, and the industry is netting to smallholder farmers $20 million worth of kernels purchased per year. Unless the West decides to shake its nut craze, there is no where to go but up.

Photo by Kelly Ramundo, USAID Ramundo, Kelly Photo by Martins of CondorNuts is optimistic: “By improving all parts of the chain, Through profits made from the cashew, Mozambican farmer Arlindo Chaleira, right, ultimately...cashews produced here will has sent his eight children to school, an anomaly in rural Mozambique. be just as competitive as in India.” ■

48 www.USAID.gov FOOD SECURITY Photo by Fintrac Inc. FintracPhoto by Inc.

Members of the Nueva Esperanza Women Tilapia Farmers Group, first-time farmers in rural Honduras, are learning best practices for raising and selling tilapia.

Women in Agriculture fishing in Ghana, most fishmongers and into the water to attract fish. With sup­ continued from p. 45 fish processors are women. Recognizing port from USAID/Ghana, through Feed the important role these women play in the Future, these women and their com­ better seeds and organize the seed pro­ their communities, the Feed the Future- munities are working toward a more sus­ duction from farmers’ cooperatives. funded Integrated Coastal and Fisheries tainable future for Ghanaian fisheries. One participant in the Mali project, Governance (ICFG) initiative took sev­ “The U.S. Government, through Feed Aïssata Konaté, is president of a women’s eral female Ghanaian fishmongers to the Future, will continue to work to bring group and supplies many other women Senegal to study how communities and successful programs like those described farmers with high-yielding seeds after the government there are practicing a above to scale, creating sustained, inclu­ increasing her income enough to build a system of “co-management” of the fish­ sive economic growth which, by defini­ new house for her family. eries resources. They observed best tion, incorporates a focus on empowering “This has changed my status in the practices in marine conservation, mon­ women.” said Tjada McKenna, Feed the village,” said Konaté. “Here housing is itoring and enforcement of fisheries Future’s deputy coordinator for develop­ normally the responsibility of men. Now regulations, and community participa­ ment. As illustrated by the projects high­ the community can see how women can tion in fisheries management. lighted here, women are clearly the criti­cal provide for their families, too.” Based on their new perspective, the force to transform agriculture and food Each year, Ghana produces approxi­ participants from ICFG plan to form production, reduce poverty, and improve mately 300,000 tons of fish for local and their own association in Ghana to advo­ nutrition worldwide. ■ international markets, but unsustainable cate against practices like the use of practices are depleting the country’s fish dynamite, monofilament nets, driftnets, Kimberly Flowers is with Fintrac; stocks and putting a strain on local live­ and “light fishing,” a practice in which Alina Paul is with ICRISAT; lihoods. While men do most of the an electric bulb of high wattage is placed Elisa Walton is with USAID.

FRONTLINES • November/December 2011 49 U.S. Agency for International Development Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs PRSRT STD Washington, D.C. 20523-6100 Postage and Fees Penalty for Private Use $300 PAID USAID Official Business Permit No. G-107 Photo by USAID

Thai children line up in 1968 for USAID-sponsored smallpox vaccines administered by the Thai Government. USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided $32 million to worldwide smallpox eradication efforts that ended successfully after only 11 years. The World Health Organization declared the world smallpox-free in 1979.