The Feed the Future Uganda Commodity Production and Marketing Activity, implemented by Chemonics, aims to sustainably increase production and marketing of maize, beans, and coffee. In particular, the project promotes conservation farming practices to reverse widespread soil degradation and helps farmers stabilize yields by mitigating the effects of weather variability. To achieve these goals, the program…
The moringa tree is known in many parts of the world for its nutritious leaves and protein-packed seeds. For Amina Abdullahi, a widowed housewife and mother of six in Nigeria, the tree inspired a life-changing idea. When Amina’s husband died five years ago, she lost her only source of household income. Unable to get support from her…
On December 15, 2014, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, U.S. Ambassador Pamela A. White, and USAID Mission Director John Goarke visited the Société Nationale des Parcs Industriels (SONAPI) food court, where Chemonics has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions and lowered energy costs by making it possible for food vendors to purchase affordable propane gas cook stoves. The visit…
Seen in the dry season, the Rivière Grise in Haiti does not seem like a crucial source of water for the fertile Cul-de-Sac plain. One can stand in the middle of the almost dry riverbed and watch the stream of water coming out of the ravine. But in the rainy season, and especially during storms…
September 22, Members Day of the annual 2014 SEEP Conference, marked the launch of the SEEP Network’s Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Working Group. Throughout my career with Chemonics, I have spent the majority of my time focusing on issues surrounding women’s access to capital, business development services and SME development, particularly in conflict zones such…
Below is an excerpt from an essay that appeared in the 2014 Frontiers in Development books, themed around ending extreme poverty. The essay, by Chemonics’ Neal Donahue and Ilisa Gertner, posits that there is often an underlying tension between the “seemingly complementary goals” of agricultural growth and increased production and consumption of nutritious food. Development…
For many people, land is not merely a source of survival; it also evokes a deep sense of community, identity, history, and belonging. In Tajikistan, land is owned by the state, and citizens must apply for “use rights” to farm it. Even if farmers are successful, those rights can later be confiscated without warning. This…
Chemonics is co-sponsoring Devex’s Feeding Development campaign, which launches July 8, along with ACDI/VOCA, Fintrac, GAIN, Nestle, and TetraTech. Chemonics is proud to support the campaign at a time when food security is becoming an increasingly complex and critical issue due to population growth, climate change, and a host of other global challenges. Throughout July, Feeding Development…
What do you do when you are in danger of losing half of your land to an influential businessman? Gulbahor Rajabova, a farmer from Tajikistan, found herself in this precarious situation more than four years ago. She had to act fast to make sure she didn’t lose her land, and subsequently, her livelihood. Such scenarios…
USAID’s Nepal Economic, Agriculture, and Trade (NEAT) Activity aimed to build capacities within Nepal’s number one industry — agriculture — to reduce poverty and food insecurity, facilitate important regulatory and ad- ministrative reforms to increase revenue generation and trade, improve access to finance, and attract investment. The project also aimed to address deficiencies in the…
In July 2012, some 60,000 Sudanese refugees, fleeing conflict in their home country, crowded the Yida camp across the border in South Sudan. Hundreds more arrived each day, exhausted and weak. Each day a handful of refugees died, and the daily death toll was increasing. As the rainy season began, threatening to worsen sanitation, hygiene,…