10 Lessons Learned for Facilitating an Inclusive Agricultural Market System

Agriculture is vital to the continued diversification of Nigeria’s economy and to rural prosperity and food security for all Nigerians. The country’s agricultural market system is exceedingly complex. Building the sector requires a systems approach that encompasses entire targeted value chains. All links are important. Without a link to a profitable source of market demand,…

Creating Economic Growth in Haiti

Although more than half of Haiti’s population works in the agriculture sector, there has historically not been systematic support for farmers, neither through production practices nor through market interventions. The Haiti Feed the Future Watershed Initiative for National Natural Environmental Resources (WINNER) confronted these challenges by focusing simultaneously on agriculture production, watershed stability, and post-harvest practices.…

Melissa Cook

Melissa Cook formerly led Chemonics’ Digital Transformation team to create and implement a modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform.

Energizing Farming and Agribusiness in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, changes to the agriculture sector can increase market opportunities, help citizens, and improve the country’s chances for accession to the European Union. Fostering Agricultural Markets Activity — a collaborative effort by USAID and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency — improved competitiveness among agricultural producers and agribusinesses. Using environmentally sustainable methods, the…

Transforming Moldova’s Agriculture Sector

Moldova is well positioned to develop a strong agriculture sector with a wide international reach. The USAID High Value Agriculture Activity (HVAA) is transforming the country’s high-value agriculture sector into an engine of economic growth. “High-value agriculture” refers to the farming of non-staple crops that have higher net returns, such as berries, table grapes, and…

Unlocking Ukraine’s Agricultural Potential

Ukraine has some of the world’s most fertile soil, but fragmentation of the land has limited the agriculture sector’s success: More than half of Ukraine’s gross agricultural product is generated by approximately 4 million smallholder farmers scattered across the country. The USAID Agriculture and Rural Development Support program worked with the government, businesses, and community…

Improved Livelihoods and Nutrition in Tajikistan

Many women and children in the Khatlon region of Tajikistan lack access to sufficient vitamin A, iron, zinc, iodine, and proteins, which has led to a 31 percent stunting rate. USAID’s Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Activity (TAWA) works to reduce these nutrition deficiencies, supporting farmers in nutrition-sensitive agriculture sectors so they can…