This past year, Feed the Future grants from the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) benefitted another 30,000 smallholder farmers in eight African countries in addition to those reached last year. In 2013 alone, USADF invested more than $7.1 million in 46 new food security projects that directly empower under-served and marginalized communities and enterprises. USADF Feed the Future grants help organizations create tangible benefits for agricultural producers and processors, such as increasing or sustaining the number of jobs in a community, improving income levels and strengthening agricultural value chains.
More than one third of USADF’s new Feed the Future grants this year were capacity-building projects, which serve to strengthen grantees’ skills in planning, production and marketing. One such grantee is the Noidaga Rice Producers group in Mali, a cooperative that engages in the harvest and sale of rice and vegetables in a conflict zone. USADF funds will be used to support and improve Noidaga’s financial and organizational management, as well as effectively irrigate their land, giving members and their families a sustainable and secure source of food and income.