On July 29th USAID Mission Director, USAID EG Office Director and other USAID representatives visited three USAID/REAP funded projects: Fruit Processing Enterprise – Aromaproduct, LTD located in Tbilisi, Cold Storage Facility -Georgian Fruit Company LTD and FSC/MSC – Agroservice LTD located in Kakheti. The visit was also attended by vice-governor of Kakheti and Chairman of the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee.
On June 15, hundreds of young volunteers showed up to help with relief efforts in flood effected parts of Tbilisi, despite government warnings of dangerous zoo animals wandering freely in the central streets of Tbilisi. A glaring gap that was identified in the aftermath of the flood was the disproportional amount of willing volunteers to the necessary equipment needed. District offices had to temporarily turn away volunteers due to a lack of shovels and wheelbarrows, which were needed to clear uprooted trees, branches, mud and silt that was left as a result of the floods. Upon learning about the need for such equipment, USAID’s Restoring Efficiency to Agriculture Production (REAP) project organized a large donation of shovels, wheelbarrows, gloves, rain boots and hats. The donation was made possible by REAP’s grantee organizations including: Agrokartli, Argovita, Argoservice, Zurab Tetvadze and David Omanashvili. REAP and these five grantees quickly organized three trucks of equipment that was driven to the Office of the Vake District Local Government from Shida Kartli and Karkheti regions. Within minutes of the arrival of the donation, the shovels were given out, wheelbarrows were put together and eager volunteers were transported to areas heavily affected by the flash flood.
USAID’s REAP Program Continues to Contribute to Georgia’s Agricultural Development : Zviad Adzinbaia : Georgia Today on the Web
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On November 5-7, CNFA President and CEO Sylvain Roy visited the CNFA Amalima project in Zimbabwe, funded through USAID’s Office of Food for Peace, to engage with staff and to see program activities firsthand. Roy first stopped at the Nkunzi clinic in the Tsholotsho District of Zimbabwe where Amalima is rehabilitating clean drinking water sources and installing 10 new pit latrines which will allow 1,500 men, women and children from the surrounding areas to access clean water and facilities. From there, Roy traveled to the site of Amalima gully reclamation activities where nearly 500 community members are working together to restore communal grazing lands. These areas, compromised by the effects of severe erosion, are left with deep gullies that break up the landscape and pose threat to cattle. Amalima guided community members to construct stone and wood retaining walls and plant sisal to stop further erosion and reduce the flow of water. On his final day in country, Roy met with the USAID Mission staff, where they expressed their appreciation for Amalima’s accomplishments and look forward to the program’s continued success.
From November 8-12, Roy traveled to Ethiopia to visit two CNFA programs: the Agricultural Growth Program-Livestock Market Development (AGP-LMD) project and the Commercial Farm Service Program (CFSP). While in country, Roy met with USAID staff to discuss the successes and milestones of each project and then met with each teams’ staff members. After meeting with staff, Roy remarked, “Both AGP-LMD and CFSP are excellent projects with strong staff and management capacities who are continually adapting to implementing constraints and opportunities. It is clear to see how both programs are making positive contributions to the Feed the Future initiatives in Ethiopia. I look forward to the opportunity to return to Ethiopia to visit program activities and grantees in the future.”
From November 12-14, Roy traveled to Georgia to visit two ongoing CNFA Programs: The Restoring Efficiency to Agriculture Production (REAP) program funded by USAID and the Rural Economic Development (RED) program funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Since 2006, CNFA has implemented seven agricultural development programs benefiting more than 200,000 smallholder farmers and more than 300 agribusinesses in Georgia. While in Georgia, Roy discussed CNFA’s past and present successes with U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Mr. Richard Norland, USAID Mission Staff and the Food Safety and Rural Development Attaché of the European Union Delegation to Georgia, Mr. Juan Echanove. Roy also visited two of CNFA’s past grantees from the MCC funded Agribusiness Development Activity (ADA): Farm Service Center in Gurjaani, Agrospero, and a milk processing factory in Tibaani village of Kakheti region. In addition, Roy visited one of REAP’s 37 recently approved grant projects that will establish a modern farm service center that will benefit more than 6,000 farmers from Signagi district of Kakheti Region.
From November 15-17, Roy continued his tour with a visit to CNFA’s newest USAID funded program, the Agricultural Support to Azerbaijan Project where he met with USAID and program staff.
On October 29th, USAID/REAP organized a seminar for nine grant recipient businesses and three Branding Companies to give company executives, brand managers and marketing staff a variety of insights and recommendations that will influence how they build and exploit world-class branding, packaging and marketing solutions. The seminar was conducted by Jeffrey Spear.
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