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Expanding Agriculture in Guinea
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Expanding Agriculture and Improving Health in Guinea
In Timbi Touny, Guinea, Irish potatoes are the main crop and an important source of income for women farmers. Under a US food aid program, OIC International, a development organization headquartered in Philadelphia, provided small loans and technical assistance to reduce land erosion, improve seed and product quality, and strengthen farmer associations, and within a few years, markets and incomes measurably increased.
Community revolving funds were started with $23,000. Loans were given to 12 farmer associations, each of which was comprised of 15 women. The women members received sub-loans for seeds, equipment and other inputs and paid back their loans with interest. The repayments were used to expand the association to another 15 women, exponentially expanding the impact of the project. OIC International provided training in association management and agricultural training, technical assistance and market advice. The president of a local association said “we are now free of loans and more respected by our husbands and villagers.”
Africare,
a non-profit with decades of experience in Africa, implemented a five-year food aid program in the upper region of Guinea in areas where malnutrition of children under the age of 5 was in excess of 50% and households only had sufficient food supplies 4 months out of the year. The program doubled household food supplies, increased family incomes and improved the nutritional status of young children. To ensure sustainability the operations and management of District Development Committees were improved so they could better understand and address the challenges of food availability and household access to food in the future (click here for more pictures and information about the project.)
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Nutrition Monitoring in Africare’s Food Aid Program in Guinea |
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