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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
THE REGIONS
In this section:
Uganda Roses Win European Award for Quality
Nicaraguan Farmers Improve Plantain Quality and
Increase Exports to U.S.
India’s Homeless Children Rescued by Trust
Young Albanians Lead Tourism Campaign
AFRICA
Uganda Roses Win European Award for Quality
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A soil and peat cleansing bed in Uganda’s flower
industry.
M. Herrick, Chemonics |
KAMPALA, Uganda—Uganda’s roses won the
second highest honor at the most prestigious flower exhibition
in Belgium.
The Uganda flower stand was visited by Belgian King Albert
II and Queen Paola, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and
over 200 jurors from 30 countries.
It merited distinction for the “very high quality of
the Uganda roses,” said Keith Henderson, executive director
of the Uganda Flower Exporters Association (UFEA), which USAID
has been supporting through a competitiveness project.
The 33rd International Ghenter Floriales Exhibition and
Trade Fair, which is held every five years, showcased exhibitions
from 19 countries.
Holland took the first prize, while flower export giant
Colombia came third, after Uganda.
Uganda’s flower industry has come a long way since
it started in 1992. Individual flower producers then attempted
to penetrate a competitive international market and failed.
But with USAID assistance through agricultural development
projects, Uganda’s flower producers have become a market
leader.
By 2001, the country was shipping out some 3,100 tons of
roses and plant cuttings valued at around $18 million. In
2004, exports more than doubled to 6,500 tons, valued at $32
million. The industry is still growing this year, with a 9
percent increase for the first quarter over the same period
in 2004.
The demand for roses is higher than for most other flowers
because roses grow well in Africa. They also generate more
revenue per hectare than most other crops, particularly during
the European winter.
In 2000, UFEA established a commercial research farm, in
conjunction with major breeders and with some USAID funding,
to identify additional varieties of roses and other flowers
that can adapt to tropical production conditions. The quality
of flowers has since improved.
The Agency also helped construct cold storage facilities,
which keep the flowers fresh for a long period of time.
Olav Boenders, chairman of flower exporter Fresh Handling
Ltd., the largest in Uganda, said: “With USAID assistance,
we had immediate improvement in product handling and saw reduction
in freight costs of about 30 to 40 percent.”
USAID/Uganda supports the flower industry through its Strengthening
the Competitiveness of Private Enterprise (SCOPE) project,
which focuses on groups or “clusters” from the private
and public sectors who agree to “cooperate to compete.”
Together they create sector-wide business plans and marketing
strategies to promote the emergence of competitive firms and
industries.
“Investment in the flower industry and in other sectors
will be attracted by an enabling environment,” said UFEA’s
Henderson, noting that many foreign buyers are being lured
to invest in Ethiopia by an attractive investment package
offered by the government.
By working together, Uganda’s flower producers are
becoming a powerful lobby working for changes in government
policies that help the industry.
“It’s crucial,” said flower grower Mark Graves.
“We would not have had the vision and power to lobby
government without SCOPE.”
Kimberly Burns contributed to this article.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Nicaraguan Farmers Improve Plantain Quality and Increase
Exports to U.S.
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With technical and market assistance from USAID, a
group of Nicaraguan farmers is producing plantains that
meet international quality standards for export. Here
and in other Central American countries, production
of the fruit—a starchy relative of the banana—is
increasing to meet the rising international demand,
including in the United States.
Jan Howard, USAID/Nicaragua |
RIVAS, Nicaragua—The growing appetite for Latin
American cuisine in the United States has some big-city restaurateurs
reaching out to farming communities here and elsewhere throughout
Central America for authentic ingredients.
Michigan State University (MSU) and USAID are working together
to help Nicaraguans meet the growing demand by increasing
production of plantains, a starchy relative of the banana
that is used in dishes like sancocho, a traditional soup that
is showing up on menus at eateries in the United States.
Plantains are also increasingly common fixtures in produce
bins of large U.S. supermarkets and Hispanic grocery stores
called bodegas.
In 2003, the United States imported 560 million pounds of
plantains, up 18 percent from 2000, according to census figures.
The greenish-yellow fruit is grown in tropical areas of
Latin America, where USAID has made developing niche agriculture
products an increasingly successful endeavor.
“The Latin America and the Caribbean regions’
seasons often complement the agricultural patterns of U.S.
farmers,” said Adolfo Franco, USAID assistant administrator
for Latin America and the Caribbean. “With an estimated
annual U.S. sales potential of 12 million pounds of plantains,
USAID is fueling new work opportunities in Nicaragua and helping
to position Central America farmers as a major source for
a growing appetite for Latin food products.”
The partnership provides management training in modern agriculture
techniques in Nicaragua and brings plantains to new markets.
The effort began by helping 49 plantain farmers in Nicaragua’s
southern department of Rivas meet quality export standards
through improved crop management and processing. An estimated
20,000 hectares in the region are currently under cultivation
with plantains.
The partnership also supervised construction of a packing
plant, where trained personnel introduced quality and sanitation
control procedures. A second plant, financed by the project,
opened in November 2004.
“Before the project, many of the plantain fields in
Nicaragua were neglected, producing small yields and underutilized
plantains,” said Steve Olive, trade and agribusiness
office chief with USAID/Nicaragua. “As a result of the
partnership, we’re seeing higher standards, a more efficient
crop, and a promise of new growth opportunity among Nicaraguan
farmers.”
Nicaragua’s first container of plantains shipped to
Miami through Tropical Commodities, a whole produce distributor,
in May 2004. Since then, more than 80,000 pounds of Nicaragua
plantains have been exported weekly to new markets, including
Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Washington,
D.C.
“Already the program has generated 200 new jobs,”
said Tomas Membreño of MSU. “As demand grows from
the current 80,000 pounds to an expected 160,000 pounds per
week, the number of jobs created by the partnership could
reach 500.”
ASIA AND THE NEAR EAST
India’s Homeless Children Rescued by Trust
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Motcha Mary and her adopted baby girl, who is HIV-positive.
Virginia Foley, USAID |
NEW DELHI—Raju, 14, came to Delhi from his homeland,
Nepal, to work as a servant, but he was mistreated by his
employer and ran away. He was living on the streets until
workers from the USAID-funded Saalam Baalak Trust rescued
him, providing both food and shelter. Raju was one of 150,000
youngsters living on the streets of New Delhi.
India has taken significant steps in recent years to ensure
the basic rights of children. Infant mortality rates are down,
literacy rates are up, and school dropout rates have fallen.
Several constitutional provisions protect children.
But the task of providing education, resources, protection,
and healthcare for 375 million children—millions of whom
live on the streets—is daunting.
To help poor and homeless children, USAID funds health and
education programs and efforts to counter human trafficking.
For instance, several times a day, the Saalam Baalak Trust
sends workers to one of Delhi’s train stations, where
about 2,500 homeless children live. Each week, about 60 children
are rescued and offered shelter, food, clothing, and medical
care.
Through the trust, USAID/India also funds an HIV/AIDS prevention
program and helped establish a shelter for runaway girls.
Since 2003, another program, STOP (Stop Trafficking and
Oppression of Women and Children) has rescued some 500 women
and children who were victims of trafficking. Some 200,000
girls have been trafficked into India from Nepal alone.
In the Hyderabad slum of Musheerabad, sisters Kathisa and
Zareena Begum are attending high school because of the Child
and Police Project, one of several USAID efforts totaling
$2.4 million in U.S. aid to mitigate child labor.
When the sisters’ father died about 10 years ago and
their mother could not support them, they had no choice but
to go to work. Kathisa, then 6, made a thousand sticks of
incense a day, bringing home about $6 per month, while Zareen,
8, earned close to $1 every five days rolling 800 cigarettes
a day. A younger brother worked in the leather industry.
More than 71,000 children have joined school fulltime through
the program.
“India’s children are often its most vulnerable
people,” said USAID Mission Director George Deikun. “U.S.
investments in India keep girls in school, return child laborers
to classrooms, and boost the health and survival of needy
youngsters. A better future for India’s children is a
better future for India.”
USAID also supports a number of health programs in the region
for mothers and their children.
When the mother of newborn twins in one southern India province
was found to be feeding only the boy and not his sister, a
community volunteer from a USAID-supported health project
persuaded the woman to feed both children. Now she is among
7 million women in the program who are advised on child health
monitoring, given daily meals, and offered access to education.
The project also helps reduce stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
After Vadivelu Ramalingam delivered her fourth child, she
discovered that the family carried the HIV virus. Her neighbors
found out and shunned her. Her husband disappeared. But now
a health volunteer through a USAID project lives in the Ramalingam
home, cooks, and helps the mother with her new baby. This
has shown the neighbors that the disease is not contagious
through casual contact, and many have gone back to being friendly
with Ramalingam.
In Chennai, formerly Madras, a USAID project provides shelter
for 32 HIV-infected children. Though unusual in Indian culture,
two mothers from a slum area have each taken a child after
visiting the shelters.
“I just want to give her that motherly love,”
said Motcha Mary, who adopted a little girl.
EUROPE AND EURASIA
Young Albanians Lead Tourism Campaign
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First-prize winner Bora Skënderi, 10, said: “Tirana
is my home town, and I love it. Through my painting,
I wanted to share a piece of its beauty, history, and
life. I wanted to show the foreigners how beautiful
Tirana is.”
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TIRANA, Albania—Young Albanian painters and photographers
want tourists to come and see how beautiful their country
is.
A postcard competition held last year produced hundreds
of postcards designed by young Albanians between 9 and 18
years old that depict Albania’s scenic countryside, quaint
architecture, and colorful traditional customs. The cards
are used in international fairs and tourism promotion events.
“The idea was for young people to design a postcard
that presents the best of their home community to the world,”
said Scott Wayne of the Enterprise Development and Export
Market Services (EMEM), a USAID-funded project that backed
the competition.
The first prize went to 17-year-old Arjan Kadillari from
Berat. His postcard, depicting homes cast in a red sunset
against a rugged mountain range, bears the title “Berat,
one of Albania’s pearls.”
A southeastern European nation that is slightly smaller
than Maryland, Albania shares a border with Greece, Macedonia,
and Serbia and Montenegro. It also has a long and picturesque
coast along the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
But Albania is not yet considered a tourist destination.
What little foreigners know of the country is mostly negative,
influenced by events such as the 1992 boat exodus to Italy
or the political and economic chaos of the late 1990s.
Close to a decade later, the country is changed, Wayne said.
The country has made significant progress toward democracy
and a free economy, and some tourists—mostly Europeans—have
started to come to Albania.
“One of Albania’s greatest export potentials is
the largely untapped tourist opportunities,” Wayne said.
“A key element in promoting Albanian tourism includes
developing a positive image of the country through targeted
marketing and promotion efforts.”
Since 2003, EDEM has supported the growth of business clusters
in fields like tourism, and has worked with industries such
as leather, foods, herbs and spices, and processed meats.
The project is one of many that USAID funds in the area
of strengthening the competitiveness and increasing the exports
of small and medium-sized Albanian businesses.
Hundreds of young people from 10 communities submitted 350
postcards for consideration. Entries were reviewed by a jury
of tourism professionals who awarded digital cameras to the
three first prizewinners. Four consolation prize winners took
home 35mm cameras.
One of the first-prize winners, Bora Skënderi, 10,
said: “Tirana is my home town, and I love it. Through
my painting, I wanted to share a piece of its beauty, history,
and life. I wanted to show the foreigners how beautiful Tirana
is.”
A runner-up, Jeta Deda, 14, also from Tirana, said: “We
are many from our generation who want to show Albania to the
world. Our country is full of tradition, history, and beauty.”
The youngest contestant, who received a consolation prize,
was Marjeta Teno, 9, from the southern city of Saranda.
Winning entries, posted in a photo album, can be seen online.
http://www.Shqiperia.com/edemal/gallery
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