Archive for category: Agriculture

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Maya Ch’orti’ in Guatemala: Combating Food Insecurity

Maya Ch’orti’ in Guatemala: Combating Food Insecurity and Poverty In the mountainous regions of eastern Guatemala, the Maya Ch’orti’ people are reviving centuries-old agricultural practices to combat food insecurity and poverty. These Indigenous communities have faced significant challenges, including land degradation, the changing climate and limited access to markets. With support from organizations like Slow Food International and its Indigenous Terra Madre network, the Maya Ch’orti’ people are reintroducing sustainable farming methods. These traditional methods not only preserve their cultural heritage but also offer a sustainable pathway out of poverty. 

The Challenge of Food Insecurity

Guatemala is one of the most food-insecure countries in Latin America. More than half of the population enduring multidimensional poverty and rural Indigenous communities like the Maya Ch’orti’ are disproportionately affected. Historically, the Maya Ch’orti’ practiced sustainable agriculture, growing maize, beans and squash using traditional intercropping methods. However, the combination of modern agricultural pressures and environmental degradation led to the decline of these practices. Furthermore, this has resulted in poor crop yields and increased poverty.

Currently, the changing climate exacerbates these problems. Changes in the climate make it more difficult for the Maya Ch’orti’ to grow enough food to feed their families. Many households struggle with malnutrition and limited income, perpetuating a cycle of poverty that spans generations. This is where Indigenous agriculture in Guatemala comes into play, reviving ancient methods to address food insecurity.

Reviving the Milpa System

In response to these ongoing challenges, organizations like Slow Food International have stepped in to help the Maya Ch’orti’ reclaim their traditional agricultural knowledge. Slow Food International is a global organization dedicated to preserving local food cultures, promoting biodiversity and supporting sustainable agriculture by empowering communities, including Indigenous peoples, to maintain traditional farming practices and protect their natural resources. 

With funding and technical assistance from the Indigenous Terra Madre network, the community is reintroducing the Milpa system, a traditional intercropping method that involves planting maize, beans and squash together. This system, a core example of Indigenous agriculture in Guatemala, is proving to be an effective solution for increasing crop yields and improving soil health.

The Milpa system is highly sustainable: maize provides a structure for beans to climb, beans fix nitrogen in the soil to improve fertility and squash leaves cover the ground, preventing weeds and conserving moisture. This method has sustained the Maya people for thousands of years and is now being revived to improve food security and resilience in the face of the changing climate.

Economic and Social Benefits

The reintroduction of the Milpa system has profoundly impacted the Maya Ch’orti’ community. The system enables families to produce more food and diversify their crops. This enhances nutrition and reduces reliance on market-bought goods, boosting food sovereignty and shielding the community from food price fluctuations. The revival of traditional agriculture not only improves food security but also creates economic opportunities for the Maya Ch’orti’. With support from Slow Food International, farmers connect to national and international markets that value organic and heritage crops. Selling surplus produce allows families to earn sustainable incomes and lift themselves out of poverty, revealing the broad benefits of Indigenous agriculture in Guatemala.

Empowering Women and Community Resilience

A critical aspect of Slow Food International’s support has been the empowerment of women within the Maya Ch’orti’ community. Women play a central role in traditional food production. By giving them access to resources, training and markets, the project has enabled them to take leadership roles in the agricultural economy. This has not only improved food security but also enhanced gender equality and economic independence for women in the community. Additionally, the project has helped strengthen the community’s resilience to the changing climate.

The Milpa system’s ability to improve soil health and retain moisture makes it more adaptable to changing weather patterns. By revitalizing these Indigenous practices, the Maya Ch’orti’ are better equipped to withstand environmental challenges and ensure their long-term survival. This initiative highlights how Indigenous agriculture in Guatemala can potentially offer a sustainable solution to global challenges.

Looking Ahead

The revival of traditional agriculture among the Maya Ch’orti’ people, supported by Slow Food International, highlights the potential of Indigenous-led solutions to tackle global food insecurity and poverty. The Maya Ch’orti’ combine cultural knowledge with modern support to forge a sustainable future for their community. This initiative’s success demonstrates that investing in Indigenous agriculture in Guatemala preserves biodiversity and cultural heritage. Furthermore, it offers a viable solution to pressing global challenges.

– Safa Musa

Safa is based in London, UK and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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The ZAI Method: Reversing Desertification in West Africa

The ZAI MethodLand degradation is affecting farmers around the world; in desert climates, already arid land is becoming barren, affecting crops and farmers’ livelihoods and survival. A micro-catchment system invented in the ’80s to restore these degraded drylands has been successful in improving the agricultural yields in these areas. It continues to be adapted for new climates to combat similar regions.

The ZAI Plant Pit system

This system, called the ZAI Plant Pit system, was developed in the ’80s by Burkinabe farmer and agronomist Yacouba Sawadogo. The Zai method was originally used in Mali. However, it was adopted and improved in the northern regions of Burkina Faso. It was used to restore the degraded drylands that were closer to the Sahara Desert. Other countries in Western Africa that also suffer from frequent drought or soil fertility issues have adopted this method to improve their agricultural yields with success.

The system consists of dug holes in the land that are then filled with organic compost during the dry season before planting seeds. The compost attracts termites that burrow into the soil, breaking it up and creating crevices that can hold water. The dimensions of these holes vary according to the type of soil and determine how much water they harvest. The ZAI method is successful in producing crop yields in areas where soils have been so degraded that water can no longer infiltrate deeper into the soil and the topsoil has been washed or blown away.

How It Works

Barren land provides multiple challenges when trying to restore soil fertility. Surface crusts must be broken up to plant seeds, but excessive disturbance can lead to moisture loss. Zai pits break the crust just enough for seeds to germinate without losing additional moisture. During the wet season, when rains are sporadic but intense, water must be used efficiently. Zai pits direct all available water into the soil and toward the plants. The displaced soil forms mounds beside the pits, channeling water down into the surrounding pits.

This method captures surface runoff, concentrates water at the plant roots and improves soil infiltration. Additionally, materials like manure, fertilizers and compost are concentrated at the plant roots, ensuring efficient nutrient absorption. The technique is simple and can be implemented with minimal resources. Zai pits restore organic content and productivity to the soil, making them an effective response to long-term agricultural challenges like climate emergencies. As rainfall becomes more erratic and droughts more frequent and prolonged, methods like the Zai technique are increasingly essential.

By concentrating resources like water for crops and preventing desertification—a process where fertile land turns into desert, often due to drought or deforestation—the Zai method enhances soil productivity and organic content. This technique not only revitalizes the land but also supports the livelihoods of the people who depend on it.

Impact

In the desert lands of West Africa, the Zai method has been highly successful in boosting crop yields. It has shown excellent results in reclaiming abandoned land for agriculture in Burkina Faso and Mali. Due to its success, the Zai method is being adapted for crop cultivation and forest regeneration efforts in Central and East Africa and is gaining global recognition.

Final Note

While the Zai farming system is simple and offers many benefits, its success is geographically limited. Not all areas with low rainfall have the “composting termites” essential for optimal productivity with this method. Although Zai pits can still be used in regions without these termites, water infiltration and crop yields may be lower. Additionally, digging the pits is labor-intensive and can only be done during the dry season, which restricts the timeframe for this work. Proper training is also crucial, as the size and placement of the pits are key to the system’s effectiveness.

– Hodges Day

Hodges is based in San Francisco, CA, USA and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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Agricultural Subsidies: Mitigating Food Insecurity in Tunisia

Food Insecurity in TunisiaPersistent political and socio-economic challenges have led to social tensions and delayed economic recovery in Tunisia. This has caused high unemployment rates and regional conflicts, contributing to food insecurity in Tunisia. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 16.6% of Tunisians live below the poverty line, while 30% of children under 5 and pregnant and nursing women suffer from anemia. Furthermore, Tunisia’s high dependence on agricultural imports, exacerbated by economic challenges and a high inflation rate, has led to food shortages. The ongoing drought has strained agriculture, decreasing harvest and diminishing dairy production. Agricultural subsidies have been crucial in addressing these ongoing challenges, shaping the country’s food production landscape and influencing socioeconomic dynamics. 

Tunisia’s agricultural policies have evolved drastically since its independence in 1956. With an initial focus on self-sufficiency, the country gradually shifted toward an export-oriented approach which led to increased reliance on food imports. This has caused implications for Tunisia’s food security and has made it vulnerable to global market fluctuations. 

Types of Agricultural Subsidies

To assist in its agriculture, the Tunisian government has multiple subsidy mechanisms. These aim to boost domestic production, stabilize food prices and support rural livelihoods.

  • Input subsidies. Covers fertilizers, seeds and machinery.
  • Price support. Ensures minimum prices for specific crops and financially protects farmers against crop losses due to natural disasters, pests or other unforeseen events. 
  • Credit subsidies. Provides low-interest loans to farmers
  • Irrigation subsidies. Supports water management infrastructure.

Impact on Domestic Food Production

Agricultural subsidies have significantly influenced Tunisia’s food production patterns. While they have helped maintain production levels of certain crops, it has led to changes in crop choices which has implications for both food and environmental sustainability. It is clear that Tunisia’s agricultural model based on water-intensive hybrid seeds is unsustainable, thus farmers have moved to a more practical and sustainable approach of using local seed varieties known as “Mahmoudi seeds.” The seeds are better suited to the Tunisian climate and therefore are a necessity to adapt to climate change. Spreading awareness of the local seeds can increase the shift toward using said seeds, support the agriculture sector and reduce food insecurity in Tunisia

Benefits of Agricultural Subsidies

The primary benefits of Tunisia’s agricultural subsidy system include:

  • Price stabilization. Subsidies help support consumers from global price fluctuations, particularly for staple foods such as flour, vegetable oil, rice and sugar. 
  • Rural livelihood support or poverty reduction. By providing stable income for farmers, subsidies help maintain rural economies. A study by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung found that using Proxy Means Testing (PMT) in Tunisia results in significant errors in both excluding eligible recipients and including ineligible ones. This is due to infrequent household surveys and the large informal economy in Tunisia and similar developing countries. The research determined that food and energy subsidies are more effective at reducing poverty than the targeted cash transfers provided by Tunisia’s National Program of Assistance to Needy Families.
  • Food availability. Subsidies ensure a consistent food supply, even during periods of global market instability.

International Aid and Cooperation

International support plays a significant role in agricultural subsidies and Tunisia’s agricultural sector. 

  • European Investment Bank. As of 2022, the EIB has provided loans to finance the rehabilitation and construction of silos and cereal reserves in Tunisia. This aims to increase Tunisia’s cereal storage capacity and support permanent working capital. This responded to the grain supply shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This contributes to the country’s food security and ensures public health. 
  • World Bank. In 2022, the World Bank approved a $130 million loan for Tunisia to address food security issues. This was part of an emergency response package with other donors, supporting short-term importation of wheat, barley and agricultural inputs for domestic grain production. This aimed to strengthen Tunisia’s responses to potential future food crises and provide assistance to modernize the food subsidy system.
  • USAID. In 2023, USAID, alongside the World Bank, announced financing for the purchase of 25,000 metric tons of American durum wheat to help Tunisia weather multiple crises and ensure essential food supplies.

Moving Forward

Agricultural subsidies remain a critical tool in reducing food insecurity in Tunisia. The future of food security in the country potentially depends on the balance between the support for domestic production, management of import dependencies and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. By doing so, as well as creating climate-smart approaches, Tunisia could enhance food security and build a more resilient agricultural sector.

– Hannah Ravariere-Moakes

Hannah is based in London, UK and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Helen’s Daughters and Saint Lucia’s Female Farmers

Saint Lucia's Female FarmersSaint Lucia is known to many as a resplendent island paradise of luminous white-sand beaches and rich tropical forests that spill into the Caribbean Sea. However, this magnificent fresco belies an often precarious living reality. The country’s tourism-dependent economy and heavy reliance on imports, coupled with its susceptibility to natural disasters, render it highly vulnerable to external shocks and trap many Saint Lucians in chronic insecurity. Saint Lucia’s female farmers and women in general find their development further impeded by deeply entrenched gender roles which limit their engagement in the formal sector and manifest in a vast wage gap of 27.4%  A 2020 World Bank estimate placed a woman’s lifetime productivity in Saint Lucia at just 63% of her potential.

Helen’s Daughters is a non-governmental organization (NGO) blending the empowerment of Saint Lucia’s women with its overall development. It trains and supports female farmers, viewing them as long-overlooked drivers of change.

The Roots of Helen’s Daughters

Keithlin Caroo, the organization’s founder, told the BBC that she established Helen’s Daughters to “address the systematic exclusion of rural women in the agricultural sector.” The strong concentration of women within the informal economy and the blurring of economic and non-economic activity on small-scale family farms have long shrouded their contributions to agriculture in Saint Lucia, limiting their access to support systems, resources and growth prospects.

In a podcast interview from February 2024, Caroo describes witnessing her grandmother’s contributions to the family’s agricultural business dematerialize as she listed her occupation as “housewife” on official records. She remembers thinking that, given more opportunity, she “would probably be one of the most successful farmers in the area”

Caroo recognized that Saint Lucia’s female farmers needed “an ecosystem of other women in farming and agriculture” and set out to create one. She points out that Helen’s Daughters exists “not to negate men’s roles in the field”, but to address “a developmental issue in the region” that confines women to the margins of the agricultural sector.

Training Programs for Saint Lucia’s Female Farmers

Since its inception in 2016, Helen’s Daughters has cultivated a thriving network of female farmers, reaching 1,200 women as of 2022. The NGO operates two training programs in Saint Lucia, as well as Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which focus on sustainable agriculture, financial literacy, business development and marketing.

It also organizes guided commercial farm visits, where the women it serves can gain expert knowledge of sustainable and productivity-boosting farming practices. Furthermore, seeking to increase the visibility of Saint Lucia’s female farmers, Helen’s Daughters operates an agri-tourism experience, allowing visitors to learn firsthand about the women’s trials and successes through tours and markets.

In 2022, Helen’s Daughters partnered with global chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat to establish the Agri-Apprenticeship Programme, which provides three women every year invaluable experience in managing a farm. They receive mentorship and training throughout the process and, upon completing the apprenticeship, can use start-up funds from Helen’s Daughters to establish their agricultural enterprise.

Caroo shared in a podcast that, “One of the critical and key areas of Helen’s Daughters is that seed of empowerment; of self-belief; of belief in yourself as an agricultural entrepreneur.” This focus on the nourishment of burgeoning female potential is pertinent in an economy where women engage heavily in entrepreneurship but where the vast majority of small businesses with limited growth capacity are woman-owned, according to the World Bank report.

Tilling Saint Lucia’s Socioeconomic Landscape

One of Helen’s Daughters’ major focuses is strengthening female farmers’ ability to engage in the economy. It organizes quarterly markets where women can grow their customer bases and establish firm roots within the sector through networking. In 2022, 95 of Saint Lucia’s female farmers benefited from this initiative and sales amounted to $37,415, according to Helen’s Daughters 2020 annual report. Helen’s Daughters also connects the rural women it supports to larger enterprises such as hotels and restaurants, allowing them to significantly boost their income.

This demonstrates a wider focus on Saint Lucia’s development. The Caribbean imports between 80% and 90% of its food.  However, in the podcast, Caroo points out that more than half of this produce could be grown locally. She believes Saint Lucia, and the region at large, to be “stuck in a very dangerous cycle” of dependency. Still recovering from the profound wound that the collapse in tourism triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic left in its economy, the country is now keenly feeling the sharp increase in import prices precipitated by the war in Ukraine. Helen’s Daughters’ integration of small-scale farmers into Saint Lucia’s economy is therefore testimony to a vision of increased resilience and autonomy for both the women it supports and for entire communities. As Caroo puts it, “If a nation cannot feed itself, it’s not free.”

Food Sovereignty and Health

Another facet of Helen’s Daughters’ commitment to “food sovereignty and health,” as Caroo pointed out in the podcast, of Saint Lucia is its focus on nutritional marketing within its training programs and its creation of a cooking channel showcasing local recipes and products. According to Caroo, the organization is teaching farmers how to capitalize on the fact that, currently, “health is trendy”, and is encouraging consumers to “recognize that there is value in food that’s locally available.”

Helen’s Daughters also holds quarterly wellness fairs. According to its website, these clinics allow rural people to access health information, dietary advice and checkups at no cost and pay homage to the farmers who work tirelessly to support their families at the expense of their own wellbeing.

Empowering Saint Lucia’s Female Farmers

Helen’s Daughters provides Saint Lucia’s female farmers with the tools they need to transform the island’s natural abundance into increased prosperity and agency for themselves, their families and their communities. At the organization’s core is a commitment to the living realities of rural communities, long masked by an image of tropical splendour but vibrant and beautiful in their own right.

– Leila Powles

Leila is based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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3 Agricultural NGOs in East Timor

Agricultural NGOs in East TimorEast Timor is a small Pacific island near Australia and Indonesia. Of its economically active citizens, nearly 80% are active in agriculture. Agriculture makes up 25.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with its main exports being coffee, rice, corn, beans and more. As the main activity and source of income for most of the population, agriculture is vital for East Timor’s economy and people. Despite being a crucial sector of the economy, many Timorese farmers lack high-quality equipment and knowledge of sustainable crop production methods, leading to low yields and poor-quality crops. This is where agricultural nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a crucial role in improving farming practices in East Timor. Here are three examples of NGOs focused on enhancing agricultural development in the region.

RAEBIA

RAEBIA is a local organization that promotes conservation agriculture to support communities. In response to challenges such as drought and adverse climatic conditions, the organization focuses on teaching sustainable farming techniques to rural farmers in East Timor, ensuring agricultural practices are resilient and future-oriented.

To achieve its goals, RAEBIA operates two key programs—Seeds of Survival and Community Seed Banking. Through these initiatives, the organization has established two community seed banks, which serve as local institutions to preserve seeds. Additionally, several hectares of farmland have been conserved using techniques like terracing, controlled grazing and controlled deforestation.

By teaching and implementing these practices, farming in East Timor can become sustainable as the soil quality improves. The programs have also committed to educating the local communities on combating climate emergencies and empowering local leaders in the farming community, including women and youth.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is another NGO operating in Timor Leste and it is working to support the country’s agricultural census and management systems for its agriculture. Guided by its Country Programming Framework (CPF), FAO works to improve farming livelihoods and support smallholder fishing. For example, FAO collaborated with the Secretary of State of Fisheries to develop sustainable marine management in East Timor. Furthermore, it strengthened regional and national fisheries governance.

Additionally, FAO also donated money to East Timor’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to enhance their monitoring and evaluation capacity. This was achieved by developing a system and improving its planning, programming and decision-making, using the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries data. FAO’s goal was to push East Timor’s aquaculture to enhance from the top down, with the government using “the developed M&E system to inform evidence-based policy planning and decisions.”

The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program

The NGO has a program operating in East Timor called the Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Improvement Program (SAPIP) that focuses on increasing smallholder agriculture productivity. In rural areas, crops are typically watered only by rainfall due to a lack of proper irrigation equipment. These crops are often grown through unsustainable small-scale subsistence farming on poor-quality soil.

SAPIP aims to enhance food security in East Timor by boosting public sector investments to increase smallholder agricultural productivity. Furthermore, it connects farmers to markets, helps mitigate risks such as floods and offers technical assistance. The NGO plans to train farmers using the Farmer Field School model. This will equip them with knowledge of good agricultural practices and demonstrate the benefits of collective farming.

As of December 2021, SAPIP had benefited 70,121 people, 47% of whom were women. This has been achieved by providing 123,554 days of training to scientists, extension agents, agro-dealers, farmers and community members to boost agricultural productivity. Additionally, 14,386 farmers became members of associations, approaching the end target of 16,500. SAPIP has made a substantial impact on East Timor’s agricultural communities.

Conclusion

These three agricultural NGOs in East Timor each have slightly different focuses, but all share the goal of improving and strengthening the country’s agriculture sector. Whether by promoting sustainable practices, uniting and empowering farming communities or advancing aquaculture, all three organizations have significantly contributed to enhancing East Timor’s agriculture quality.

– Hannah Chang

Hannah is based in Philadelphia, PA, USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Common

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Innovative Ways to Tackle Food Insecurity in Botswana

Food Insecurity in BotswanaLocated in the centre of Southern Africa, Botswana has become one of the fastest-growing economies. It is now considered an upper-middle-income country, aspiring to soon become a high-income country.  Despite this, although its population is small, approximately 2.5 million people, it is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that food insecurity in Botswana affects 22% population that experiences moderate or severe food insecurity across the country. This is particularly felt in rural areas, with high poverty rates and limited access to fertile land.

Alongside unreliable food chains, approximately 70% of Botswana’s landscape is made up of desert and poor soils. Collectively, this contributes to food insecurity in Botswana. Thus, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Botswana has focused on building resilience in food supply chains and domestic production, to improve food security across the country. Addressing food insecurity in Botswana has become a national priority, especially given the increasing vulnerability of the land to natural disasters such as droughts. It is crucial to use innovative solutions to promote food security for their population.

Project Anton Technology

Anton Tech has grown to become an AI research start-up, aiming to transform Botswana’s agriculture industry. It directly addresses the looming threat of food insecurity across the country. The project uses image data, from drones to satellites to cameras, to detect pests and diseases. It can also predict soil organic carbon levels, in turn giving recommendations on the treatments and interventions needed. Additionally, Project Anton uses WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to increase its accessibility for farmers across Botswana.

Climate-Smart Agriculture

Climate-smart agriculture includes weather forecasting apps and satellite imagery, which can assist in analyzing weather patterns and social moisture levels. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture collaborated with the Botswana Ministry of Agriculture to assist local farmers in climate-smart practices. This led to a 30% crop yield increase for small-scale farmers, according to the African Leadership Magazine.

Furthermore, another climate-smart agriculture technology includes the practice of zero tillage. This is a way to conserve soil carbon, soil structure and moisture. This sustainable management of soil resources has improved crop yields. In the long term, this technology has encouraged farmers to innovatively repurpose their old plows into ripper tools.

Bushvet

Across Botswana, veterinary health services are accessible and efficient. The geography of Botswana often made it difficult for rural cattle to access animal health services. Thus, the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board initiated the “Bushvet” call-out service, providing farmers with on-farm veterinary services. Additionally, many retired veterinary paraprofessionals could support in delivering basic services such as animal drugs and advisory support. This means Bushvet can operate at a community level, increasing the long-term sustainability of this programme, as well as ensuring peak cattle health for farmer’s businesses.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Bridging

Educational online platforms post up-to-date agricultural techniques, the best practices for pest control, and general market information, and much more. This information is invaluable to farmers across Botswana, bridging their knowledge gap. UShare is a social media platform specifically for farmers, allowing them to exchange knowledge, ask questions, and vitally, connect to experts in the field, according to the African Leadership Magazine.

Tackling Food Insecurity in Botswana

The future of the country’s food security is filled with an abundance of innovative and technological solutions that have the potential to successfully eradicate food insecurity in Botswana. As per Mr. Kgabeng, Co-Founder of Anton Tech,  “Put it out there and continue to iterate on it, that is how we improve as innovators and drive toward a better Africa,” the U.N. reports.

– Sian Ameer-Beg

Sian is based in Durham, UK and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Milky Way Program Transforms the Dairy Sector and Poverty

Milky Way ProgramNepal faces tough circumstances considering the living standards of the common population. Reported as of February 2024, Nepal currently sees a “less than expected decline in poverty” falling from 25% in 2011 to “just over 20% in 2023.” While it is unfortunate that a country with such warm people faces a tough time, recent poverty alleviation initiatives have helped boost living standards by strategically centring around the Bangladeshi dairy sector. The Milky Way program is a prime example of this. Supplying cattle to households in a Nepalese village has encouraged dairy farming in poverty-stricken village households, even resulting in farmers finally being able to send their children to school.

Milky Way Program

The Milky Way program is supported by Heifer International – a development organization working to end hunger and poverty around the world through the provisions of livestock to supplement dairy farming endeavors – in addition to local and Korean partners to upscale the dairy sector in Nepal.

The initiative supplies high-quality Korean Holstein cattle to households in Nepalese villages to engender better-quality output in the dairy sector. For instance, it supplied 100 cows and eight bulls from Korea to the Kamamalai municipality in the Sindhuli district of Nepal. Farmers received training to help them make the most of these cows and learn to produce milk for money thereby increasing their living standards and income while having the ancillary effect of improving their vocational skillsets.

Bishnu Chopai and Heifer International

Aside from the Milky Way program, the main sponsor – Heifer International – has played a crucial role in improving the quality of life in Nepal. Residing in Phalebas, Nepal, Bishnu recounts the trying days when her husband worked as an expatriate in India, and money was still scarce. She was the primary caretaker for the family during the time and worked on raising their goats to earn more money, but only merely survived on that income. She states “I wished for a time when we could all be together as a family… and we could create a better life for ourselves” until Heifer International supplied their family with cows to raise, alongside training for handling those cows. They recognized dairy farming as a legitimate chance to change the fate of their family, and “transitioned from raising goats to cows.”

Raising cows that Heifer provided proved to be life-changing for Bishnu. Their income increased exponentially, and with that so did their living conditions. It also enabled them to break generational poverty by bestowing a guaranteed better future for their children. Both of their children, aged 12 and 14, are now able to receive an education there in Phalebas, thanks to the newfound income. Bishnu and her husband now operate a full-fledged dairy farm, being able to afford to educate their children and cover health expenses, according to Heifer.

Reinforcing These Initiatives

Initiatives like the Milky Way program in Kamamalai, and the provision of cows in Phalebas, have been instrumental in encouraging the growth of the dairy sector and engendering increased dairy farming interest in struggling households. Considering that the extreme poverty rate could rise from 4.9% to 5.1% in the 2024 fiscal year, it is more important than ever to ensure that the progress seen by the country is not undone.

– Disheta Anand

Disheta is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar: How Enterprise is Transforming Bangladesh

Ekti Bari Ekti KhamarBangladesh has unfortunately lived through a tumultuous history – fighting for its independence and undertaking a long road to recovery which persists. This resulted in 80% of people living below the low-income level in Bangladesh just after independence in 1971. Thankfully, the poverty rate has halved in the last three decades, since 1990. This is remarkable and displays the efforts made by this resilient nation towards improving the living standards of its people. A pivotal government scheme that contributed to this decrease is Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar (One House One Farm). It is a Bangladeshi government social welfare program that focuses on using and encouraging enterprises to make a difference in a highly agrarian society.

Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar

Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar focuses on encouraging farming and welfare practices in rural Bangladesh as a means of alleviating poverty. This focus on enterprise has changed the lives of 470,556 people since its inception in 2009.

Agriculture is naturally one of the largest producing sectors in Bangladesh, with approximately 13.31% of its GDP being dependent on it. Furthermore, 43% of the total Bangladeshi labor force are agricultural employees. This has rendered the sector appropriate to focus on for a poverty alleviation program. With this program, the government grants small sums in the form of loans to poor Bangladeshi people to encourage enterprise and improve their living standards.

The Story of Selina

A prime example of the success of Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar is Selina. The job of Selina’s husband was not well-paying, which rendered living a normal life “tough.” They could not maintain their family and expenses, which changed with Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar. Selina, alongside seven other women, decided to change their lives by purchasing a sewing machine and beginning to sell clothes, according to The Daily Messenger. After this, they opened a shop and took a loan from Palli Sanchay Bank as a means of funding the shop and investing in its growth.

Palli Sanchay Bank is the bank responsible for running Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar, and its role is to provide low-interest loans per this initiative. She was soon able to repay the initial loan and sought another one with the hopes of expanding and operating her business on a much larger scale, The Daily Messenger reports. Eventually, her business expanded immeasurably, and her clothes store was found to have changed the lives of Selina and her husband. This was, of course, in addition to the several other women involved with Selina’s store, as she also helped increase employment opportunities for the impoverished in her community by providing them with jobs.

These helpers earned “250 to 300 Taka each day” and Selina’s monthly income now stands at “Taka 50,000 to 60,000 each day.” In addition to the salary by her husband, Selina and the women in her store are now able to lead more comfortable lives.

Tackling Poverty in Bangladesh

Enterprise has been effective in tackling poverty in Bangladesh. Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar has improved the lives of many impoverished people in the country. Furthermore, it has proved that enterprise-focused initiatives can help with the development and prosperity of a nation. Taking small, positive steps in the right direction involves advocacy and amplifying the aims/results of great initiatives like these, to ensure greater visibility and eventually more parity on the global stage.

– Disheta Anand

Disheta is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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The Impact of AI on Agriculture in Kenya and Nigeria

Impact of AI on AgricultureArtificial intelligence (AI) holds considerable promise for redefining agriculture in Kenya and Nigeria, two of Africa’s leading tech hubs. Recent estimates suggest AI could markedly improve Africa’s economy, potentially adding up to $2.9 trillion by 2030. In 2023, African tech startups attracted approximately $4 billion in investments, with Kenya’s AI sector receiving $15 million and Nigeria’s $2.9 million, making them two of the leading recipients. A substantial portion of these funds is being directed to the agricultural sector.

Kenya

Kenya, with a population of about 55 million, has enjoyed relative economic and political stability recently, with a projected growth rate of 5.2% from 2024 to 2026. Despite these positivities, the country faces ongoing issues such as poverty, inequality and natural disasters.

Agriculture, which employs more than 40% of Kenya’s workforce and contributes 33% to GDP, is central to the economy. Smallholder farmers, making up more than 70% of the farming population, are essential for both economic stability and food supply. However, farmers battle unpredictable weather, limited access to information and insufficient resources to cope with the effects of natural disasters.

In 2023, approximately 4.4 million Kenyans experienced severe food insecurity, reflecting the sector’s difficulties with financing, quality inputs and crucial information such as weather forecasts and market prices, according to the 2024 GSMA report.

Nigeria

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with more than 220 million people, is experiencing rapid growth at an annual rate of more than 2.6%. Despite this, the nation faces substantial economic and social challenges, including stagnant GDP per capita, high poverty rates, and inadequate infrastructure. Agriculture, which employs 40% of the workforce and contributes 24% to GDP, is critical to the economy, yet only 35% of arable land is actively farmed.

Nigerian farmers deal with erratic weather, security issues, poor infrastructure as well as problems like poor seeds, labour shortages, and the loss of farmland to urbanisation, according to ICT Works.

In July 2023, Nigeria declared a food insecurity emergency, forecasting that 26.5 million people could face acute hunger in 2024 due to frequent droughts and floods impacting food production.

The Impact of AI on Agriculture in Kenya

Launched in 2023, Digital Green’s Farmer Chat improves farming advice by offering personalized support to extension workers. It uses information from videos, call logs and factsheets to provide real-time assistance, having already sent more than 134,000 messages in Swahili and English, according to the 2024 GSMA report. Plans are underway to expand its coverage to more crops and regions.

Founded in 2023, Amini addresses the lack of environmental data – such as soil quality and rainfall patterns – which the World Bank identified in 2022. Amino’s platform uses AI and satellite technology for crop monitoring, yield predictions and risk assessments.

Partnering with TensorFlow technology, PlantVillage U.S. nonprofit has developed an AI-powered app to identify plant diseases. The app detects issues on plant leaves such as and recognizes patterns indicating disease outbreaks, helping to combat the 33% crop loss Kenyan farmers face each year due to pests and diseases. The app has attracted more than 10,000 users, who have reported an average 40% increase in crop yields.

The Impact of AI on Agriculture in Nigeria

Crop2Cash offers FarmAdvice, a hotline that gives farming advice via a toll-free number. Since its launch in July 2024, FarmAdvice has provided personalized recommendations in local languages to more than 500,000 farmers across 13 states, helping them increase their incomes and crop yields, according to the 2024 GSMA report.

AirSmart provides AI-driven solutions by collecting and analyzing data from drones, satellites, soil sensors and loT devices. The insights help manage water, fertilizer, and pesticide usage, predict yields and offer data-driven farm management recommendations, according to ICT Works.

The World Food Program (WFP) has developed a predictive model that forecasts food shortages up to 30 days in advance, according to the 2024 GSMA report. By looking at past food consumption data alongside market prices and weather conditions, this tool helps provide early warnings of potential food shortages.

Staying on Track

The impact of AI on agriculture is already being felt in Kenya and Nigeria, but keeping an eye on persistent issues is essential to fully realize its potential. AI is advancing especially in data-driven advisory and financial services, but the high costs of precision tools like loT sensors and drones are problematic. Making these technologies more accessible is important for maximizing the impact of AI on agriculture. While generative AI could assist farmers with low literacy or disabilities, improving digital literacy and ensuring AI services are accessible on affordable mobile devices will enable wider adoption of new agricultural practices among smallholder farmers.

– Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia is based in Wiltshire, UK and focuses on Technology and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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The Challenge of Sustaining Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector

Ukraine’s Agricultural SectorUkraine’s agricultural sector underpins its national economy and global food security. Therefore, the support of the United States (U.S.) for Ukrainian agriculture is a strategic priority. The European Union (EU), meanwhile, has balanced supporting Ukraine with protecting EU agricultural markets.

The Importance of Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector

Ukraine’s agricultural sector employs 14% of its population. Ukraine was the largest global producer of sunflower, the second largest producer of sunflower oil and meal, the sixth for rapeseed and corn and the seventh for wheat. Following an Association Agreement with the EU, agriculture’s share of Ukraine’s exports increased from 27% in 2013 to 41% by 2021, with agricultural exports to the EU accounting for $7.7 billion out of a total of $27.8 billion.

The war in Ukraine has worsened food price inflation and acute global food insecurity, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. An estimated 400 million people in 36 of the 55 food-insecure countries rely on Ukrainian food products. Previously, half of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) grain stock came from Ukraine. The country also supplied a third of the cereal imported into the Middle East and North Africa. Nations like Libya, Pakistan, Yemen and Lebanon import 30% of their wheat from Ukraine, while 45% of wheat imports to East Africa come from the country.

Global food prices and acute food insecurity reached record highs in 2022, partly due to the war’s disruptions of supply chains and the price of fertilizer, food commodities and fuel. This also raises humanitarian assistance costs.

The Extent of Damage Inflicted

Russia has strategically destroyed, damaged and seized farms, food storage facilities, agricultural machinery and irrigation systems. This allows Russia to diminish Ukraine’s income and ability to resist, acquire the nation’s exports and create pressure by provoking food crises. Russia inflicted $10.3 billion in damages to the agricultural sector and $69.8 billion in losses by the end of 2023. Agricultural machinery accounts for 56.7 % of lost value.

Among the seized or lost products are 2.8 million tonnes of grain, 1.2 million tonnes of oilseeds, 124,000 tonnes of fertilizer and 11.6 million liters of fuel. The conflict caused seven million Ukrainians to experience moderate or severe acute food insecurity in September 2023. The regions of Zaporizhya, Kherson and Luhansk suffered the most, with 65% of the total damages. An estimated 7.5% of Ukrainian cropland has been abandoned.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that harvested area is down from 2021 levels for wheat, corn and barley for 2023 are down 32%, 27% and 37%, respectively. Nearly 20% of Ukraine’s storage capacity on its territory is lost.

Global Support

Following Russia’s capture of key ports by May 2022, exports went through Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania by land and river through EU Solidarity Lanes and later via a corridor with Turkey. The high weight-to-value ratio of agricultural products renders transportation by land expensive, reducing the level of grain exported and making sea routes crucial. The U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative enabled the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grains and other agricultural products from July 2022 to July 2023. To further alleviate food security pressures, international sanctions against Russia (and Belarus) exempted agricultural products, including fertilizer.

The EU has also been crucial in supporting Ukraine’s agricultural sector, with 50% of Ukrainian wheat exports going to Europe in February 2022. However, opposition from EU farmers led to restricted grain sales from May 2022 to September 2023. Now, the EU has implemented quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products and emergency breaks for certain products to protect their farmers while also re-exporting grain.

Similarly, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI-Ukraine) supported the production and export of seeds, fertilizers and agricultural equipment. Investment totaled $350 million in its first year. In July, USAID announced it secured $510 million in private sector and donor investments for Ukraine’s agricultural sector. The program helped 32% of Ukraine’s registered farmers access seeds, fertilizers, crop protection, storage and financing.

Conclusion

Ukraine’s agricultural sector benefited from global economic support, trade reconfiguration and the recovery of some ports. Despite increased production and exports, recovering Ukraine’s agricultural output and income is challenging amid hostilities. However, it is crucial in tempering global food crises and sustaining Ukraine’s resistance effort. The biggest challenges include extensive infrastructure damage, landmine prevalence, trade costs and disruptions and coordination between Ukraine’s government, international actors and the private sector.

– Luke Ravetto

Luke is based in Boston, MA and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project

Photo: Wikimedia Commons