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What is PEER?

What is PEER?
PEER or, Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research, is a collaboration between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). PEER is a competitive grant program that allocates money to scientists in developing countries, who are working on research that is of importance to the development of their respective regions. PEER focuses on granting money to scientists whose research involves food security, climate change, or other development tools such as biodiversity and renewable energy. PEER attempts to create connections between scientists of developed countries and scientists of developing countries. The grants allow these scientists to conduct research that they would not have been able to do without a grant. PEER is a relatively new program, being two years old.

Alex Dehgan, science and technology advisor to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah commented, “…PEER Science has provided over $12 million to 98 projects in 40 countries, and we are already seeing the tremendous benefits of bringing together developing and developed country researchers to solve some of our greatest global development challenges.”

Previous PEER success stories include reducing the risk of landslides and earthquakes in Lebanon and Bangladesh, decreasing air pollution in Mongolia, and improving the resilience of coral reefs and related habitats in Indonesia. PEER allows scientists in 87 countries to apply.

DeAndra Beck, program director for developing countries at NSF said, “With two or more parties contributing resources, a true intellectual partnership can be established, maximizing the potential to advance the pursuit of science and development in new and creative ways.”

PEER just announced its second cycle of awardees this June. PEER selected 54 new projects to receive a portion of the $7.5 million allocated to this cycle. Awardees were chosen out of 300 highly qualified applicants. These 54 projects reach across 32 countries and will focus on development issues. This has been an incredibly successful program in the short two years it has been running. Its innovative idea to connect scientists all over the developing world has been very effective in solving certain development issues.

– Catherine Ulrich

Sources: National Academies, All Africa
Photo: Minnesota Public Radio

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Zambian Government Praises USAID Health Programs

USAID Zambia
A Zambian Government official, Bert Mushala, praised the American government for its foreign aid initiatives at the launch of two new USAID health programs in Zambia in June. According to USAID Mission director for Zambia, Susan Brems, the two projects, Thrive and Mawa, are aimed at strengthening nutrition within small farming households and with those living with HIV. The initiatives would also focus on enhancing economic opportunities for poor households, encouraging crop diversification.

The Thrive and Mawa programs, funded by USAID and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), would benefit 21,500 people in the Eastern Province of Zambia. This runs parallel to USAID’s Feed the Future program which is aimed at assisting 200,000 smallholder farming households rise out of poverty, decreasing the percentage of malnourished children, and augmenting the production and consumption of nutritious crops. Zambia was selected as a Feed the Future country because of its vast capability for agricultural growth, along with its large food insecurity.

The Feed the Future program and the Thrive and Mawa programs are all focused around the Eastern Province due to the high prevalence of poverty there. As the Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Bert Mushala has witnessed USAID health programs in this poor region of Zambia and commended USAID’s support of Zambia.

USAID’s programs in Zambia, working under the US Global Health Initiative, have several other focuses besides nutrition and empowering small farmers. Under PEPFAR, USAID works with the Ministry of Health to prevent mother-to -child transmission of HIV. The amount of infants born with HIV has dropped from 39 percent in 2005 to 5 percent in 2010, and over 400,000 Zambians are now on regular antiretroviral treatments for HIV. USAID has also addressed gender-based violence and supported over 500,000 orphans and vulnerable children.

These USAID health programs in Zambia are all part of a larger network of the USAID initiatives in Zambia. USAID also focuses on economic growth, education, and creating a just and democratic government in the country. These initiatives have led to a longer life expectancy for Zambians along with 12 straight years of notable economic growth. As a country that has such potential for growth, particularly in agriculture, a prosperous Zambia is crucial to stability in a region which includes the war torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.

– Martin Drake

Source: USAID
Photo: USAID

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Food Aid Reform Act: The Facts

Food Aid Reform Act
On Wednesday, June 12 discussions continued on Capitol Hill in an attempt to push forward a modernization of US international food aid policy according to the Guardian’s Cydney Hargis.  HR 1983, the Food Aid Reform Act, would remove laws requiring US food aid to be grown in the United States and then shipped to the receiving countries.  Instead, it would allow food aid to be purchased in areas local to the countries receiving it.  The impact of the Food Aid Reform Act would be twofold:  it would eliminate the time and costs required to ship the food, and it would further stimulate the economies of countries or regions that are receiving US food aid.

Under the Food Aid Reform Act, aid could reach the receiving country up to 14 weeks sooner, giving up to 4 million people better access to food.  It would also significantly decrease transportation costs of US food aid, which make up 50 percent of the US food aid budget.  Right now US food aid has to travel 7,000 miles to reach its destination and that food chain is vulnerable, especially in conflict zones such as what we are seeing right now in Syria.

The other aspect of the Food Aid Reform Act is the stimulation of the local economy where the food is being produced.  When the US ships food to developing countries as aid, the US food can crowd out locally produced food.  This is especially important considering that most of the world’s poorest and those without food security are small farmers.  In shipping food to aid the poorest in the developing world, the US can prevent these farmers from being able to sell their crops at a profitable price, thereby harming the very people which USAID is supposed to be helping.

Purchasing food aid locally will raise the demand for local food, thereby driving up the price and enabling farmers to gain more profit out of the crops they sell.  This profit can then be put towards things like better fertilizers, water pumps, and other things which increase the productivity of these farmers.  When these farmers increase their productivity their communities will develop their food security, fixing the very reason that food aid would have to be provided to these developing nations in the first place.

The Food Aid Reform Act is a piece of bipartisan legislation that will go a long way to modernize US foreign aid.  It will help stimulate developing economies to bring them further towards contributing significantly to the global economy, which will ultimately lead to a more prosperous international community as a whole.

– Martin Drake

Source: The Guardian, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Photo: ONE

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7,000 Miles Saved with Food Aid Reform

7,000 Miles Saved with Food Aid Reform
Food Aid Reform is a big topic as lawmakers are working hard to get the bill passed through Congress. The reform will modernize policy that is outdated in the current global marketplace.  The food aid reform will enable USAID to purchase more locally grown food in emergency situations rather than shipping food from US suppliers. This change will save time, money, and improve local economies and the livelihoods of local farmers.

The Food Aid Reform Act would eliminate requirements that food must be purchased from the US and sent on US ships. It would enable food to be delivered quicker and reach an estimated 2 to 4 million more people. The increased flexibility would allow on the ground organizations more freedom to make decisions and meet needs quicker. In addition to increased efficiency, the reform would lower shipping costs significantly.

Right now, USAID spends 50% of it’s food aid budget on shipping. If food is purchased in the mid-west of US, it is transported to a US port, put on a ship, and sailed 7,000 miles around the world where it is unload and transported by land to the emergency area. This does not seem like the most profitable use of government funds when food is available in many of these economies for purchase. This will allow USAID to save the 7,000 mile trek it must send food on currently. The food aid reform would also help to stimulate local economies.

Now is an excellent time to call your Congressional Representative and ask them to support the Food Aid Reform Act. Find their information here.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Independent Daily European Express
Photo: House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Budget Cuts & Global Health Programs

sequestrian-budget-cuts-global-health-programs
“Sequestration”, the popular buzzword going around Washington, is the term for a series of automatic spending cuts that went into effect after Congress and the White House failed to agree on a budget for the 2013 fiscal year. While much of the conversation about sequestration has highlighted Washington gridlock and the heated and partisan nature of the negotiation process, the $85 billion dollars in sequestration cuts has caused a number of organizations to worry that the cuts could negatively impact global health programs.

Using figures from a March 1 report by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the group amFar, (The American Foundation for AIDS Research) estimates that the required 5% cuts to discretionary government spending would have the following negative impact on global health programs:

  • HIV/AIDS treatment for 162,200 people will not be available, potentially leading to 37,000 more AIDS-related deaths and 72,800 more children becoming orphans.
  • Funding for food, education, and livelihood assistance will not be available for 225,000 children.
  • 1.16 million fewer insecticide-treated mosquito nets will be procured, leading to over 3,000 deaths due to malaria; 1.9 million fewer people will receive treatment.
  • 35,300 fewer people with tuberculosis (TB) will receive treatment, leading to 4,200 more deaths due to TB; 190 fewer people with multidrug-resistant TB will receive treatment.

In addition, amFar estimates that sequestration cuts in contributions to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization will mean 789,500 fewer pentavalent vaccines for children, resulting in 8,400 more deaths from preventable diseases. The group also states that required sequestration cuts to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria would mean:

  • 1.5 million fewer insecticide-treated mosquito nets will be available, leading to 4,000 deaths from malaria.
  • 54,000 fewer TB patients will receive treatment, leading to more than 6,400 TB deaths.
  • An additional 59,800 people will not be treated for HIV/AIDS.

Another group, The Global Health Technologies Coalition, notes that organizations like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), all of which fund research and development on projects like HIV/AIDS, and malaria and meningitis vaccinations, will have budgets slashed by significant amounts because of the required sequestration cuts. The result will be an interruption in research projects, including late-stage projects for vaccines that could help millions of people. They argue that such an interruption is not merely an inconvenience, but a potential health risk.

Both groups also argue that while sequestration cuts could negatively impact global health programs in these ways, they would have very little positive impact on the US deficit or debt reduction because spending on global health programs amounts to only .01% of the US Gross Domestic Product.

– Délice Williams

Source: National Journal,amFar,Global Health Technologies Coalition
Photo: University of Washington

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No Annual Food Aid and Development Conference

usaid_food_crisis_aid_international_foreign_policy_un_budget_cut_opt

Federal budget constraints are beginning to take a toll on development and food aid efforts for the world’s poor.

After 14 years of meeting annually to discuss global development and food aid, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed this week there will be no International Food Aid and Development Conference (IFADC) in 2013 because of the current federal government budget constraints.

According to Food Business News, the agencies said, because of “U.S. government agencies facing a difficult budget environment and being urged to minimize conference events in light of these budget constraints.”

Previous IFADCs pulled together 700 or more participants from around the world, representing major food assistance program stakeholders. Meetings included representatives from U.N. agencies including the World Food Programme, officials from recipient countries, private charitable organizations, and USDA and USAID staff for the meetings in Kansas City every year.

Instead of multiple days of conference meetings as in previous years, USDA and USAID will replace the Kansas City conference with a one-day public meeting in Washington in November 2013. The meeting will be held as an add-on to the Food Aid Consultative Group meeting.

“We know that this is not a complete substitute for the IFADC and that we will have to be creative and thoughtful in how we organize this event. USDA and USAID will reach out to stakeholders during the planning of the one-day meeting,” conference organizers said.

– Liza Casabona

Source: Food Business News
Photo: Guardian

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Pact: Building Local Promise

Pact
Pact is a United States based non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on developing communities in regions of the world plagued by health crises, resource dependence, and extreme poverty. Its unique operating procedure partners donors with local communities in such regions as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. Pact was founded in 1971 to oversee the distribution of small-scale USAID grants to development assistance organizations.

Pact’s three core values of (a) local solutions, (b) partnerships, and (c) results, put people at the center of their approach. With over 10,000 local partners, Pact customizes its system for every community. For example, Pact leads a development project in Ethiopia funded by USAID. It involves local and federal governments, NGOs, and nonprofits to provide health treatment and formal education for nearly 50,000 kids and adults.

The NGOs focus on local solutions, allowing vulnerable populations to take responsibility for the aid they will receive. Capacity development is highly prioritized in the regions served by Pact; local governments are developed, infrastructure is improved, and effective governance systems are formed.

Partners with Pact, small and large organizations alike, are also assured of progress with tangible success. The organization publishes a yearly report, called “Measuring Pact’s Mission,” where six different impact areas are examined. These impact areas include health, livelihood, natural resource management, and state-society engagement.

While accountability and effectiveness are frequent concerns of NGOs, Pact is the first USAID partner to publish its program data to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). IATI aims to provide information about NGO spending and its measurable results. While the Initiative is relatively new – the first annual report of IATI was published at the end of April 2013 – it promises a clear picture of where aid money goes.

Pact works in more than 25 countries worldwide, and its program services are incredibly diverse. These programs include formal schooling for children in several African nations, the improvement of health care for HIV/AIDS patients in the Ukraine, and the responsible micro-financing of productive enterprises in Myanmar. Pact’s holistic view of global development and its commitment to aid transparency make the organization a prime example for other development-focused NGOs.

– Naomi Doraisamy

Sources: Pact, International Aid Transparency Initiative
Photo: Pact Facebook

5 Ways to End World Hunger

five-ways-to-end-world-hunger
According to the World Food Program, there are 870 million people that are living with chronic hunger worldwide. The estimated cost of feeding those people is USD 30 billion, a fraction of what the United States allots to the Military and War budgets. While there has been tremendous progress in reducing hunger worldwide, today one in eight people do not get enough food to lead a healthy, active life.

Malnutrition is the number one health risk across the globe, but it is entirely preventable. Listed below are five ways to reduce poverty and help eradicate malnutrition and chronic hunger.

1. Donate to a cause or organization that will make a difference.

2. Learn the facts, spread the word, and build buzz. The more people that are involved and dedicated to ending world hunger, the better. Great sites to surf for facts are UNICEF, USAID and WFP and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

3. Call or write to Congress! A phone call or letter to state representatives and congressmen can persuade them to support bills that will protect and reduce hunger around the world. Learn how to contact state leaders at The Borgen Project.

4. Volunteer. Whether you have the time or the money, volunteering is a great way to fight the good fight and end world hunger.

5. Fundraise! Hold a garage sale, a non-event or start a fundraising website to generate awareness and funds.

– Kira Maixner
Source: WFP, The Borgen Project
Photo: SCH

Global Communities Are Partners For Good

Global Communities Are Partners For Good
Global Communities is an international non-profit that works to bring about sustainable changes to the lives of vulnerable people. They work with community members to determine the needs to the community. They utilize a multi-faceted approach by mobilizing the communities, governments, the private sector and NGOs to work together. They bring together complementary strengths and shared responsibilities of given organizations to work toward a common goal.

Global Communities was previously named CHF International. Founded in 1952, they currently work in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe & the Caucasus, Latin America & the Caribbean and the Middle East. Their mission is “to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities around the world helping them to improve their social, economic, and environmental conditions.” They strive to be genuine, committed, connected and purposeful in every project they pursue.

Their funding comes from governments, foundations, local groups and the private sector in order to maximize impact and effectiveness. They try to create self-sustaining organizations that can withstand crises and work well and efficiently on their own.

Global Communities implements innovative housing techniques to help the most vulnerable of populations. They work to make living conditions more stable and desirable in the developing world. One such population is the Nairobi community in Kenya. The slums there feature some of the most-at-risk populations in Kenya with high unemployment, cramped living spaces, and marginalization from mainstream society. There are also ethnic, religious, and political tensions present.

Global Communities’ project in Nairobi is funded through USAID and is called the Kenya Tuna Uwezo program. This program aims to reduce politically motivated conflict in the area. Global Communities is strengthening social networks of community members and civil society groups. They are working with PeaceNet and Kituo Cha Sheria, partner organizations, to engage young people with the goal of reducing resistance within and between identity groups. They are also fostering communication between ethnic lines while also ensuring technical and organizational capacity of partners to ensure the program can be sustained.

Global Communities has projects all over the world focusing on a range of topics including economic development, micro, SME and Housing Finance, infrastructure and construction, governance and urban development, civil society and municipal development, global health, and emergency response. Global Communities is an important ally in providing development assistance to countries in need, and one that can provide an important link between USAID funding and actual on the ground development and progress.

– Caitlin Zusy 
Source: Global Communities

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Rice Farming Productivity in Ghana Increases

ricepaddy

Rice farming in Botanga, Ghana, has seen an increase in productivity due to an agricultural project funded by the USAID.  The Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) program started two years ago to help farmers who use the lands of the Botanga Irrigation Scheme. The program was designed to increase productivity.

Marketing companies and produce buyers were brought into the project to help the rice farmers grow and cultivate improved rice varieties. Currently around 600 farmers are farming the land and many of them have benefited from the ADVANCE project. The rice cultivated is used mainly for cereal and vegetables. The project brought in combine harvesters that have improved rice harvesting and helped to lower some of the post-harvest losses in Botanga. Rice farmers were educated on better farming techniques. They were shown how to create nurseries and replant with adequate spacing to ensure better yields for future crops. The ADVANCE project also helped improve the business side of rice farming.  Farmers were offered support in selling crops and provided information and expert knowledge on controlling pests and disease.

Food insecurity is a major issue across all developing nations and Ghana is no exception. The USAID-ADVANCE project hoped to improve food security and increase the incomes of households of rice farmers in the Botanga region.  A value-chain method was developed to allow farmers access to all parts of the production process such as input dealers, seed suppliers, and produce buyers.  The method starts first with identifying a buyer and demand for the product to ensure crops can be sold. Premium Foods and AMSIG Resources were two buyers linked to the rice farmers. The buyers then developed contracts with the farmers that provide support, weed control, seeds, and an agreed upon price to buy the rice from the farmers.

Since the ADVANCE program began, 29,000 low income farmers are being supported. These farmers grow maize, rice, and soybeans. They are getting the help they need to grow successful crops and are being paid a fair market price for their produce. 269 demonstration sites have also been set up to show farmers new technology and how to best utilize it.  The introduction of infrastructure and technology have helped Botanga rice farmers improve their lifestyles. The project also falls in line with President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: GhanaWeb