USAID Impact Photo Credit: Nancy Leahy/USAID

Archives for Sub-Saharan Africa

Introducing the NGO Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa

Posted by  on Friday, November 12th 2010     

Map of AfricaSubmitted by Laurel Gordon,
USAID Office of Democracy & Governance

Whether acting as advocates, watchdogs, or service providers, it is widely recognized that Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play a crucial role in countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

However, their ability to make a true impact depends not only upon their own organizational capacity and financial viability, but also upon such external factors as their country’s legal framework, communications, and other sectoral infrastructure.

USAID is now giving users an easy way to understand the opportunities and the threats facing NGOs across the region with our roll-out of the NGO Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa (NGOSI).

The Index measures NGO sustainability using a methodology that employs seven “dimensions”. These include legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure, and public image.

By combining numerical scores with narrative justifications, the Index offers a useful description of the state of the NGO sector in 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mirroring the long-established Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia NGO Sustainability Index, this first edition of the Africa NGOSI will provide a benchmark for observing trends across sub-Saharan Africa as well as between Africa, Europe, and Eurasia.

Visit the NGOSI web page for an interactive map, downloadable scores, and country reports.

USAID Delivers Materials for Southern Sudan Self-Determination Referendum

Posted by  on Friday, November 5th 2010     

Submitted by DAA/AFR Larry Garber

One of the highlights of my trip to Sudan last week was seeing all the work we at USAID have been doing to help southern Sudan prepare for its historic referendum on self-determination. Voting is due to start January 9, 2011.

Despite initial delays as the parties to Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement put in place the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) in Khartoum and Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) in Juba and established their operating procedures, preparations for the referendum are now in full swing on an extremely compressed timeline.  Our dedicated team of electoral experts, including both USAID Mission staff and an experienced team from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, have been working day and night with the SSRC and SSRB (which are in charge of the referendum) to plan and assist in carrying out this historic event.  We have also been working closely with the international community, particularly the United Nations, to ensure timely and coordinated efforts to support the referendum process.

U.S. Government and United Nations representatives in Khartoum on October 30 hand over to the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) materials for southern Sudan's January 2011 self-determination referendum. From left: U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration; USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa Larry Garber; UN Development Program Resident Representative Claudio Caldarone; SSRC Chairman Professor Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil; UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division Director Denis K. Kadima; Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Jasbir Lidder. Credit: Jim Parys/USAID

Working with the Sudanese, we are playing a key role by providing technical and material assistance, and have provided significant funding to international and domestic groups to both educate voters and ensure credible observation of the referendum.

On October 30, I witnessed a key milestone in this effort—we and our UN partners handed over more than 3,000 registration kits and training materials necessary for voter registration, which is due to start November 15.   Along with me and our Sudan team was U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan General Scott Gration; Mr. Jasbir Lidder, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General; and SSRC Chairman Professor Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil.

From all the participants, I heard words of gratitude for our support.  Mr. Lidder characterized the delivery of referendum materials as the “first fruits of our cooperation,” recognizing that much more effort is still required to ensure a credible referendum process.  Most encouraging to me was the presence of Professor Khalil, who described the registration process as “this complex task for this important event to allow all eligible southern voters—even those living in the north—to participate in this decision on the future for all southern citizens.”

Mapping Effort Will Paint Picture of African Youth

Posted by  on Monday, November 1st 2010     

How does Africa’s growing youth population spend its time? How do they interact with society? What services do they use—and what services do they need? These are just a few of the questions a new USAID-funded assessment hopes to answer in the coming years.

A peer educator talks with Tanzanian youth about HIV/AIDS prevention.Photo Credit: IYF

The population of Africa is ballooning, expected to double to two billion people by 2050. This phenomenal trend is going to drive much of everything else in Africa over the next two generations in Africa—conflict, demand for school, healthcare, food, and water, and the ability of these countries to develop responsive democratic institutions.

With support from USAID, the International Youth Foundation (IYF) is launching a major assessment that will capture a comprehensive picture of the lives of young people in eight African countries—Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. “This is a terrific opportunity for us to dig deeper into how young people across Africa view their lives and what kinds of skills or opportunities they think they need to be successful,” said IYF President and CEO William S. Reese.

The $10-million YouthMap program will survey both in- and out-of-school, employed and unemployed youth, and investigate opportunities and challenges related to youth development in areas like education, livelihoods, economic growth, health, democracy, and governance. Complementing the assessment, the YouthMap Innovation Fund will support pilot activities based on the findings, test promising practices, support the transfer of results and experiences to stakeholders across participating countries, and scale up interventions in education and employability.

YouthMap is part of a larger USAID-funded program that is operating in Jordan, Latin America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Morocco, and the Palestinian

USAID Responds to Massive Flooding in Benin

Posted by  on Wednesday, October 27th 2010     

Submitted by: André Roussel, USAID/Benin

More than 100,000 Beninese have been made homeless due to massive flooding caused by the country’s worst rains in a half century. According to the United Nations, 360,000 people have been affected, while 50,000 homes and 276 schools have been flooded or destroyed. In this Pennsylvania-sized west African country of 9 million people, the effects have been devastating.

On October 26, flood victims from Vekky village in Sô Ava county are transported to a safe site on the premises of the county council, where they can receive USAID-funded relief. Photo Credit: Simplice Takoubo/USAID

After the U.S. Embassy declared a disaster, USAID responded immediately, granting Catholic Relief Services $50,000 to purchase and distribute water storage units and water purification kits to flood victims in Sô Ava county—one of the worst affected areas that has been under water since the beginning of September. This assistance will provide 3,000 people with clean drinking water for three months, a crucial step in preventing the emergence and spread of disease.

USAID also donated plastic sheeting that will be used to construct 1,700 emergency family shelters and will soon provide an additional grant of $1.5 million to assist families in resuming their livelihoods and to help communities rehabilitate their infrastructure.

Throughout the disaster, USAID has been closely coordinating with the United Nations and the Government of Benin to ensure that aid is coordinated and reaches those most in need.

Ethiopia Partners with the U.S. to Put Girls’ Education First

Posted by  on Friday, October 22nd 2010     

Submitted by Thomas H. Staal, USAID Ethiopia Mission Director

First Lady Azeb Mesfin has been steadfast in her determination to collaborate with USAID on the award of scholarships to meritorious girls who would otherwise have to drop out of school. So it gives me great pleasure to participate in the signing of this agreement on behalf of the American people, to provide FreAddis the means to benefit over 1,000 female students.

USAID Ethiopia Mission Director Thomas Staal, First Lady Azeb Mesfin, and US Ambassador Donald Booth participate in an event sponsored by FreAddis.

Education is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and all its trappings: hunger, disease, resource degradation, exploitation, and despair. Women are the caretakers and economic catalysts in our communities. No country can afford to ignore their potential. We all know women whose lives were transformed through education and who in turn transformed the lives of those around them.

I am pleased to welcome FreAddis as our newest partner in the education sector where we are working with the Ministry of Education to improve the quality of teaching and classroom materials for the greatly expanded numbers of children in primary schools all over the country. FreAddis hopes to eventually expand its reach and support to girls nationwide through funds donated by Ethiopians here and throughout the Diaspora.

In the future we hope to collaborate with more local institutions enabling them to carry out their missions and to make best use of the opportunities provided by the U.S. Government.

Southern Sudan’s Wildlife Thrives

Posted by  on Thursday, October 21st 2010     

Submitted by Susan Quinn, USAID/Africa

Many readers of this month’s National Geographic magazine were surprised to find that the world’s second largest—possibly even the largest—wildlife migration travels through the formerly war-torn region of southern Sudan. According to a USAID-supported study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the annual movement of the white-eared kob—a type of antelope—through Sudan’s Boma-Jonglei landscape rivals the famed wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. Despite two decades of a brutal civil war, the area has become a thriving habitat for an amazing diversity of familiar African wildlife, like elephants, giraffes, lions, and buffalo, as well as lesser known species, like the tiang and Mongalla gazelle.

Staff from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism collar an adult male elephant with GPS satellite tag in Nimule Park in southern Sudan. Photo Credit: Paul Elkan, WCS

WCS had surveyed southern Sudan’s wildlife in 1982, but by the time the war ended in 2005, no one knew how many animals remained. After seeing wildlife populations devastated by the wars in Angola and Mozambique, many scientists assumed the worst. WCS teamed up with USAID, the Government of Southern Sudan, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the damage—and were amazed at what they found. “I have never seen wildlife in such numbers, not even when flying over the mass migrations of the Serengeti,” said J. Michael Fay, a WCS field scientist and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence who conducted the surveys. Fay said that the numbers of wildlife they found were akin to a gold miner who “found El Dorado.”

So how did these animals survive? It seems that the isolation brought on by the conflict actually ended up protecting the animals. National Geographic explains:

As bombs and land mines exploded, humans who didn’t flee into surrounding countries hid in the bush. So did elephants and other migratory beasts; some fell to hunters, but many evaded gunfire by finding refuge in hard-to-reach places. They became, in the minds of the southern Sudanese, fellow displaced victims of war…. Soldiers hunted and ate the animals, but they also had rules: They would not shoot males, and they would try to avoid hunting any species to extinction.

Today, as Sudan prepares for its January referenda on self-determination, there is a critical window to take action to ensure that southern Sudan’s future development plans protect the region’s stunning biodiversity and prioritize natural resource management.

Check out the amazing photos of Sudan’s wildlife on the National Geographic website.

Related: National Geographic featured a story on Madagascar’s environment in its September 2010 issue that highlighted many of the findings in the USAID-funded report: Paradise Lost? Lessons from 25 Years of Environment Programs in Madagascar.

Food Voucher Program Will Assist Sudanese Families

Posted by  on Tuesday, October 12th 2010     

Submitted by Angela Stephens

Most U.S. food assistance to Sudan is “in-kind” aid—food that is grown by farmers in the United States, purchased on the open market, then shipped to Sudan. Voucher programs, on the other hand, offer an alternative and complementary approach that gives families access to foods they are already familiar with and boosts local economic activity. Recently, USAID awarded its first grant for a food voucher program in Sudan, a landmark initiative that will nourish hungry families by lowering the cost of life-saving foods already available in local markets.

Food aid being distributed in Darfur, Sudan, earlier this year. Photo: Rebecca Dobbins/USAID

This grant, awarded to the World Food Program (WFP), provides more than $2.25 million for food vouchers that will be distributed to 129,000 people affected by drought in North Kordofan and North Darfur through the end of the year. Using vouchers worth $8 to $20, families can select a minimum of three food items from approved merchants, alleviating some of the hardship brought on by seasonal drought.

Overall in 2010, USAID has provided $404 million in food aid to 6.1 million food-insecure people in Sudan.

Maternal Health Matters to Everyone

Posted by  on Friday, October 1st 2010     

The maternal mortality rate in northern Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. In Bauchi State, women bear an average of eight children in their lifetimes, yet only 45 percent of them receive prenatal care. Less than 1 percent of Bauchi’s children under age one are fully immunized. Bauchi is one of the last places where the wild polio virus is still a threat. And the average person living in Bauchi experiences two malaria episodes a year—with pregnant women and small children affected the most.

Traditonal and religious leaders in Bauchi State meet with officials to explore how leaders can work with government to improve community health care. Photo Credit: USAID/ Nigeria

Overcoming the extraordinary health challenges for women and children requires commitment and partnership at all levels, particularly with traditional and religious leaders, who can use their trust and authority to change health behavior.

Read the rest of this entry »

Miller Finds Fortune in Rice Cultivation

Posted by  on Friday, October 1st 2010     

Submitted by Ebun Aleshinloye

Joseph Ununu, 45, learned early in life to grow rice; it was a family vocation. But a pest infestation of rice fields in Abakaliki, Eastern Nigeria, in the 1990s, took away his zeal. The pests devastated his four-hectare rice farm, forcing him to shift attention to milling, which only earned marginal income for his family.

In 2006, USAID’s Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) program changed the fortunes of many rice farmers and processors in the area—including Ununu. They were introduced to best practices in rice farming, high-yielding rice varieties, and use and application of herbicides.

Even though Ununu participated in these training sessions on rice cultivation, he was not enthusiastic initially; he stayed focused on milling.

However, after hearing from other farmers who benefited from USAID’s program, in 2009 he returned to rice farming on 12 hectares of dispersed farmlands in Abakaliki. With careful application of what he had learned, Ununu says that he was amazed at the growth rate of his crops. “I had to leave the four rice mills for my family to manage, and focused attention on nurturing my rice farms,’’ he says.

Ununu’s yields have earned him substantial income. He harvested more than 330 bags of paddy rice of 100 kilograms each, earning $2,000 to purchase two modern processing machines designed to mill long-grain rice. He also earned more than $3,000 from another sale which enabled him to send his first son to university and meet other family needs. Ununu still has more than 70 bags of paddy rice in his warehouse. He employs 30 people in his rice mill and engages more than 60 farmhands on his rice fields. Last year, Ununu earned more than $13,000 from growing rice.

“Thanks to USAID, I am a proud member of my community and an employer of labor,’’ he says.

Nigeria @ 50: Microenterprises Support Caregiver Families

Posted by  on Friday, October 1st 2010     

Submitted by Ebun Aleshinloye

Like many caregivers in Kano, northern Nigeria, Jamila is responsible for raising her children and caring for relatives affected by HIV/AIDS. Previously, she relied on her husband or other sources for financial support. After her husband lost his job, and with six people in her household, Jamila had to find a means to provide for her family financially.

Jamila and her husband display their peanut butter. Business skills training has empowered many woman caregivers to engage in effective business practices. Photo Credit: Fernando Maldonado, USAID/MARKETS

In 2009, Jamila joined about 90 other caregivers from Bauchi, Kano, and Cross River States to attend the MicroEnterprise Fundamentals™ training course offered by USAID through its Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites project. This training equips participants with practical business skills to become successful entrepreneurs.

After the course, Jamila combined her modest savings with a small loan from a community savings and loan group to finance her business. Within a couple of weeks she was able to generate a healthy profit and contribute to her household’s upkeep.

“The most important learning I took from the training was how to plan my business. I now allocate my income between business expenses, personal expenses, and savings,” said Jamila.

Jamila is currently expanding her business. As a result of training on product differentiation, Jamila adds spices to her peanut butter, which she packs in attractive containers. Demand for her product has increased. She has even gained the confidence and financial resources to start a poultry business.

“I am now the main contributor to my household and we make up to $200 in profit each month.”

Like Jamila, many caregivers are reaping the benefits of the USAID training. A recent survey of caregivers trained in 2009 showed that over 50 percent started new businesses, and nearly 100 percent of the respondents reported an increase in income.

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