A Different Way to Make a Difference
ANNUAL REPORT 2023
Who We Are
Since 1968, TechnoServe’s business solutions to poverty have been a different way to make a difference. We pioneered using the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty. We fight poverty by helping people build regenerative farms, businesses, and markets that increase incomes. We do this because we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life.
Letter from our CEO and Board Co-chairs
TechnoServe has always found a different way to make a difference.
In 1968, TechnoServe was established with the powerful insight that we can fight global poverty most effectively through business solutions. For more than 50 years, that premise has been borne out in practice. We’ve helped millions of small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs improve their incomes and their lives, with lasting impacts.
At TechnoServe, we believe that everyone deserves the chance to build a better life. A team of more than 2,200 staff across more than 30 different countries is dedicated to giving our hardworking clients the skills, connections, and confidence they need to make a difference for themselves.
This past year, our impact grew significantly.
In 2023, TechnoServe’s work helped farmers and entrepreneurs earn an additional $485 million, improving the lives of 3.4 million people.. We know that improving the economic lives of women is a critical element of reducing family poverty, and this year, thanks to deliberate work to engage and integrate more women into our programs than ever before, we hit an important milestone—42% of our clients were women. We are working hard to raise that share to 50% as soon as we can.
Our strategic plan recognizes the health of our planet is inextricably linked to the ability of people to prosper and thrive into the future. We have launched an aggressive agenda to more explicitly address climate and nature in our programs. For the first time, we are incorporating two new environmental indicators: “emissions reduced” and “land under regenerative management,” an important step in holding ourselves accountable to this challenge.
The growth and refinement of our impact measures indicates we are headed in the right direction. The inspiring progress in our 2023 annual report represents the efforts of TechnoServe staff, partners, donors, and above all, the smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs we are proud to serve. It shows what a difference we can make together.
We invite you to keep being part of our mission, to help us keep innovating, collaborating, and empowering communities. With your vital support, we can create even more pathways to prosperity, transforming countless lives for the better.
2023 Impact Numbers
Financial Benefits
$485 million
Represents the amount of increased revenue for people and businesses benefiting from TechnoServe’s work.
TechnoServe trained cocoa farmer groups to operate as businesses and optimize their productivity so that the farmers can triple their incomes. Trainings on best farming practices have helped some producers quadruple their yields. Cocoa farmer Victor Addo payies his dues to cooperative leader, Akyem Takyiman in Ghana. (Image: TechnoServe / Nile Sprague)
People and Enterprises with Increased Revenue
1.2 million
These are TechnoServe clients who grew their revenue in the past year, as well as for whom we have data indicating likely revenue growth.
West Africa produces 45% of all raw cashew nut today but less than 7% of it gets processed where it is harvested. TechnoServe is helping to change that through projects like Prosper Cashew that engages with processors like Dorado Ivory in Côte d’Ivoire. (Image: TechnoServe / Prosper Cashew)
Women Participants
42%
A measure of directly impacted women or women-owned businesses.
Ivonne Alvarado and Claudia Vásquez of Exotic Chocolatier show their handmade chocolates in Peru. TechnoServe has worked to develop the cocoa sector for farmers and entrepreneuers with support a range of local and international partners. (Image: TechnoServe / Nile Sprague)
Return on Investment
$5.60
This is the average revenue increase for TechnoServe clients for every $1 invested in TechnoServe programs.
We are relentlessly focused on impact. TechnoServe’s work has helped transform the lives of millions of people in low income communities around the world by helping them learn to improve their farms, businesses, and industries. (Image: TechnoServe-Kellogg)
3.4 million lives improved as a result of TechnoServe’s work. It includes family members of our clients and people whose jobs were created or strengthened due to our services.
Working with Technoserve helped guar farmers Birbal Ram and his wife Kelavati Devi increase their yields by at least 50% percent. (Image: TechnoServe / Suzanne Lee)
Better Jobs
48,000
Jobs created, strengthened, or filled as a result of TechnoServe’s work. It includes entrepreneurs who work with us to start their own businesses, new jobs created by businesses that expanded due to TechnoServe guidance, and low-income people who learned skills from TechnoServe that enabled them to land a new job.
TechnoServe's Pan-African Youth Entrepreneur Development (PAYED) program gave thousands of young people pathways to progress and new careers in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. (Image: TechnoServe) Read more
Emissions Mitigated
60,000 tons of CO2e
Estimated greenhouse gas avoided, reduced, or sequestered by projects that promote regenerative practices. This data represents six projects for 2023, the inaugural year for this metric.
In Ethiopia, many smallholder coffee farmers are producing wild and semi-wild forest coffee with the support of TechnoServe programs aimed at maintaining the diversity of forests while increasing productivity for farmers.
Land Under Regenerative Management
140,000 Ha
Farmland or natural areas where TechnoServe clients have applied regenerative practices to land and water where we can attribute improvements in protection, management, or restoration to project activities. Data was collected from 11 projects in this first pilot year.
A well-managed and mulched tomato garden in Kayunga, Uganda. The farmer uses organic methods for water retention. Read more about climate-smart agriculture. (Image: TechnoServe / Elly Gugulu)
Impact by Country and Region
Impact by Sector
*tC02e stands for tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (Co2) equivalent (e). Tonne is a metric ton or 2,200 pounds. Carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2e means the number of metric tons of CO2 emissions with the same global warming potential as one metric ton of another greenhouse gas. This figure estimates tons of greenhouse gas avoided, reduced, or sequestered by projects that promote regenerative practices.
Stories of a Different Way to Make a Difference
Brewing Resilience in a Changing Climate
Benjamín Alas Ordoñez, 69, is a grandfather and coffee farmer in El Salvador. He and his brothers inherited the farm from their father. The first few years were wonderful until things changed. Old and unproductive trees, plant diseases, and erratic climate patterns severely reduced coffee harvests and quality.
The consequences were severe for Benjamín who relied on coffee as his primary source of income. Benjamín was determined to revive his coffee farm, but despite his efforts, his coffee trees were not thriving. He faced a painful future—many farmers across Central America were forced to abandon their crops, if not their entire farms.
His turning point came two years ago. Benjamín heard of a program called MOCCA that worked with farmers in his community to improve coffee and cacao production. Maximizing Opportunities for Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) is a 7-year initiative implemented by a consortium led by TechnoServe and primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through their Food for Progress Program.
He joined the program and found the training on climate-resilient agricultural practices particularly useful.
“Maintaining this forest is important for the climate—for the oxygen it provides and the carbon it captures. There’s another added value to this work that goes not only to the people of El Salvador but to the whole world. These are small contributions, but little by little, a lot is done.”
He also learned agroforestry techniques, such as intentionally integrating trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems. This system has several economic and climate benefits, including increased carbon sequestration, reduced soil erosion, improved soil health and water retention, and additional livelihood opportunities.
Benjamín’s sense of responsibility for the environment extends far beyond his farm or even his generation.
“And the best thing is that if it is done, let’s say, by a family, it also creates a new culture for the children that come after us,” he added. “The new generations need more awareness and more knowledge that the planet is our home, but that our home is getting too small, too narrow, so we must take care of it.”
Since joining the MOCCA program in 2023, Benjamín has seen a 200% increase in his coffee yields. As a result of TechnoServe’s efforts, 50,000 coffee and cacao farmers like Benjamin have earned $84.7 million in additional income thanks to increased yields and better prices for higher quality.
TechnoServe's Impact Measurement
For more than five decades, TechnoServe has made a real difference in the lives of people and communities working to lift themselves out of poverty. Our rigorous approach to data gathering, analysis, and impact measurement makes this possible.
“Without it, you’re just flying in the dark. Impact is our reason for being as an organization, and we absolutely have to be clear minded in understanding when we're creating it if we're serious about accomplishing our mission and being really good at what we do.”
Data is baked into TechnoServe's DNA.
We focus on ensuring that data are regularly incorporated into our decision-making processes. This starts with program design, where we conduct research and analysis to identify business opportunities and barriers. We then invest in data systems and staff to set projects up for success. We gather impact data every year and use it to understand where and why our work drives more or less impact, helping us to understand where we should invest, and where we should adjust our work.
For every project in our portfolio, we calculate return on investment.
This compares all benefits gained by participants in the project and compares those against every dollar of cost of the project, including all administrative costs. Projects show a range of ROIs, but we are proud that across all our projects on average in 2023 each dollar invested in the tightness or project produced $5.60 dollars of benefits to the participants.
Multidisciplinary teams share, examine, and interrogate the data to make our programs more effective. “That’s when the magic starts to happen,” said James, who described the collaboration between data scientists, program managers, and field implementers. His team balances rigor with curiosity around emerging best practices and innovations in impact measurement. We use external experts to help us assess where we are and whether we're still using the best high-level metrics.
Long-term impact measurement across all organizations working on economic growth and international development is an area of improvement that Kindra Halvorson, TechnoServe’s Chief Transformation Officer, is eager to see.
“Our programs are meant to bring about changes that should last, and that is almost impossible to know with confidence when organizations are not explicitly funded to conduct post-project evaluations," Kindra said.
TechnoServe has begun championing the need for a standard or consistent practice of going back after the end of a program to measure enduring impact.
In a world where trust and accountability are paramount, data measurement isn't just a necessary tool—it remains a cornerstone of TechnoServe’s mission to end global poverty.
Learn more about our work on impact measurement.
Changing Africa's Food Systems
Globally, 4.5 billion people owe their livelihoods to food systems: growing, trading, transporting, processing, and selling food. Ensuring that these food systems are inclusive, prosperous, nutritious, and safe is essential to fighting poverty.
That vision drives the Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food Processing (AINFP), a partnership between TechnoServe, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Partners in Food Solutions. The program works directly with local African companies that mill flour, refine cooking oil, pasteurize and bottle milk, and produce ready-to-eat yogurt, bread, porridge, and supplementary foods.
These businesses form a vital link in agricultural supply chains. By strengthening food processors, we can improve the lives of farmers who sell to them, workers who get jobs with them, and consumers who enjoy more nutritious foods.
Technical and Business Support for Food Companies
Since 2018, more than 225 businesses in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia have participated in AINFP. These companies have improved manufacturing and business operations, ensured products are safe and healthy, developed and launched new product lines, strengthened their supply chains, and adopted new marketing approaches. As a result, participating businesses have sold nearly $265 million of food products since the program launched, a 59.9% increase in the value of sales attributed to AINFP.
Better Nutrition in Low-Income Communities
More than three-quarters of this food was sold in low-income communities where it’s often difficult to find safe, nutritious, and affordable food. TechnoServe and its partners have led marketing boot camps and forged linkages with distributors to better serve these markets. This has led to new products and packaging designed to meet the needs of families in low-income communities.
Better Markets for Farmers
The work of AINFP has also provided better opportunities for small, family farmers. Participating businesses purchase crops and milk from more than 174,000 smallholder farmers across the five countries. AINFP has worked with food processors to invest in their smallholder supply chains. A number of them have developed business plans to provide services and stable prices to these farmers. A survey of smallholders selling to three AINFP-supported businesses found that the vast majority had seen their incomes rise.
“Our first aim was to support farmers by providing an assured, reliable market for their produce. TechnoServe helped us very much, from the process of ISO certification to extending the shelf life of our fresh milk and improving our marketing strategies.”
Gender Inclusion in Agricultural Value Chains
Women play a vital role in agricultural supply chains even as they face a number of barriers to receiving the same recognition and benefits as their male counterparts. To address those issues, AINFP has introduced a women’s leadership training program, one-on-one mentoring for women business leaders, and networking events for women entrepreneurs. It has also helped food businesses to more fully consider the needs of women as suppliers, workers, and consumers.
In 2023, AINFP delivered $16 million in financial benefits to Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. “I am delighted to be part of the AINFP team working to revolutionize food systems in Africa from farm to processing to table,” said Angela Mulaisho, Chief of Party, AINFP.
Harnessing Tech for Good
From harnessing remote sensing capabilities to developing applications for improved supply chain visibility, TechnoServe Labs applies various tech-enabled approaches to reduce poverty around the world.
In 2023, TechnoServe Labs and the University of Minnesota partnered to map cashew-growing areas in Benin using satellite imagery and machine learning. Nearly 200,000 smallholder farmers in the country rely on cashews as their main source of income. Cashew production contributes 15% of the country’s national export earnings and is a significant priority for the Beninese government.
TechnoServe Labs interns from Carnegie Mellon University - Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, and CERCO Group and Epitech in Cotonou, Benin, collaborated with TechnoServe staff to create a web-based dashboard for the project. The result was a first-of-a-kind national map of cashew production, the country’s second most valuable agricultural export.
“Empowering communities through innovative technology lies at the heart of our mission at TechnoServe. Our geospatial cashew dashboard represents a fusion of cutting-edge machine learning with traditional agricultural knowledge.”
In the past, there was limited information on where cashews were grown because cashew farms are often small, irregular, and hard to identify. Without this information, designing effective policies and making programmatic decisions to support the country’s cashew industry and lift cashew farmers out of poverty is challenging.
TechnoServe is expanding our use of geospatial technology into other sectors and geographies. We are creating a map of cashew plantations for the entire African continent and will apply this research to carbon sequestration and deforestation monitoring and traceability. TechnoServe Labs is also expanding its cashew smallholder mapping work to other tree crops, such as mangoes in Côte d’Ivoire.
TechnoServe’s geospatial technology work allows us to target training and resources more effectively, ultimately reaching more smallholder farmers with the tools and connections they need to increase their incomes and improve their lives.
“This project is an excellent example of TechnoServe Labs’ collaboration with research teams and computer science students at U.S. and African universities,” said Dave Hale, Director of TechnoServe Labs. “We work together to build geospatial tools that help governments and NGOs create more effective, targeted programs for smallholder farmers.”
Learn more about TechnoServe Labs.
Paying it Forward with TechnoServe
T’Shaka Lee believes in the transformative power of opportunities.
The long-time TechnoServe donor explains that although his early years were not as dire as many TechnoServe clients, they were “not too far off.” T’Shaka was raised by a “village of women” on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. His grandmother worked hard to provide for her family. Her ability to cover the basic needs of her children let his mother get “a little further down the road,” and opened T’Shaka to more opportunities for his own future.
Today, T’Shaka has a thriving career as a partner at Deloitte. He remains committed to giving others the opportunity to change their lives.
“My goal is to make as much as I can so that I can contribute to people who are committing their lives to service,” he said. “From my very first paycheck in university, I sought out organizations that aligned with the things that helped to propel me in life.”
T’Shaka sees TechnoServe as a conduit for lasting change.
He has supported TechnoServe since 2010 and sits on the Global Advisory Council, a community of supporters that provide financial support, strategic advice, and connections to advance the life-changing work of the organization. It’s a different way to make a lasting difference at an organization for people who care deeply about giving others the opportunity to improve their lives.
T’Shaka has personally experienced the positive impact of a small hand up to a person’s life and livelihood. He strongly believes the key to poverty alleviation is giving people better access to resources and capital.
“This is where TechnoServe hits for me,” he said. “It’s that intersection of meeting people where they are and allowing them to find a pathway to a sustainable life and livelihood with dignity.”
T’Shaka trusts TechnoServe as a responsible partner committed to driving impactful change.
“Supporting TechnoServe isn't just a donation; it's a commitment to shaping a future where equitable access sparks sustainable progress and dignified livelihoods,” he said. “In every contribution, I see not just a possibility, but a promise fulfilled—a promise of genuine transformation from adversity to empowerment.”
Please email gac@tns.org if you’re interested in joining T’Shaka Lee on the Global Advisory Council.
2023 Highlights
January | TechnoServe hosts an event on large-scale food fortification at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
February | Ethiopia’s Ministry of Industry recognizes TechnoServe for its positive impact on food systems.
April | TechnoServe helps Peruvian farmers sell more than $5 million of coffee at the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, Oregon.
June | TechnoServe is named “NGO of the Year” at the Africa Food Awards. We are also recognized as a Top 10 purpose-driven organization to work for by Escape the City.
June | TechnoServe’s Greenr Sustainability Accelerator, supported by the Ikea Foundation and Visa Foundation, boosts eco-entrepreneurs in India.
July | New research on remote sensing and machine learning from TechnoServe and the University of Minnesota helps cashew farmers in Benin.
September | Millers for Nutrition is launched to help millers produce adequately fortified staple foods and reach one billion people by 2026.
November | TechnoServe engages new partners at COP28, the U.N.’s major climate change conference in 2023, to spark a regenerative food revolution.
December | TechnoServe welcomes a significant gift from Board Co-chair Rachel Hines and Michael Cembalest to support the TechnoServe Fellows Program.
2023 Financials
TechnoServe strives for maximum accountability, transparency, and efficiency. See our consolidated financial report at TechnoServe.org/Financials.*
* Audited financial information for 2023 was not available at the time of publication—the numbers presented here are unaudited. Official, audited figures will be published at technoserve.org/financials when they become available.
Partners
TechnoServe’s success is made possible by partnerships with leading foundations, corporations, public-sector agencies, and multilateral organizations. Some of our partners in 2023 are below. Learn more about our partners.
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TechnoServe has always found a different way to make a difference.
TechnoServe siempre ha encontrado una manera diferente de marcar la diferencia.
Depuis toujours, TechnoServe a trouvé une manière différente de faire la différence.
A TechnoServe sempre encontrou uma maneira diferente de fazer a diferença.
This report was assembled by the Communications team at TechnoServe. The authors and contributors are Trishna Gurung, Bethany Peevy Downie, Nick Rosen, Rebecca Regan-Sachs, Olivia Sakai, Michelle Whiting, James Tinker and Smitha Allapat. Digital design by Trishna Gurung. Print design and layout is created by Liz Beeles with support from Lyvi Sieg.