TechnoServe’s Year in Review: 14 Milestone Moments
As 2024 draws to a close, let’s take a moment to celebrate the milestone moments that you helped make possible through your support. Thanks to you, our work has made a real, tangible difference in millions of lives.
1. As TechnoServe’s Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFE) program in Peru wrapped up, it received a Prosperity and Partnership in Peru by the ODS Award. It was also a finalist in the Swiss Coffee Trade Association’s Next Gen Sustainability Award. The USAID Peru initiative, implemented by TechnoServe with support from JDE Peet’s, delivered strong results: over 14,000 people benefited, there was a 206% increase in farmer incomes, an 81% improved coffee yields, $44.8 million of financing was mobilized, and $140 million in coffee sales were facilitated. Read more
2. TechnoServe’s Burundi Better Coffee Initiative bumped the number of Q Arabica Graders in Burundi from two to 10! This milestsone was achieved through customized training to more than 20 individuals through our partner Coffee Quality Institute. We are delighted to report that eight Burundians achieved their Q Arabica Grader certification! Read more
3. TechnoServe’s Tony Siantonas and Margarita Guerra joined conservation leaders at the U.N. Biodiversity COP16 in Colombia to emphasize the impact of biodiversity loss on poverty in rural communities, and how TechnoServe’s regenerative business projects protect nature and people. Read more
4. TechnoServe co-hosted NutriVision 2024 with Nile University in Nigeria. This pan-African youth dialogue on nutrition brought together experts, partners, and youth to highlight the challenges of nutrition, food security, sustainable agriculture, and financing in Nigeria and across Africa. The event featured a conversation with Bill Gates, as well as influencers like Tosin Samuels, Aproko Doctor, and Jon Batiste. Read more
5. TechnoServe’s Katarina Kahlmann represented the organization at the U.N. Climate COP29 in Azerbaijan. This annual gathering of world leaders is important to TechnoServe because the negotiations matter to our clients—the smallholder farmers and small business owners—who are among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Read more
6. TechnoServe’s BlueBiz program creates pathways for dignified and fulfilling work for young women and men in Kenya’s coastal communities. An important marker of progress this year was the selection of three young Kenyans for the pilot phase of the Youth Advisory Council. Over the next three and a half years, the program will support 15,000 youth entrepreneurs, build the capacity of local enterprise development organizations, and increase access to financial solutions. Read more
7. TechnoServe’s Jane Grob and Daniel Hamos were quoted in a New York Times article that explored why so many cocoa farmers lived in poverty despite the spike in cocoa prices. Jane noted that farmers often received unreliable measurement and poor follow-up from projects set up to help them. “It’s a top-down approach,” she said. “No one looks at the effects on individual farmers.” Read more
8. Walmart Mexico’s supply chain sourced 13% of its fruits and vegetables from smallholder farmers, marking a significant milestone for TechnoServe’s Pequeño Productor Program, funded by Fundacion Walmart de Mexico. Our program has trained more than 32,000 smallholder farmers in agronomic practices since 2011, shifting over 68,000 hectares of land into regenerative production. Two farmers joined TechnoServe at the Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit in Mexico City in June 2024. Read more
9. TechnoServe and Benin’s Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises signed a partnership agreement to align efforts supporting the growth and development of local small and growing businesses. We will take a collaborative approach to creating and implementing activities annually, guided by market systems principles. Read more
10. TechnoServe’s Greenr Sustainability Accelerator helped startups that are turning plastic pollution in India into new ways to help our planet by linking them to knowledge, capital, and markets. Supported by the IKEA Foundation and Visa Foundation, TechnoServe offers experienced strategic advisors without equity dilution and no program participation fees. Read more
11. In a World Economic Forum article, TechnoServe CEO William Warshauer underscored the importance of long-term impact measurement that is built into project design from the outset. He noted this was needed across all international development projects to find and fund what works. Read more
12. TechnoServe’s Mujeres CAFÉ project worked with sixty women in a participatory photography method called Photovoice. The women were trained to use visual storytelling through photography to reflect on their lives, communities, challenges, and achievements as coffee farmers and individuals and capture these in images. The results are nothing short of inspiring and celabratory. Read more
13. TechnoServe’s Kindra Halvorson was interviewed as an ‘MSME Champion’ as part of an advocacy campaign for the International Day for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). She highlighted the barriers women often face when accessing finance and the activities that TechnoServe has done to change the status quo. Read more
14. TechnoServe contributed insights and technology to help smallholder farmers meet EUDR compliance for crops like coffee and cocoa. We donated the code for TerraTrac, an application funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that uses AgStack’s Asset Registry to help map, register, and assess field compliance globally. This will help smallholder farmers and their organizations meet key EUDR requirements more efficiently and economically. Read more
As we reflect on the milestone moments of the past year, we’re grateful to the partners, donors, and communities who made this progress possible.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to an even brighter 2025!
