TechnoServe Builds Resilience in the Face of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is upending business-as-usual at organizations around the world, and TechnoServe is no exception. We wanted to provide a brief update on how we’re keeping our staff safe and supporting small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs as they face this new global challenge. 

TechnoServe operates in 26 countries around the world, each of which is experiencing COVID-19 in different ways. Therefore our response efforts are designed to be flexible and timely, enabling our local leaders, who know their communities best, to take the actions most appropriate to their context. 

Protecting our team

TechnoServe’s greatest asset is its team of 1,200 dedicated professionals, spread across 26 countries. To keep them safe and contribute to international efforts to halt the spread of the virus, we’ve instituted a number of new policies:

• International travel is temporarily suspended
• Depending on local conditions, domestic travel is restricted
• Staff based in the U.S. and Europe are working from home. Elsewhere, we are following the recommendations of local health authorities.

Supporting our clients

With the spread of COVID-19, farmers face new challenges selling their crops, and small businesses may find it difficult to attract customers. That’s why it’s more important than ever to continue delivering training that strengthens the resilience of these women and men and gives them the tools to support their families. We are adjusting our approaches in ways that enable us to continue to provide the life-changing programs that have been the hallmark of TechnoServe for over 50 years. For example, in areas impacted by COVID-19, we are temporarily shifting to distance-learning tools so that we can continue to support our clients. In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to adjust and innovate. 

Thank you for your continued support of TechnoServe, and please stay safe.