East Africa

Staple crops like maize, soy and bean can provide much more than just subsistence for smallholders, they can also increase income, create jobs and improve food security. The Storage and Proper Post-Harvest Improvements for Resource Efficiency (SAPPHIRE) program, funded by the DFID, worked to capitalize on the potential of maize and increase incomes for farmers through increasing productivity and improved aggregation.

The Smallholder Poultry Agribusiness Development (SPADE) initiative aimed to sustainably improve the livelihoods of 12,000 smallholder poultry producers of indigenous chicken.

Extension services are an important feature in improving cotton production for farmers in the Lake Victoria region of northwest Tanzania.

TechnoServe is working with small- and medium-sized maize, rice and sunflower oil processors to increase the supply of, and demand for, nutritious and fortified foods.

Cocoa production began in Tanzania in the late 1960s, yet has not been significantly promoted or developed as a cash crop in the past 40 years. TechnoServe, supported by a grant from Irish Aid, is working with farmers to improve post-harvest handling and better position farmer groups as credible sellers.

Aiming to increase smallholder farmers’ access to sustainable markets in Ethiopia, TechnoServe implemented the World Food Program’s Purchase for Progress (WFP-P4P) project by providing support to 16 farmer-owned cooperative unions.

With funding from Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee, TechnoServe is developing and implementing coffee waste water solutions in the Sidama region of Ethiopia, to reduce river water contamination.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Heifer International, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program is designed to boost the milk yields and incomes of small-scale farmers so they can lift their families and communities out of poverty.

A partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Project Nurture aimed to help more than 50,000 small-scale mango and passion fruit farmers in Kenya and Uganda double their fruit incomes. TechnoServe and its partners worked with farmers to identify new market opportunities, improve productivity and develop strong farmer business groups.