usaid agriculture strategypdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/rfp/usaid_ag_strategy.pdf · usaid agriculture...

U.S. Agency for International Development

July 2004

US

AID

ST

RA

TE

GY

PD-ABZ-800

USAID Agriculture StrategyLinking Producers to Markets

The world’s agriculture produces $1.3 trillion a year in food and fiber. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing account for one of every two jobs worldwide and seven of 10 jobs in sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and the Pacific. Maintaining the natural resource base

that sustains these jobs is critical in the coming decades.Foreign Aid in the National Interest, 2003

U.S. Agency for International Development

July 2004

USAID Agriculture StrategyLinking Producers to Markets

USAID Agriculture Strategy | Linking Producers to Markets

Contents

Foreword 1

Executive Summary 3

The Agriculture Challenge 7

Conceptual Framework 8

A Renewed Commitment 11

Strategic Themes 11

Implementation 17

Regional Bureau Strategies 18The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Africa 19The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East 20The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia 21The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Latin America and Caribbean 23

Next Steps 23

Foreword

In August 2001, the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) approved an interim agri-cultural development strategy, signaling the intent

to raise the profile of the Agency’s agricultural devel-opment assistance efforts. The strategy focused onfour themes: mobilizing science and technology toreduce poverty and hunger; developing global tradeopportunities for farmers; reducing the knowledgedivide with training, outreach, and adaptive researchat the local level; and taking the long view by pro-moting sustainable agriculture and sound environ-mental management.

The definition of agriculture used in the interimstrategy derived from the 2000 Famine Preventionand Freedom from Hunger Improvement Act:1 thescience and practice of activities related to produc-tion, processing, marketing, distribution, utiliza-tion, and trade of food, feed, and fiber. Though the breadth of this definition blurs traditional sectoral boundaries—between agriculture andhealth, for example—it promotes a useful coher-ence of perspective for addressing the complexitiesof agriculture and is retained in this new USAIDAgriculture Strategy.

Since approving the interim strategy, USAID hashad numerous consultations with partners, stake-holders, and other donor organizations. Thesefocused on

■ reviewing directions and priorities proposed inthe interim strategy and approaches that mightbe highlighted in articulating the importance ofagriculture to economic development andpoverty reduction

■ defining USAID’s role in the U.S. Govern-ment’s support of agricultural development

■ providing guidance to USAID operating unitson program design

In early 2002, USAID’s preparation for the WorldFood Summit: Five Years Later and the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development offeredchances to probe more deeply into potential areasfor engagement in the developing world’s agricul-ture sector.

The Afghanistan recovery program provided animportant incentive to act on the new agriculturaldevelopment priority. Food shortages and famineconditions experienced in southern Africa andEthiopia in 2002–03 offered further opportunity toemphasize the new directions in agriculture andhighlight key food and agricultural issues that mustbe dealt with aggressively by African nations as wellas donors.

USAID drew on international commitments,advances in knowledge, and consultations withstakeholders to prepare this new agricultural devel-opment strategy, Linking Producers to Markets. Thestrategy articulates how USAID will address devel-oping world challenges of food, rural poverty,employment, investment, and sustainable naturalresource management in the coming years.

USAID Agriculture Strategy | Linking Producers to Markets 1

“Because three-fourths of people in poor developing countries are employed in agriculture,the long road to development begins with increasing agricultural productivity.”

Luther G. Tweeten and Donald G. McClelland,Promoting Third-World Development and Food Security, 1997

1 The Act (P.L. 106-373) amends Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Actof 1961 as amended. The definition includes family and consumersciences, nutrition, food science and engineering, agricultural eco-nomics and other social sciences, forestry, wildlife, fisheries, aquacul-ture, floriculture, veterinary medicine, and other environmental andnatural resource sciences.

Executive Summary

In many developing countries, the agriculturalsector’s performance determines overall econom-ic growth, trade expansion, and increased

income-earning opportunities. Increasingly, this per-formance is shaped by global, regional, and nationaltrade standards, changing consumer preferences,and international advancements in science and tech-nology. To be successful, agricultural producers inthese developing countries require training andinfrastructure support, good governance and soundpolicies, and a solid and progressive institutionalbase that supports market participation.

Conceptual FrameworkGood governance is an essential element of theenabling environment for science-based, market-led, sustainable agriculture. An emphasis on goodgovernance in agricultural sector programmingunderscores the need for mutual responsibility, oneof the key principles evoked at the U.N.Conference on Financing for Development inMonterrey, Mexico, in March 2002. In accordancewith the Monterrey consensus on aid effectivenessprinciples, ideal partners for USAID-supportedagricultural development efforts will be countriescommitted to the following:

■ implementing policies that encourage greateragricultural productivity and sound naturalresource management

■ investing in infrastructure that enables marketsto work efficiently

■ building research institutions that ensure a flowof new and adapted technologies to producersand postharvest enterprises

■ supporting the expansion of effective training,education, and communication systems thatprovide producers and those in agribusiness—women and men—with information they needto be effective market participants

Some transformational development countries areonly beginning to put in place these conditions forsuccessful agricultural-sector transformations.Agricultural development programs in these coun-tries will aim to help them become better partnersby providing technical assistance and limitedamounts of financial support.

In countries considered fragile states, the objectivesof U.S. assistance are stabilization, recovery, andreform. Determinations of agricultural develop-ment programs in fragile states will be based ontheir contribution to these objectives. Such pro-grams will focus on restoration or recovery to previous levels of production and productivity,support of near-term reform measures, and otherimmediate steps to promote stability and increaseproductivity.

For strategic states, USAID will support programsconsistent with foreign policy objectives and con-cerns. In many strategic states, resources will beprogrammed to either promote transformationaldevelopment or contribute to overcoming fragility.In these cases, the approaches to and criteria foragricultural development programs will be consis-tent with the U.S. foreign policy goals and con-cerns that underlie the overall assistance program.

Ensuring food security in emergencies is an impor-tant aspect of the provision of humanitarian assis-tance. In cases of chronic emergencies, humanitari-an assistance will be structured to address systemicfailures. This often entails the use of humanitarianresources to improve agricultural production andproductivity. A variety of interventions—such aspolicy reform, food for work, cash distributions tovulnerable people, stabilization of food stocks, andmarket-based seed assistance for vulnerable farm-ers—may be the focus of efforts to diminish thenumber and depth of emergencies.

Certain global or transnational issues, such as negotiations on the reduction of agricultural subsi-dies in the World Trade Organization or global


4 USAID Agriculture Strategy | Linking Producers to Markets

climate change, are linked to agricultural develop-ment. Strategic themes of the Agriculture Strategywill guide selective support for key global ortransnational issues.

Strengthening the capacity of countries and pro-ducers to increase their agricultural productivityunder the Agriculture Strategy will require thecommitment of many partners. In addition toUSAID’s renewed commitment to agriculturaldevelopment, U.S. business and cooperative sectors,international science and technology organizations,other U.S. Government agencies, U.S. colleges anduniversities, and NGOs must also commit fully toagricultural development when partnering withUSAID.

Four Strategic ThemesAgricultural development is thus a strategic priorityfor USAID. The Agency’s agricultural developmentefforts will focus on increasing agricultural produc-tivity and smallholder participation in marketsthrough four strategic themes.

1. To expand trade opportunities and improve thetrade capacity of producers and rural industries,USAID will support the development of soundpolicy environments; promote building institutionsand good governance; expand rural finance;strengthen producers’ groups and other rural organ-izations; enhance access to production, storage, andprocessing technologies; and focus on higher-valuenutritious foods benefiting producers and con-sumers. In particular, implementation of theAgriculture Strategy will be coordinated with theUSAID Trade Capacity Building Strategy and focuson helping countries to meet sanitary and phy-tosanitary regulatory standards and attain higherlevels of agriculture trade disciplines required foraccession to the World Trade Organization.

2. To improve the social, economic, and environmen-tal sustainability of agriculture, USAID will work torestore the health of land, water, and forestryresources; develop sustainable and renewable energysources; develop environmental assessment method-ologies that enable communities and implementing

partners to assess environmental risks and damagedue to natural and conflict-related disasters; andstrengthen local capacity for integrated manage-ment of agricultural and natural landscapes. TheAgency will also improve analytical and economicframeworks linking agriculture and natural resourceinvestments, find organisms endangered in nature and help protect them, and support thedevelopment of agriculture and natural resourcepolicies that promote good governance andimprove productivity.

3. To mobilize science and technology and fostercapacity for innovation, USAID will assist countriesand regions to formulate science policies, strategies,and governance systems; support technology devel-opment and application; expand public and privatesector partnerships and collaborative networks ofspecialists; and foster innovation within and amongdeveloping countries so that they can generate, uti-lize, and direct new technologies in locally appro-priate directions. USAID and its partners will sup-port women’s capacity to participate in nationalinnovation systems and ensure investments in sci-ence and technologies are appropriate to specificnational and regional conditions and systems.

4. To strengthen agricultural training and education,outreach, and adaptive research, USAID will supporteducation and training tailored to reach womenand girls; develop and extend innovative ruralinformation and communication technology sys-tems; and improve problem-based, site-specificlearning approaches. USAID recognizes that theability to access and manage information is fastbecoming a fundamental requirement for rural pro-ducers to participate effectively in an increasinglyglobal food, feed, and fiber system, and will workto ensure that the smallholder agriculture sectorreceives training and support services necessary tofully participate.

ImplementationThis Agency strategy serves as a benchmark forreview and approval of new strategic plans and fortriennial strategy reviews of operating unit pro-grams. The strategy will also be used in reviewing


and analyzing bureau program budget submissionsand constructing the Agency annual budget submis-sion. Operating units will monitor progress in overall agricultural development as well as specificprogrammatic results. While the weight given to astrategic theme will be situation-specific, a demand-driven, competitive economic framework for agri-culture should be the starting point in developingcountries capable of transformational development.In fragile and strategic states, other criteria will be added.

All USAID agricultural programming should con-form with this strategy, though the emphasis andarticulation of specific objectives will respond tobureau and operating unit strategic plans, bureaumandates, and country circumstances. In someinstances, national interest or other U.S. foreignpolicy objectives may cause a program to fall outside the strategic framework, but these fewexceptions will be clearly linked to achieving theforeign policy objective in a specific country orcircumstance.

To implement the strategy, the Agency will

■ link the Agriculture Strategy to the joint State-USAID Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2004–2009and identify indicators for performance goals

■ ensure that operating unit strategic plans andpriorities reflect analyses and recommendationsof ongoing external review bodies

■ strengthen donor coordination in agriculturalplanning and activity implementation

■ develop options to address the requirements ofagricultural development under a variety ofprogrammatic circumstances, including fragile,famine-prone, and food-insecure states

■ develop a new approach to agricultural education and training in transformationaldevelopment countries

■ develop guidelines and tools for conductingagricultural sector assessments and designstrategies and programs consistent with the newUSAID business model

■ strengthen professional capabilities to designand implement effective agricultural programs

■ develop state-of-the-art courses on strategicagriculture issues

■ provide adequate resources to agriculture fromall budget sources


The Agriculture Challenge

For many developing countries, overall eco-nomic growth, trade expansion, and increasedincome-earning opportunities depend on the

performance of the agricultural sector.

For over 40 years—while the world’s populationdoubled—USAID has supported critical agricultur-al research, training, and outreach programs thatreduced global levels of food insecurity. Over thenext 40 years, the world’s population will increaseby almost half. In developing countries, increases inagricultural productivity must be accelerated tobring down current levels of food insecurity andmeet the food, job creation, and income needs ofnew populations.

Farmers are not the only actors in the agriculturalsector. Producers include those who fish in oceans,rivers, and streams, and those who use aquaculturetechniques to produce supplies of the food com-modity for which demand is growing most rapidly.Producers also tend livestock herds, whether in tra-ditional nomadic patterns or in capital-intensiveproduction units. Producers harvest the naturalabundance of forests and rangelands and undertake

agroforestry and plantation forestry. Processors,manufacturers, and marketing chains that bringfood, feed, and fiber from producers to consumersare also part of the agricultural sector.

Women play a prominent role in the agriculturalsector. In most developing countries, they providea substantial share of farm labor and are responsi-ble for household food security. There is some evi-dence that men’s participation in agriculture isdeclining, whether due to war, disease, or move-ment toward more lucrative and secure income-earning opportunities. Approximately one-third ofall rural households in sub-Saharan Africa are nowheaded by women. In Southeast Asia, 90 percentof the rice cultivation is done by women. Yetwomen’s access to productive resources—land,knowledge and capital—is consistently less thanmen’s.2 The impact of agricultural trade onwomen’s income varies, depending on this access.3

2 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Gender andAgriculture,” FAO Gender and Food Security/Agriculture website<http://www.fao.org/Gender/en/agri-e.htm>.3 Samuel Skogstad, 2001, “International Trade: Impact, Opportunitiesand Constraints on the Participation of Women” (Washington, D.C.:USAID), 2.


While the current agricultural development chal-lenge is not unlike that already successfullyaddressed by Green Revolution technologies, it may prove to be more difficult. The world’s mostproductive lands have already been brought into production, and water supplies are increasinglyscarce. Further, new population growth is over-whelmingly occurring in developing countries andconcentrated in urban areas. Other factors affectingdevelopment more generally, including poor governance, conflict, and HIV/AIDS, could derailcurrent agricultural progress.

Producers are not only required to adopt a newgeneration of technologies and make more efficientuse of the natural resource base that supports agri-culture, but they must respond to greater and morediscerning market demand. This means gettingagricultural products of acceptable quality to grow-ing urban markets at affordable prices.

To sustain the record of accomplishment in provid-ing assistance that enables developing countries tomeet these new challenges, the USAID strategy forsupporting agricultural development must be

■ linked to market trends, at global, regional,national, and local levels, and focused onimproving competitiveness and efficiency

■ aggressive with regard to improving naturalresource management

■ innovative, facilitating the development and useof science and technology

■ attentive to the needs and capabilities of producers, rural communities, and vulnerablegroups

Such a strategy will guide the Agency’s agriculturalprogramming and assure its effective contributionto Millennium Development Goals4 through

increasing economic growth and reducing povertyand hunger, creating jobs and investment opportu-nities, expanding trade, and improving health andnutrition. Given that the largest proportions ofpoor people in developing countries are employedin the agriculture sector, USAID will accomplishthis by focusing on increasing broad-based agricul-tural productivity and expanded smallholder partic-ipation in markets.

Conceptual Framework

Arising portion of the harvests of develop-ing-country producers travels to regionaland, increasingly, international markets to

be processed and packaged for consumers in distantcities and foreign lands. Off-farm employment andenterprises contribute an increasing share of incometo agricultural households. International standardsfor food safety are a major factor in determininghow much of a crop crosses national borders.Increasingly, a producer’s ability to earn profitsfrom her or his farm labor is shaped not only bythe local variables of weather, water, and soil, butby global, regional, and national trade standards;changing consumer preferences; and internationaladvancements in science and technology.

Market-oriented producers are woven into interna-tional networks of scientific research and techno-logical development, and into global, regional, andnational trade and investment systems. They relyon improved seeds produced by internationalbreeding programs; fertilizers formulated accordingto standards established by research, regulatorybodies, and the industry; and information from private entrepreneurs and publicly funded agricul-tural extension programs.

With this ever-changing mix of new technologiesand new and expanding market opportunities, pro-ducers must be able to count on sound policies,good governance, and a solid and progressive insti-tutional base that supports agriculture and marketparticipation. In addition, to benefit fully from thisdynamic environment, producers need access totraining and infrastructure support.

4 The first U.N. Millennium Development Goal, approved inSeptember 2000, is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. Ittargets halving by 2015 the proportion of people living on less than$1 a day and the proportion who suffer from hunger.


Lack of assets and limited ability to manage riskskeep many farmers and producers in poverty,unable to produce enough food for their families orpursue opportunities to sell more specialized prod-ucts. Local markets—in land, labor, financial capi-tal, and water—play the major role in householdrisk management strategies to cope with climatevariability, economic downturns, and politicaluncertainty. Yet these same markets also enableresponses to economic opportunities that emerge.Both formal and informal institutions criticallyinfluence the processes through which householdsand individuals gain access to, exercise rights over,and use these factors of production.

The rights, responsibilities, and roles of men andwomen in agriculture vary, and are often quite dis-tinct. Women engage in production, processing, andmarketing tasks, both on their own account and onbehalf of their families. As noted however, women’saccess to productive assets, information, and servicesis significantly constrained. Overall productivity suf-fers as a result. Consideration of women is impor-tant in planning a successful transformation of theagricultural sector. Inclusion of women improvestheir ability to benefit from a focus on agriculturaldevelopment. Benefits can occur by promotingwomen’s secure access to agricultural assets, abilityto obtain credit to purchase improved agriculturalinputs and tools, or ability to earn fair wages forlabor and receive fair prices for products.

As democratic governments have multiplied aroundthe world, international organizations governed bymultilateral consensus have begun to develop andapply new rules for trade, financial flows, and envi-ronmental management. At the same time, howev-er, international terrorism and civil wars haveheightened tensions. The combined impact ofsocial, political, economic, and technological transformations has been far-reaching, affectingfunding for agricultural programming as well as theeconomic context in which international financialinstitutions and agricultural producers operate.

Good governance is an essential element of theenabling environment for science-based, market-

led, sustainable agriculture. Sound economic gover-nance at all levels is critical to ensuring the stableand secure environment in which market systemscan operate. Sound governance also promotesinvestment and provides appropriate support toovercome market weaknesses.

Expanded and diverse participation of all citizens inpublic decisionmaking enhances the probability ofgood governance. Such participation not onlyempowers men and women to hold governmentaccountable but encourages them to be responsiblefor their communities and begin solving their ownproblems.5 While some countries are making excel-lent progress toward good governance, others faceobstacles. Critical analyses of impediments toprogress will help national governments identifytheir costs and develop the political commitment tosupport change. These analyses will also providecommunity and private-sector groups with astronger voice in lobbying for change.

An emphasis on good governance in agriculturalsector programming underscores the need formutual responsibility, one of the key principlesevoked at the U.N. Conference on Financing forDevelopment in Monterrey, Mexico, in March2002. Simply put, the conference agreed that devel-oping countries must take responsibility for chart-ing and navigating their own development course.Donors, private investors, and the internationalnongovernmental community can support, andperhaps accelerate, country-led actions. AtMonterrey, they pledged to do so.

The U.S. Government used the occasion of theMonterrey Conference to announce theMillennium Challenge Account (MCA), the singlelargest expansion of U.S. foreign assistance indecades. The MCA focuses on developing countriesthat are demonstrating the greatest progress towardruling justly, investing in people, and promotingeconomic freedom and opportunity.

5 Jon Anderson et al., Nature, Wealth, and Power: Emerging BestPractice for Revitalizing Rural Africa, (Washington, D.C.: USAID,2002). <http://www.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACR288.pdf>


In accordance with the Monterrey consensus on aideffectiveness principles, ideal partners for USAID-supported agricultural development efforts will becountries making credible efforts in these areas andcommitted to the following:

■ implementing policies that encourage greateragricultural productivity and sound environ-mental management

■ investing in infrastructure that enables marketsto work efficiently

■ building research institutions that ensure a flowof new and adapted technologies to producersand postharvest enterprises

■ supporting the expansion of effective training,education, and communication systems thatprovide producers and those in agribusiness—women and men—with information they needto be effective market participants

Some transformational development countries areonly beginning to put in place these conditions forsuccessful agricultural-sector transformations.Agricultural development programs in these coun-tries will aim to help them become better partnersby providing technical assistance and limitedamounts of financial support.

In countries considered fragile states, the objectivesof U.S. assistance are stabilization, recovery, andreform. Fragile states are characterized by weakeffectiveness and legitimacy, and often by poor per-formance on a range of indicators relating to eco-nomic freedom, ruling justly, and investing in peo-ple. Typically, the U.S. assistance strategy in a frag-ile state has a shorter time horizon than a strategyin a transformational development country.Determinations of agricultural development programs in fragile states will be based on theircontribution to stabilization, recovery, and reform.Such programs will focus on restoration or recoveryto previous levels of production and productivity, support of near-term reform measures, and otherimmediate steps to promote stability.

USAID and U.S. Department of State

Joint Strategic Plan, 2004–09

The principal aims of the Department ofState and USAID are anchored in the U.S.National Security Strategy and its threeunderlying and interdependent components:diplomacy, development, and defense. TheDepartment of State and USAID share thelead in advancing sustainable developmentand global interests.6 The broad aim of U.S.diplomacy and development assistance is toturn vicious circles into virtuous ones, whereaccountable governments, political and eco-nomic freedoms, investing in people, andrespect for individuals beget prosperity,healthy and educated populations, and polit-ical stability.

The Department of State and USAID willwork to ensure that

■ institutions, laws, and policies foster pri-vate sector-led growth, macroeconomicstability, and poverty reduction

■ trade and investment increase by meansof market-opening international agree-ments and further integration of devel-oping countries into the trading system

■ financial and energy markets are secureand stable

■ food security and agricultural develop-ment are enhanced

■ environmental capacity, energy use, andresource management are improved

6 U.S. Department of State and USAID, Strategic Plan Fiscal Years2004–2009: Aligning Diplomacy and Development Assistance(Washington, D.C.: Department of State and USAID, 2003).<www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/state_usaid_strat_plan.pdf>


For strategic states, USAID will support programsconsistent with foreign policy objectives and con-cerns. In many strategic states, resources will beprogrammed to either promote transformationaldevelopment, or contribute to overcoming fragility.In these cases, the approaches to and criteria foragricultural development programs will be consis-tent with the U.S. foreign policy goals and con-cerns that underlie the overall assistance program.

Ensuring food security in emergencies is an impor-tant aspect of the provision of humanitarian assis-tance. In cases of chronic “emergencies,” humani-tarian assistance will be structured to address sys-temic failures. This often entails the use of humani-tarian resources to improve agricultural productionand productivity. A variety of interventions—frompolicy reform to food for work to stabilization offood stocks and market-based seed assistance forvulnerable farmers—may be the focus of efforts todiminish the number and depth of emergencies.

Certain global or transnational issues, such as nego-tiations on the reduction of agricultural subsidies inthe World Trade Organization or global climatechange, are linked to agricultural development. Thefour strategic themes of the Agriculture Strategywill guide selective support for key global ortransnational issues.

Strengthening the capacity of countries and pro-ducers to increase their agricultural productivitywill require the commitment of many partners. Inaddition to USAID’s renewed commitment to agri-cultural development, U.S. business, science, andtechnology sectors, colleges and universities, andNGOs must commit to making use of theirstrengths and lessons learned.

A Renewed Commitment

Agricultural development is a strategic priori-ty for USAID. This strategy marks a renew-al of the Agency’s support for agricultural

development and sets out guidance for its engage-ment in such efforts. USAID will focus its efforts onfour strategic themes:

■ expanding global, regional, and domestic tradeopportunities and improving the capacity ofproducers and rural industries to act on them

■ improving the social, economic, and environ-mental sustainability of agriculture

■ mobilizing science and technology and fostering a capacity for innovation

■ strengthening agricultural training and education, outreach, and adaptive research

These strategic themes support the MillenniumDevelopment Goals of reducing poverty andhunger through agricultural development. Thestrategies build on the comparative advantages thatthe United States offers in agribusiness and trade;community-based natural resource managementand sustainable environmental protection; agricul-tural research and development; and training, education, and information and communicationtechnologies.

Strategic Themes

1. Expanding Trade Opportunitiesand ImprovingTrade Capacity ofProducers and Rural IndustriesRegional growth, rapidly expanding urban areas,regional trade agreements, and the advent of WorldTrade Organization accords have meant that agri-cultural producers and entrepreneurs—both menand women—face greater domestic competition foragricultural products. It also means that there aresignificantly expanded opportunities for participat-ing in markets, whether local, national, regional, or


international. However, governments must createenabling policies and institutional environmentsthat facilitate producers’ access to these markets.And to achieve increased levels of income, agricul-tural producers and entrepreneurs must have thecapacity to respond to such opportunities.

This theme builds, in part, on USAID’s largerStrategy for Building Trade Capacity in the DevelopingWorld. As that strategy notes, “Trade and investmentare the principal mechanisms through which globalmarket forces—competition, human resource devel-opment, technology transfer, and technological inno-vation—generate growth in developing and devel-oped countries.”7 Given the importance of agriculture and agribusiness to increasing productionefficiency and generating jobs in developing coun-tries, USAID’s trade capacity building efforts will, ofnecessity, focus on these sectors.

Success in global, regional, and domestic agricultur-al trade cannot be achieved unless producers knowhow to gain access to markets and meet require-ments for product quality, timeliness, and price.Tariff barriers, weak adherence to sanitary and phytosanitary standards, inadequate infrastructureand postharvest technologies, and political insecuri-ty and corruption all impede the growth of agricul-tural trade.

Addressing these access and capacity issues are legit-imate concerns for USAID’s strategy for linking

producers to markets. Because improving securityand reducing corruption are challenges for allUSAID programs, these challenges are bestaddressed through crosscutting and collaborativeefforts among sectors, with partners, and with otherU.S. Government agencies.

To enable producers and rural industries to betterconnect themselves to agricultural trade opportuni-ties, USAID will

■ support the development of sound policy environ-ments that enable open markets, private sectorinvestment, and gender-equitable access to fac-tors of production, products, and income

■ promote effective institutions and governance toenable female and male producers to acquire,protect, and use the assets they need to takeadvantage of emergent market and trade oppor-tunities

■ expand rural finance to increase the capacity ofproducers and producers’ groups to invest inproduction and processing operations and over-come gender-based constraints to access

Linking Producers to Markets

Exporting Organic Honeyfrom Zambia

With funding support from USAID,approximately 3,000 honey farmers inZambia’s poorest province have been trainedat the Zambia Agribusiness TechnicalAssistance Center in proper procedures forproducing, harvesting, and handling certi-fied organic honey for export. Within lessthan a year, certified organic honey exportedfrom the North-Western Province leaped260 percent, from 50 to 180 tons. Earlyestimates indicate that households engagedin export production increased their annualincomes by 40–100 percent. 7 USAID, Building Trade Capacity in the Developing World

(Washington, D.C.: USAID), 1. <http://www.dec.org/pdf_docs/PDABX241.pdf>


■ strengthen producers’ groups and other ruralorganizations to enable them to gain marketmastery and reduce transaction costs; gainaccess to and effectively use information ondomestic, regional, and international markets;and facilitate technology transfer

■ enhance access to production, storage, and processing technologies to enable male and femaleproducers to provide products demanded bythe market in the right qualities and at compet-itive prices

■ focus on more nutritious foods (natural and forti-fied) that can be marketed as higher-value andbenefit producers and consumers

The experiences of USAID and others will bedrawn upon to develop and introduce approachesthat are sensitive to differences between men andwomen as well as effective for different kinds ofproducers seeking different kinds of market opportunities.

2. Improving the Social, Economic,and Environmental Sustainabilityof AgricultureBecause biodiversity and natural resources are cen-tral to the livelihoods of rural populationsthroughout the developing world, they cannot beseparated from the broader context of social, eco-nomic, and development challenges. Sound envi-ronmental and natural resource management isfundamental to the sustainability of agriculturalproduction systems and economic benefit streams,and offers possibilities of increasing productivity inthe future.

For rural populations, access to and control overnatural resources are major governance issues.Improved governance and economic frameworksmaximize the ability of rural populations to benefitfrom their resource base, while creating a powerfulforce for preserving land, water, and biodiversityover the long term. Sound environmental manage-ment is key to reducing vulnerability of rural com-munities in an evolving global marketplace of

increasing competitiveness in agricultural and natu-ral resource-based enterprises.

To ensure positive benefits to local incomes and theecosystem, USAID will

■ restore the health of land, water, and forestryresources and develop sustainable and renewableenergy sources to regain productivity of degradedlands; maintain viable ecosystems; reduce vul-nerability to disasters; and ensure adequate qual-ity and quantity of resources for domestic,industrial, agricultural, and environmental needs

■ support the development and application of envi-ronmental assessment methodologies that enablecommunities and implementing partners tobetter assess environmental risks and damagedue to natural and conflict-related disasters

■ strengthen local capacity for integrated manage-ment of agricultural and natural landscapes tomaximize benefits to individual women andmen, while valuing public goods

■ improve analytical and economic frameworks link-ing agriculture and natural resource investmentsto achieve the dual goals of resource protectionand economic growth, while enhancing com-petitiveness in global economic networks

■ protect natural ecosystems by finding organismsendangered in nature and securing them in seedbanks and botanical gardens to improve biodi-versity management—including agricultural


biodiversity—and ensure the material necessaryto increase agricultural productivity

■ support the development of agriculture and natu-ral resource policies to promote good governancein ways that empower local citizens, enhancecompetitiveness, and improve the productivityof the resource base

USAID and its partners will undertake to identifyeffective approaches to sound environmental andnatural resource management, and, in particular,will employ the principle of adaptive management.

3. Mobilizing Science andTechnology and Fostering Capacityfor InnovationCrop and livestock research has led to the produc-tion of more food at lower costs. Doubling and

tripling yields mean that wheat, rice, and maize arenow cheaper for consumers by half—in realterms—than 40 years ago. Overall, the productivitygrowth in staple food crops has made a critical contribution to agricultural development andreductions in poverty and hunger.8 Continuedresearch and development are needed to sustainthese achievements.

Growth in staple food crops alone does not ensureagricultural development and food security. Accessto nutritious food is also important, as is the needto improve the availability of protein and micronu-trients in staple foods and vegetables. Another wayto address the nutritional aspects of food securityis through access to a variety of foods. Animal-source proteins and micronutrients can have long-term impact on productivity and economic devel-opment; these nutrients have been shown to have astrong and positive impact on the cognitive, physi-cal, and behavioral development of children.9

Advances in science and technology that enhanceprotein content and increase bioavailability ofmicronutrients will contribute positively to thehealth status of poor consumers, especially girlsand boys.

8 Michael Johnson and Peter Hazell, “Cutting Hunger in Africathrough Smallholder-led Agricultural Growth,” technical paper distrib-uted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development(Washington, D.C.: IFPRI and USAID).9 Charlotte G. Neumann et al., “Animal Source Foods ImproveDietary Quality, Micronutrient Status, Growth and Cognitive Functionin Kenyan School Children: Background, Study Design and BaselineFindings,” Journal of Nutrition 133 (November 2003): 3939S–47S.


Conserving Biodiversity in Mexico

In partnership with USAID and theStarbucks Coffee Company, ConservationInternational works with farmers in thebuffer zone of Mexico’s El Triunfo BiosphereReserve to produce environmentally friendlycoffee. The project’s goal is to promote culti-vation methods that protect forests, streams,and wildlife, while boosting farmers’incomes. The program works with six coop-eratives and more than 1,000 coffee farmerswho cultivate over 3,000 hectares. StarbucksCoffee Company bought coffee directlyfrom the cooperatives—75,000 pounds in1999 and 1.7 million pounds in 2002. Thecoffee is sold under the brand namesCommitment to Origins™, Shade GrownMexico™, and Decaf Shade GrownMexico™.


USAID recognizes that the enormous challenge ofincreasing agricultural productivity and smallholderparticipation in markets depends on harnessing scientific and technological advances and using newtools—such as those offered by biotechnology, nan-otechnology, global positioning, and geographicinformation systems—for the business of agricul-ture. USAID also recognizes that these moderntechnologies and tools are management-intensive,and require specific attention being paid to balanc-ing opportunities for their acquisition by womenand men.

The Agency will work with its partners to increasescience and technology capacity and foster innova-tion within and among developing countries sothat they can generate, utilize, and direct new tech-nologies in locally appropriate directions. Further,USAID will

■ formulate science policies, strategies, and gover-nance systems that reflect the rights, responsibili-ties, and roles of men and women within the

particular culture, and ensure that investmentsin science and technology yield maximum benefits

■ support technology development and application,addressing the different needs and constraintsof men and women throughout the agriculturalsector, to raise agricultural productivity forincreased economic competitiveness; stabilizeand enhance food, feed, and fiber productionin developing countries; increase protein con-tent and bioavailability of micronutrients in sta-ple foods and vegetables; and reduce environ-mental degradation and pollution

■ expand public and private sector partnerships andnetworks to facilitate collaboration on appliedresearch activities by networks of specialists oncrops, including staple foods and vegetables;natural resource management; and other aspectsof the food, feed, and fiber system

■ foster science and technology innovation capacityand national innovation systems to meet thechallenges of today’s agricultural environment,including volatile climatic and market changes,evolving grades and standards, infectious dis-ease, political instability, and the special needsof women

USAID and its partners will support the formula-tion of comprehensive science and technology systems appropriate to specific national and region-al conditions, strengthen national capacity for conducting research, and promote public awarenessof the value of innovation in accelerating agricul-tural growth.

4. Strengthening AgriculturalTraining and Education, Outreach,and Adaptive ResearchMajor advances in agricultural science and technol-ogy over the past decade have had uneven impactson people’s productivity and livelihoods. Somefarmers perceive some new technologies as toorisky, either in production or financial terms.Farmers’ use of other technologies is limited by lack


Urea Deep PlacementTechnology in Asia

USAID-funded research at the InternationalFertilizer Development Center has developeda urea deep placement (UDP) technologypackage that increased rice yields whilereducing nitrogen fertilizer application andnitrogen loss. Farmers report paddy yieldincreases of 15–25 percent.

UDP technology has been adopted by over600,000 farmers in Bangladesh, where it isbeing introduced on banana, papaya, andvegetable crops. The technology is also beingintroduced in Nepal and Vietnam, wherefarmers are seeing increases in their farmincomes.


of access to necessary inputs (such as fertilizer andpesticides) or markets. Still other potentially benefi-cial technologies are never adopted because farmersnever hear about them.

Over the past 20 years, new information and com-munication technologies have affected opportuni-ties for productive enterprises as well as trade andcommerce. Such technologies have enabled farmersto tap into new markets and acquire informationabout new production approaches. The ability toaccess and manage information is fast becoming afundamental requirement for rural producers toparticipate effectively in an increasingly globalfood, feed, and fiber system.

Education and training programs that reach out towomen and men who are rural producers and oth-ers in related processing and marketing chains canbenefit from new information and communicationtechnologies. When supported by NGO partners,rural communities have shown remarkable abilityto use innovative information technologies to bettermanage their natural resources profitably and sus-tainably. Producers for global markets (such assmallholder coffee growers around the developingworld) have begun to understand how to openmore profitable segments of these markets by link-ing improvements in production and processingtechnology (such as biofortification) with newinformation technologies that document higherproduct quality assurance standards.

However, access to new information and communi-cation technologies is still limited. For informationabout new agricultural technologies, many ruralproducers continue to rely on occasional extensionagent visits, word of mouth, farmer field days, and input supply dealers. Though participatoryresearch methodologies have been shown to behighly effective, they reach a limited number ofrural producers.

To achieve broader technology adoption rates,move toward more efficient and user-drivenresearch approaches, and ensure that new technolo-gies for production and processing result in safe

and affordable products for consumers, informationand communication technologies need to play alarger role in agricultural research, education, train-ing, and agribusiness.

New information and communication technologiesare not enough. Many farmers lack basic skills.Further, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and anemia mortalityand morbidity are resulting in a significant loss ofproductive labor and affect the intergenerationaltransfer of agricultural skills and best practices,especially in the most highly affected countries ofAfrica. Hobbling countries even further is the gapbetween male and female literacy rates, school completion rates, and rates of higher education andtraining. Developing countries need to establishsustainable, gender-equitable, and institutionalizedsystems that allow for a continual replacement of highly skilled experts and a strengthened human resource base to compete in the globalknowledge economy.

Reducing the knowledge gap in developing coun-tries will require leadership from the professionalagricultural research and education communities;expanded participation from agribusiness and mar-ket participants; and the development of innovativemodels for linking producers, entrepreneurs, andagribusinesses to information they need. To ensurethat agricultural producers and entrepreneurs bene-fit from new and improved technologies and mar-ket opportunities, USAID will


■ support education and training tailored toreach women and girls as well as long-termtraining and basic education curricula in theagricultural sciences and related subjects tostrengthen the human and institutional capacityof developing countries

■ develop and extend innovative rural informa-tion and communication technology systemsthat address the differential abilities and needsof men and women to improve access by dis-persed farmers and agribusiness entrepreneursto information across an array of agriculturaldisciplines and uses

■ improve problem-based, site-specific learningapproaches to solve problems—local, organiza-

tional, and site-specific—by using adaptiveresearch and getting “on-the-shelf ” solutionsinto the field

USAID will ensure that poor women and men haveaccess to training and support services—such asinformation and communication technologies—byremoving gender-based obstacles, including institu-tional constraints to education and training.

Implementation

The USAID Agriculture Strategy and region-al bureau strategies provide guidance forfield missions in the development of their

country strategic planning documents. All operat-ing units undertaking agriculture programs willtake account of the four strategic themes, withinthe context of other USAID sector strategies,regional agricultural development strategies, andcountry specificity.

Operating units should pay particular attention tothe interaction of HIV/AIDS and agriculture,including the use of agricultural extension to message HIV/AIDS prevention, and consideropportunities to utilize food-based solutions to mit-igate its impacts. To promote increased and diversi-fied flows of technology and financing for agricul-ture, operating units also should consider develop-ment alliances such as those pioneered under theGlobal Development Alliance (GDA) secretariat.Finally, food aid and development resources shouldbe strategically integrated. Both play an importantrole in protecting assets and expanding income-earning options for vulnerable populations.

While the weight given to a particular strategictheme in the Agency Agriculture Strategy will besituation-specific, a demand-driven, competitiveeconomic framework for agriculture should be thestarting point in developing countries capable oftransformational development. Each operating unitundertaking an agriculture program will determinewhether to focus solely on agriculture or makeagriculture part of a broader economic growthfocus. In either case, operating units will monitor


Increasing Albanian MilkProduction

Land O’Lakes Inc., with support fromUSAID, has been helping rural women inAlbania improve the health of their cows andincrease the quality and quantity of milk pro-duced. Over 8,000 women received trainingin milk quality (sanitation and milk qualitytests), herd health (prevention of mastitis andother diseases), dairy breeding and reproduc-tion (artificial insemination), forage produc-tion, and business management and market-ing (recordkeeping and cheesemaking underhousehold conditions). As milk productionincreased, improved collection systems wereestablished with milk-cooling tanks and sim-ple milk-testing laboratory equipment, someof which are owned and operated coopera-tively. Improving the quality and quantity oflocally produced milk has resulted inAlbanian dairy products gaining an increasedshare of regional markets.

progress in overall agricultural development, aswell as specific programmatic results. In chronicfood emergency situations, the focus should be onensuring a greater degree of food security, liveli-hood options, and economic stability for the mostvulnerable populations. In these cases, improvingagriculture can be used as a part of an initialresponse that will facilitate later development.

This Agency strategy serves as a benchmark forreview and approval of new strategic plans and for triennial strategy reviews of operating unit programs. In fragile and strategic states, other cri-teria will be added to the Agency strategy for selec-tion and approval of operating unit agriculturalprogram focus and results. The Agency strategywill also be used in reviewing and analyzing bureauprogram budget submissions and constructing theAgency annual budget submission.

Both field and Washington-based operating unitscontribute to the Agency’s Agriculture Strategy.USAID’s field missions work with local partners inpublic and private sectors to determine the mosteffective mix of activities for accelerated agriculturalgrowth. Similarly, both field and Washington-basedUSAID personnel contribute to emergency foodand agriculture programming and work with localpartners to provide appropriate measures of emergency assistance. The emergency assistanceendeavors to strengthen local economies and specif-ically to target vulnerable farming populations inefforts to improve livelihood sustainability and agricultural productivity. At USAID headquarters,pillar bureaus support worldwide research programsin agriculture; oversee food aid programming,including the World Food Program; and cover allaspects of health, HIV/AIDS, family planning, andnutrition. USAID’s headquarters staff also leadinteragency and international donor coordinationefforts; keep abreast of emerging issues and oppor-tunities; and provide technical leadership and fieldsupport in specialized issues such as biotechnology,long-term education, and sanitary and phytosani-tary trade standards.

Regional Bureau Strategies

Regional bureaus coordinate programmingfor field missions within geographicregions—Latin America and the Caribbean

(LAC), Europe and Eurasia (E&E), Asia and theNear East (ANE), and sub-Saharan Africa (AFR).Bureaus also control additional funds for agricul-tural activities and initiatives. Bilateral and regionalfield missions develop mission-level strategic plansand implement agriculture-related activities in economic growth, agriculture, and natural resourcemanagement.

Agricultural development requirements and successes are linked to the local contexts, includingphysical, social, and policy environments.Distinctive needs shape each regional bureau’s priorities for agricultural programming. While eachof the four objectives of the larger Agency strategyis reflected in regional bureau strategies, their rank-ing, sequencing, and size will vary according to thecharacteristics of the region.



Without accelerated development progress, coun-tries in sub-Saharan Africa face the prospect ofincreasing hunger and poverty: the region may behome to nearly two-thirds of the world’s under-nourished people in 2010. The social, political, andeconomic dislocations stemming from infectiousdiseases such as HIV/AIDS, environmental degra-dation, and dysfunctional social and economic poli-cies will only exacerbate the region’s problems.

The Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa(IEHA), launched in August 2002 at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development, includes sixfocus countries—Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda,Kenya, Mali, and Ghana—and three regional mis-sions—east, west, and southern Africa. UnderIEHA, USAID is investing heavily in smallholderagriculture, a sector that supports the livelihoods of nearly 80 percent of the subcontinent’s popula-tion, employs over 70 percent of its labor force,contributes over 30 percent to overall GDP, andrepresents 40 percent of its export earning.

IEHA has six intervention areas:

■ developing science and technology applications andsupport services that harness the power of newtechnology

■ improving agricultural trade and market systemsfor major African producers and products inlocal, regional, and international markets

■ promoting and strengthening community-basedproducer organizations to link business andfarmers through opportunities that add valueand increase incomes

■ building human and institutional capacity toshape and lead the policy and research and provide agricultural education

■ integrating vulnerable groups and countries in transition into sustainable development processes

■ enhancing natural resource management to conserve and foster the production of environ-mental goods and services that contribute toeconomic growth

USAID is collaborating with other donors to helpAfrican governments create a policy environmentthat will renew agricultural sector growth—acrossthe region, in its subregions, and nationally. Somekey policy areas include development of strategiesfor mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS and otherinfections on agriculture and food security and forharmonizing trade policies, product grades andstandards, and biosafety regulations.

The goal of the Trade for African Development andEnterprise Initiative (TRADE) is building capacityfor long-term sustainable trade and investmentdevelopment. The initiative seeks to

■ enhance the competitiveness of African products and services

■ expand the role that trade can play in Africanpoverty reduction strategies

■ promote U.S.-African business linkages

■ improve the delivery of public services supporting trade

■ build African capacity for trade policy formulation and implementation

■ strengthen the enabling environment forAfrican businesses

Through coordinated programming and comple-mentary investments, TRADE and IEHA worktogether on agriculture, orienting programs towardrural communities and smallholder producers.

The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Africa


The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Asia and the Near EastAgricultural growth has been an important precur-sor to overall economic growth in most ANE coun-tries. In large part, those that performed poorly didso because of poor infrastructure, policies thatrestricted equitable distribution of agriculturalgains, and protectionist policies that constrainedbroad-based economic growth.

Promoting agricultural development remains anindispensable means of increasing food security andeconomic growth. Approximately 58 percent of theregion’s population work in the agricultural sector,and about 62 percent of the total live in rural areas,one-third of them in poverty. The region is alsohome to 70 percent of the world’s 792 millionundernourished people.

Given the limited availability of resources, thechallenge is to develop new ways of doing businessthat selectively address critical issues while devel-oping private-sector and other partnerships thatresult in mutually beneficial gains. Toward thisend, the ANE sustainable agriculture and foodsecurity conference held in Manila in 2002 devel-oped a strategic plan for investments in agriculturethat includes

■ improving economic governance to promotethe growth of agroenterprises and off-farmbusiness development

■ bridging the knowledge divide to enable farmers and entrepreneurs to gain access to theinformation they require

■ investing in information technology to acceler-ate outreach efforts and train a new generationof scientists

■ promoting trade liberalization and marketdevelopment to support domestic and interna-tional trade capacity building and marketing

■ harnessing advancements in science, particular-ly in biotechnology, to increase agricultural productivity and improve nutritional status ofpopulations

■ managing the environment to foster integra-tion of environmental planning and naturalresources management into agriculture development


The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Europe and EurasiaIn most E&E countries, the agribusiness sector(farming and related food processing and trade)remains an important part of the nationaleconomies, though unemployment and underem-ployment continue to be widespread, especially inrural areas. E&E seeks to increase the competitive-ness of agricultural producers and processors andprovide employment opportunities, thereby sup-porting political stability, domestic and regionaltrade, and family incomes.

Food industry growth stimulates consumer demandand increases prices. This benefits individuals culti-vating private plots and managing small and medi-um-scale farms, and expands opportunities for pro-ducers moving up and down the processing andmarketing chain. Efficient processors and value-added enterprises are able to compete in domesticmarkets and enter export markets. Establishingstrong market chains that link farmers to con-sumers requires particular attention to three strin-

gent sets of standards: food safety, plant and animalhealth safety, and product quality.

The E&E agricultural development approachfocuses on four elements:

■ accessing the land, technology, and capital neces-sary for efficient production

■ establishing strong market linkages between farmers and consumers

■ developing producer and processor organizationsto facilitate technology transfer, economies ofscale, and advocacy capacity

■ improving competitiveness to establish the needed policy framework and common standards, remove trade barriers, and facilitatedomestic and international marketing ofexportable quality products


The United States has a strong interest in seeing the LAC region achieve broad-based eco-nomic growth and rising living standards. Althoughthe region is largely urbanized, the rural sector remains a significant part of theeconomy. The expansion of free trade agreementsin the Western Hemisphere has opened up oppor-tunities for entrepreneurs to revitalize ruraleconomies, creating an expansion of jobs andincome. The bureau’s approach encourages the production of high-demand and high value-addedgoods for trade in local, regional, and global markets.

Recognizing high levels of income and assetinequality, the bureau’s approach also encouragesmeasures that reduce asset-related constraints toparticipation in market opportunities and improvethe capacity of smaller enterprise to take advantageof new trade dynamics.

Four action areas through which missions con-tribute to diversification of rural economies andsustainable reduction in poverty include:

■ rules of trade—to help countries prepare for,participate in, and implement rules derivingfrom commitments negotiated under regionalfree trade agreements

■ science and technology—supporting researchand applications of biotechnology, food safety,plant and animal health, and communicationsand information technology

■ access to assets—to establish property rightssystems, rural finance mechanisms, and marketservices, and develop skills through higher edu-cation and vocational and professional training

■ vulnerability management—to mitigate environmental and economic risks

The Agricultural Development Strategy of the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean


Next Steps

To implement the strategy, the Agency will

■ link the Agriculture Strategy to the joint State-USAID 2004–2009 Strategic Plan and identifyindicators for the performance goals in the plan

■ ensure that operating unit strategic plans andpriorities reflect analyses and recommendationsof ongoing external review bodies, such asWorld Bank-led agricultural science and tech-nology assessments, the study on the contribu-tion of agricultural science and technology topoverty reduction by the Consultative Groupon International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), and the InterAcademy Council’sreview of science and technology in Africa

■ strengthen donor coordination in agriculturalplanning and activity implementation, workingat headquarters, in country, through networksof the OECD’s Development AssistanceCommittee, and other specialized bodies

■ develop options to address the unique andevolving requirements of agricultural develop-ment under a variety of programmatic circum-stances, including fragile, famine-prone, andfood-insecure states

■ develop a new approach to agricultural educa-tion and training in transformational development countries as part of the enhancedrelationship with U.S. university partners,stressing innovation and cost effectiveness bycombining U.S.-based training with a variety of other models, including distance education;shorter-term, skill-oriented programs; and programs that coordinate in-country and for-eign educational programs in U.S. and third-country institutions

■ develop guidelines and tools for conductingagricultural sector assessments and designstrategies and programs consistent with thenew USAID business model to support fieldmissions in developing agricultural compo-nents of country strategic planning documentsand projects

■ strengthen professional capabilities to designand implement effective agricultural programs,especially through continued rebuilding of for-eign service staff, and drawing on the expertiseof professionals at the U.S. Department ofAgriculture and other agencies through resourcesupport service and participating agency serviceagreements

■ develop state-of-the-art courses on strategicagriculture issues to improve job performance,create a common and shared knowledge base,strengthen the sense of community, andimprove information sharing and networking

■ provide adequate resources from all budgetsources (including the P.L. 480 program) toagriculture, recognizing that increasing agricul-tural growth and productivity not only reduceshunger and adds to rural incomes but can savebillions of dollars now being spent on emer-gency food assistance

All USAID agricultural programming should con-form with this strategy, though the emphasis andarticulation of specific objectives will respond tobureau and operating unit strategic plans, bureaumandates, and country circumstances. In rareinstances, national interest or other U.S. foreignpolicy objectives may cause a program to fall out-side the strategic framework, but such exceptionswill be few, and they will be clearly linked toachieving the foreign policy objective in a specificcountry or circumstance.

Editorial and design assistance was provided by IBI–International Business Initiatives.

Photo credits: Cover, clockwise from top left, Reverie Zurba, USAID/South Africa; John W. Allen, Partnerships for Food IndustryDevelopment, Michigan State University; Anthony Njenga, ICRAF. Page 6, Douglas Brennen, Prism Marketing Project by EmergingMarkets Group, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Page 12, USAID/Egypt, RONCO. Page 13, John W. Allen, Partnerships for Food IndustryDevelopment, Michigan State University. Page 14, FAO/19078/R. Faidutti. Page 16, FAO/15452/L. Dematteis.

For more information, contactU.S. Agency for International Development

Washington, D.C. 20523-1000

Telephone: 202-712-4810

Internet: www.usaid.gov

PD-ABZ-800

usaid agriculture strategypdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/rfp/usaid_ag_strategy.pdf · usaid agriculture...

Documents