Newsroom

January 28, 2016

Ms. Candace Buzzard, the new Deputy Mission Director of Kenya and East Africa for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) paid a courtsey visit to EAC‘s Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera at the EAC Headquarters. She was accompanied by Mr. Matt Rees, Deputy for Trade Africa, Mr. Donald Keene, Resident Legal Officer and Ms. Cristina Olive, Office Director, Strategic Planning and Anaylsis.

January 25, 2016
When the Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK) received a grant from USAID’s African Institution Innovation Mechanism (AIIM), they did not envision the ripple effect of increased funding from other donors that would follow. AGMARK has attributed this positive development to the standardization of its systems funded through the capacity building component of the grant, known as USAID AIIM-Assist. 
 
January 25, 2016

Omary’s income in 2009 was US$165, less than a dollar a day. He was better off than most small-scaled farmers in Morogoro, though. He planted maize on 2-3 acres of land, using indigenous grain acquired from friends and family. He had never thought of using fertilizer on his land. Omary was not sure about his farm’s yield.

January 25, 2016

East African smallholder farmers must rely on savings from their low incomes to increase their farms’ yields. This is largely due to their lack of access to credit, which requires collateral and loan histories, requirements that are far removed from these farmers’ financial realities. Thus they are left at the mercy of friends and relatives to provide them with small loans. 

January 25, 2016

Farmers and millers brought together by the Farmers' Integration into Regional Markets through Structured Trade (Farm-Trade) project meeting showcased two samples of maize, packaged in clear plastic bags on a table. The first sample was an unpleasant mixture of broken and rotten grains of different maize varieties mixed with hints of soil, fiber, and kernel. A small handwritten note stuck on the bag read “For Millers.” The more impressive second sample contained white, well-dried, and matured grain, uniform in size, shape and color, and it was not to be sold to millers. 

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