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.
A plentiful harvest in East Africa brings with it the challenge of selling the surplus. Notwithstanding high demand in neighboring countries, farmers are often unable to sell their surplus grain. Unlike large companies that carry out meticulous research on market opportunities, small-scale farmers barely know the meaning of business terms, and have long depended on middlemen or the government to buy their entire surplus.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is proud to announce that 46 Kenyans have been invited to participate in the first ever Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Washington Fellowship. These outstanding young Kenyan leaders will travel to the United States in June with over 450 other young African leaders for a six week program at one of 20 prestigious U.S. universities, and will participate in a conference in Washington, D.C. hosted by President Obama.
Based in Nairobi, USAID/East Africa (USAID/EA) provides assistance across borders, supporting innovative regional programs.
It is my pleasure to be with you this morning to recognize the commitment of the Government of Tanzania to formalize Joint Border Committees. This commitment highlights years of cooperation between the Tanzanian and United States Governments, enabled by assistance provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to reduce the time and cost of transporting goods across borders.
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