Agriculture and Food Security

USAID’s innovative regional programs seek to improve food security by strengthening the resilience of vulnerable farmers and pastoralists to better withstand droughts and other emergencies. We also help increase the productivity of small farmers’ key staple crops and animal products, and we link those producers to markets while promoting improved agricultural policies, standards, and practices.

Economic Growth and Trade

Some of the world’s poorest nations are located in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and poor infrastructure, low agricultural productivity, and inadequate market competitiveness constrain the regions’ opportunities to grow. In East Africa, USAID helps raise incomes by removing barriers to trade and reducing the cost of doing business. 

Environment

USAID partners with local and regional organizations to increase their capacity to maintain critical water levels in the Mara River Basin, which also provides households increased access to clean water and sanitation. USAID is also supporting policy and governance structures on water access and expanding programs that address climate change impacts in the region, especially in the drylands, highlands, and coastal areas.

Global Health

Because infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and avian influenza know no borders, USAID's health activities tackle challenges that go beyond the mandate of one country program. Regional programs focus on vulnerable and underserved populations, particularly in fragile and conflict-prone regions, as well as populations at border sites and along the transport corridors. 

Working in Crises and Conflict

Regional, cross-cutting interventions seek to address the root causes of instability through improved early warning systems; responsive local, national, and regional leadership; and anti-corruption measures that reduce insecurity, for example, in the transport sector.  To address humanitarian needs, USAID also provides emergency food aid for refugees, internally displaced populations, and other vulnerable groups.