Every day, all over the world, USAID brings peace to those who endure violence, health to those who struggle with sickness, and prosperity to those who live in poverty. It is these individuals — these uncounted thousands of lives — that are the true measure of USAID’s successes and the true face of USAID's programs.
With a sip of fresh juice squeezed from Afghanistan’s sweet pomegranates, the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock inaugurated Kabul’s new state-of-the-art agribusiness facility on October 15, 2009. The Omaid Bahar Fruit Processing Company established the modern facility with the support of USAID. The facility will produce and export juice concentrate and fresh fruit to countries in North America, Asia, and Europe.
Economic growth is dependent on firms and factories that improve current business practices. With assistance from the U.S. Government, the Nangarhar Cotton Sellers’ Association recently opened a cotton pressing and cotton rag recycling facility in Jalalabad to improve cotton production and transport. The factory has stimulated regional economic growth, increased employment, generated income, and provided incentives for further investment in the cotton sector.
Gunbaz Balocha village is located in remote Badakhshan province along the Kishim-Fayzabad Road. USAID is currently reconstructing the entire 103-km road, along with its bridges and drainage structures. Roads such as Kishim-Fayzabad provide many social and economic benefits to residents – and road construction brings jobs and prosperity to communities like Gunbaz Balocha.
A new cardboard box factory in Kandahar allows valuable Afghan exports to reach international markets undamaged. Alleviating a significant export challenge, this production facility produces inexpensive, high-quality containers for shipping exports, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and other perishable and/or fragile goods. With support from USAID, the Dried Fruit Export Association began operation of the factory in September 2008.
Increasing the capacity to store seeds for future planting seasons is key to the sustainability and growth of the agriculture sector in Afghanistan. USAID recently assisted the Nangarhar Seed Producer and Wholesaler Association (SPWA) in the construction of a new seed storage facility in eastern Afghanistan. Previously, the association lacked an adequate storage facility where seeds could be preserved in safe, sanitary conditions and then sold according to seasonal demand.
Afghanistan contains sizable deposits of precious and semi-precious stones, including emeralds, sapphires, tourmaline, and lapis lazuli, and the gem industry has the potential to be a major driver of economic growth. In the remote eastern province of Nuristan, blue and pink tourmaline, kunzite, and aquamarine have been mined for generations. Yet, until recently, mining and selling gemstones was illegal. Legal provisions for trade in gemstones – considered the property of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – did not exist.
Like many Salvadoran family owned milk processing operations, Agroindustrias San Julián, S. A. de C. V. in Sonsonate, El Salvador, used to collect its milk from local farms in un-refrigerated trucks which resulted in poor quality, high losses and minimal environmental controls. The company’s president, Luis Fernández, knew that with the passage of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) his company would have to modernize in order to meet international standards and be able to grow and stay competitive.
Several years ago, there were only three produce merchants in the Baharak Bazaar, a market in Afghanistan’s remote northern province of Badakhshan. Today, there are 30 traders selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Farmers are growing more diverse crops and enjoying larger harvests as they take advantage of lower transportation costs resulting from a massive USAID program to build and improve roads.
Nearly 2 million Sudanese, driven from their homes by violence, now live in densely populated clusters of camps spread throughout Sudan’s western Darfur region. One of their greatest needs is firewood to cook food, sell for income, boil water, and heat their homes.
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