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SEPTEMBER 2024
Doubling Down in Southern & Eastern Africa With the Feed the Future Accelerator
Smallholder farms across Africa grow over two-thirds of the region’s food. But extreme weather has decimated crops, and yields are declining due to outdated seeds, inefficient practices and less predictable rainfall patterns — all of which are leaving farmers with less to sell and less to eat. Investing in agriculture is up to four times more effective at fighting poverty in low-income countries than investing in other sectors. As such, the United States is seizing on a unique window of opportunity to increase our investments in Southern and Eastern Africa, a region suffering this year from the impacts of El Nino yet have great potential to drive agricultural growth. We are doubling down on Feed the Future’s key mandate to build a more resilient global food system through the Feed the Future Accelerator, an effort to deepen our partnership with countries in the region while driving long-term gains in poverty, malnutrition and hunger reduction.
This month, learn more about the Feed the Future Accelerator and read three new stories from across Feed the Future: Entrepreneurship and community-building in Tanzania; PlantVillage’s foray into Zambia with youths and technology; and finding ways to keep women in the Malawi groundnut industry.
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 Female Farmer in Tanzania Leads Agricultural Innovation and Helps Others Grow
Tanzanian entrepreneur Prakseda Melkior has forged her own path as a successful farmer and agricultural innovator in a country where smallholder farmers, particularly women, face significant environmental and financial challenges. Prakseda has gone from farming novice to expert and now works to empower other smallholder farmers in her country.
 Using AI – and Young People – in Zambia to Increase Food Security & Combat Climate Change
PlantVillage is now available in Zambia, where farmers’ livelihoods are threatened by disease and pests affecting cassava, maize, sweet potatoes and other crops. Zambian cassava farmers in particular lose $150 million to crop diseases every year, but the PlantVillage mobile app and a crop of youths are working on changing that.
 Feed the Future Innovation Lab Working to Keep Malawi Women Thriving in Groundnut Farming
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut is helping women groundnut farmers in Malawi by evaluating and refining a system of workshops that aims to empower women in household decision-making with the goal of preserving women’s income and independence.
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Feed the Future Accelerator Launched
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, USAID Administrator and Feed the Future Global Coordinator Samantha Power, members of Congress and other special guests launched the Feed the Future Accelerator on Sept. 19 with the announcement that the U.S., working with Congress, is committing $80 million to deepen the U.S. government’s food security partnerships and focus resources on three countries in Southern and Eastern Africa – Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. These food security “accelerator” countries demonstrate both high need and high agricultural potential.
$40 Million Commitment Announced at Africa Food Systems Forum
Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator for Development Dina Esposito announced a $40 million U.S. commitment, part of the Feed the Future Accelerator effort, at the Africa Food Systems Forum to help support farmers and food security on the continent. She also highlighted the importance of going beyond emergency aid, partnering with the private sector and supporting investments in expanding trade and policy reform.
Local Capacity Strengthening to Support Women in Agricultural Research
On the African continent only 25 percent of African researchers are women and only 7 percent of researchers in leadership positions are women. Dorine Odongo of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) and David Ameyaw of the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) discuss the role of local capacity strengthening in supporting the work of women researchers to influence food and agriculture policies and practices.
USDA Launches New Fertilizer Dashboard
Fertilizer as an agricultural production input can impact crop production, food prices and global food security. To help better track global trends for fertilizer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently launched a new dashboard, which provides data and insight on worldwide fertilizer production, use, trade and prices over time.
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Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
Photo Credit: Fintrac Inc.
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