October 2016
Tapping a New Source of Light & Income
October 28, 2016
When Thy Vichet wants to light up the night, he often uses a resin torch. Torches come in handy when cooking or reading in the dark, when he wants to check his house or is on night forest patrol, says Vichet, 28, the father of two daughters who lives in the Sandan district, Kampong Thom […]
Translating Events Into Action
October 26, 2016
Winrock’s very existence can be traced back to a big idea: that delivering knowledge, training and opportunity to the world’s most disadvantaged people is key to improving lives. New ideas and innovation continue to propel our day-to-day work and guide our efforts to make an even greater impact. The need to generate and share bold […]
Incubating an Arkansas Tech Boom
October 25, 2016
On the surface, it would be easy to assume that a small farmer in Bangladesh has little or nothing in common with a tech entrepreneur in Arkansas. But each requires many of the same resources and opportunities to succeed: training, access to technology and markets, and support and guidance from those who have already started […]
A Winrock Breakthrough on Forest Degradation
October 24, 2016
When viewed from above, deforestation is a brown gash in a green world, vivid proof that what was once verdant has succumbed to the axe or the bulldozer. Forest degradation – the loss of trees from logging, fires or harvesting firewood – is much more difficult to detect, even by remote-sensing satellites. For that reason, […]
Forging Connections, Improving Lives in Nepal
October 23, 2016
Judging by geography alone, Kumar Thapa lives an isolated life. Thapa’s hillside plot of land in the midwestern Nepalese district of Surkhet is surrounded by the tomato and chili plants that he carefully cultivates. There’s a quiet here that is broken only by the sounds of human labor – weeds being pulled or crops being […]
The Light of Opportunity in Indonesia
October 22, 2016
In so many ways, life has changed little on the rugged Indonesian island of Sumba. Like generations before them, Sumbanese men head to sea each morning in slender fishing boats, while women tend small gardens and, if they’re lucky, raise a pig. The importance of tradition is palpable among islanders, and impossible to miss in […]
Fighting Exploitation with Opportunity
October 21, 2016
It must have seemed like a welcome chance to forge a new life. Promised the opportunity to earn the sort of income that would provide for themselves and their families, 54 Cambodian men made the difficult trek from their homes to what they thought would be jobs as fishermen in Malaysia. Instead, they became victims […]
Combating World Hunger
October 19, 2016
It’s the 30th anniversary of the World Food Prize and the Sasakawa Africa Association. Winrock has a connection to both. By Amanda Hilligas I’ve just returned from the 2016 Laureate Award Ceremony of the World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa. Often referred to as the Nobel Prize for Agriculture, the World Food Prize is an award […]
Friend of the Farmer
October 11, 2016
Dr. Jeff Mutimba grew up on a small farm in Zimbabwe, which was then called Rhodesia. He rose early in the morning to do chores and wash in the river before running to school. After school he would weed or take the family’s few cattle to a communal grazing area. Mutimba was lucky. The farm […]
La Thi Kim Ngan
October 3, 2016
This portrait is part of the USAID Vietnam Clean Energy Program’s series on women champions in the Vietnamese construction sector, featuring women who have made strides in this male-dominated field, coming from diverse backgrounds and with different interests, but bound together by the common themes of a strong work ethic, love of country, a strong […]