News
Launching a Specialty Coffee Movement in Myanmar
October 16, 2020
A Winrock Legacy Story The call came one day after Rick Peyser had completed another marathon — this one, the fateful 2013 Boston Marathon. He crossed the finish line moments before a pair of bombs exploded, killing three and injuring several hundred. It would have been easy to turn down the caller’s request: Could you […]
Hasan’s Innovative Greenhouse
October 1, 2020
Hasan Nurov is from Navzamin village in Khuroson district, Tajikistan. For generations, Hasan’s family, like many farmers in the district, grew cotton. However, over time, water scarcity and low cotton prices created a conundrum for farmers. Should they continue growing an unprofitable crop, or instead migrate to Russia, where there were higher paying jobs? Previously, […]
Winrock Experts Share Knowledge and Insights at Concordia 2020
September 25, 2020
Once again, experts from Winrock International were a significant presence at the Concordia Summit, an annual gathering held during U.N. General Assembly week that brings together decision-makers and opinion-leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Although the event was virtual this year, it continued to draw ambassadors, CEOs and other headliners, including USAID Acting […]
A Taste of Laos
September 10, 2020
By Timothy D. May Gustatory reactions filled the chat room, fast, and evoked a fruit-laden banquet table at a luxury hotel. “…A lot of cranberry…orange blossom, very plummy…really great raspberry, jackfruit…strawberry cream yeah! …honey-orchard-oolong-melon-almond-sugar cookie…dark chocolate notes…nice sweet vanilla…lower tones of nuts, nuttiness…” Tim Heinze, a specialty coffee expert and trader for a multinational coffee […]
‘SAFETI’ in Numbers
August 24, 2020
A Winrock Early Adopter Story In the village of Jogindranagar, Shyamnagar, in the Satkhira district of Bangladesh, young men often spend six months a year away from home and family, toiling in the brick fields. It’s difficult work, dusty and dangerous, but the men keep returning because they can earn up to 200,000 BDT (more […]
An Early Adopter in Myanmar
May 11, 2020
Second in a series It was 2016 and Myanmar’s second annual National Cupping Competition was about to begin. It would be held at the country’s first (and, at the time, only) coffee cupping laboratory, located in a room beneath the new coffee mill at the Mandalay Coffee Group’s (MCG’s) headquarters in Pyin Oo Lwin. An […]
A More Just Vision
April 24, 2020
If you have ever been part of designing and implementing a large event you will recognize the need to start well in advance. In our case we started planning the Wallace Center’s fifth National Good Food Network (NGFN) conference — an important biannual networking and programming event — 18 months ahead of time. We lined […]
CLEAN’s Good Agricultural Practices Pilot Launch in Vientiane
April 13, 2020
Alex Dahan, Chief of Party of the USDA-funded CLEAN project, implemented by Winrock International in partnership with the Laos Department of Agriculture, at the Good Agricultural Practices Market Pilot launch in February 2020 at the International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre in Vientiane, Laos. “Everything today is about GAP,” (Good Agricultural Practices), Dahan told a […]
Call to Action on Food System Disruption
April 13, 2020
This document was created during the Wallace Center’s National Good Food Network (NGFN) Conference, held March 10-13 in New Orleans. Approximately 50 attendees gathered during an emergency COVID-19 work session to assess how the pandemic would affect the U.S. food system, followed by a group brainstorming session on solutions to mitigate the emerging crisis. Additional […]
Winrock Responds to COVID-19
March 30, 2020
With projects around the world, Winrock International has been dealing with COVID-19 since January, when the novel coronavirus shut down daily life in China, one of the 46 countries in which Winrock works. As the virus continues to spread across the globe, the organization has ramped up its response: increasing communication, adjusting to altered workflow […]