News
Slow Boat From Burma
July 7, 2016
On June 19, a large container ship left the port of Rangoon, Burma (also known as Myanmar), with the first shipment of specialty Burmese coffee beans destined for a North American market. These aren’t just any beans. Years of hard work went into their production, and the pride of a new coffee market rides with […]
Adding a Human Touch to the Food Value Chain
June 6, 2016
By John Fisk, Director, Wallace Center How many times have you heard that people are an organization’s most valuable resource? Turns out they make a big difference to the food value chain, too — in a surprising new way. The Wallace Center at Winrock International has been working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
Meeting of Minds
May 25, 2016
Event Agenda Speakers Media Most people have never heard the sound of a fish having dinner, but Gibran Huzaifah has. And when he described it for a receptive audience at last month’s inaugural Asia Regional Agriculture Innovation Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, he brought down the house. “We put a little microphone inside the water that […]
USAID and Winrock International Launch Innovation Challenge to Bring New Technologies to Smallholder Farmers
May 24, 2016
Event Agenda Speakers Media BANGKOK, May 25, 2016 — Today the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Winrock International launched an innovation challenge to develop technological solutions and regional partnerships for smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal. The challenge will be open to companies and organizations from South and Southeast Asia […]
Asia Regional Agricultural Innovation Summit
May 24, 2016
Event Agenda Speakers Media Winrock-Organized Ag Tech Summit Kicks off in Bangkok Mark Young, CEO and co-founder of Garuda Robotics, makes drones — and he’s attending the inaugural Asia Regional Agricultural Innovation Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 25 and 26. The summit is bringing together an unlikely mix of participants from 15 countries across […]
Burma’s Coffee Makes World Debut
May 3, 2016
The aroma was intoxicating; it wafted up from tables where nine varieties of rich brown Arabica coffee sat awaiting their fate. The color and scent were promising, but the final test remained. How would it taste? More than 100 people were packing the room to find out. Because this wasn’t just any brew. After decades of […]
Game Changer for Farmers in Bangladesh: ‘Now the Buyers Come to Us’
March 30, 2016
On a foggy winter morning in early February, smallholder farmers in the Jessore district of Bangladesh contributed to a hectic and previously unusual sight. Some farmers sorted produce under a large shed adjacent to a vast field of crops. Others eagerly bargained with the very buyers who, not long ago, wouldn’t have bothered to come out […]
Winrock Hosts US-Cuba Dialogue
March 25, 2016
As he wrapped up his historic visit to Cuba this past March, President Obama delivered a speech at an ornate theater in Havana. He explained his decision to seek normalized relations with America’s longtime foe and laid out a hopeful vision. “It is time for us to look forward to the future together,” he said, […]
Cuba Consortium Agriculture & Food Roundtable to be Held in Arkansas
March 16, 2016
Hutchinson, Daschle, Cuban Experts To Headline March Event Hosted By Winrock International, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute And Howard Baker Forum MORRILTON, Ark. (March 11, 2016) – For 50 years, silence has reigned between the United States and Cuba. But warming relations between the two countries is now a hot topic — and Arkansas is poised to […]
Taking Burma’s Coffee Global
December 31, 2015
Synopsis: Integrate smallholder farmers into commercial value chains to increase productivity Armed with a clipboard and a finely-tuned nose and taste buds, Craig Holt began the hard work of determining the potential of Burma’s coffee growers. Holt, owner of Seattle-based Atlas Coffee Importers, was in Rangoon, Burma (also known as Myanmar) as a volunteer judge […]