News
“Gamechangers Laboratory” Established for Cutting-Edge Food Leaders to Accelerate New Solutions
March 6, 2019
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – March 6, 2019 – An extraordinary gift from philanthropist-entrepreneur Ryan D. “Jume” Jumonville of United Networks of America has established the “Gamechangers Laboratory,” a groundbreaking initiative from the Wallace Center at Winrock International. Through collaborations and convenings, the Gamechangers Laboratory will catalyze breakthrough ideas, strategies and innovations in community-based food systems as […]
From Myanmar to Music City
February 12, 2019
It’s wintertime in Nashville, and coffee roasters at some of the top specialty coffee shops in the U.S. are reacting to their first experience with a newcomer to the international market: beans from the Shan State of Myanmar. “It blew my mind because it’s really complex,” said Will Shurtz, roaster and green coffee buyer at […]
Putting the Tea in ‘VC-RD’
December 3, 2018
By Tim May The USAID-funded Value Chains in Rural Development (VC-RD) project in Myanmar has produced a stellar coffee success story, with more than 350 tons of specialty coffee exported to buyers around the world after the project’s first full coffee harvest season, offering Burmese smallholder coffee farmers more than three times the amount per […]
U.S. Government Launches New Agribusiness Project in Tajikistan
November 14, 2018
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, November 14, 2018 – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially launched a new five-year project, the Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity in Tajikistan, in Bokhtar City. Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy Kevin Covert and Deputy Governor of Khatlon Rajabov Rajabali welcomed more than 180 participants at the ceremony, including representatives from […]
Promoting Sustainable Aquaculture in the Philippines
October 25, 2018
I recently returned from the Philippines, where I was asked to assess and advise on water quality conditions in two areas of the Caraga region of Mindanao where Winrock’s Philippines Cold Chain project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is helping farmers and fisherfolk. These areas have adopted their own distinct technologies for cultivating […]
Winrock Partners with Bangladesh Department of Fisheries
October 3, 2018
On September 28, 2018, Winrock’s USDA-funded Safe Aqua Farming for Economic and Trade Improvement (SAFETI) project signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Fisheries of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The MoU authorizes joint collaboration to sustainably develop the shrimp and prawn sector in Bangladesh. Winrock’s USDA SAFETI project aims to increase production […]
How Helping Farmers Helps a Nation
October 2, 2018
Agriculture is a key component of Tajikistan’s economy, accounting for 21.1 percent of GDP and employing 46.5 percent of the labor force. There remain a number of challenges that limit productivity and market potential, which in turn have resulted in low agribusiness incomes, indebtedness and food insecurity. There are, however, strategic opportunities to improve agricultural […]
Pumps and Pineapples
September 13, 2018
Small and medium-scale farmers in Guinea face a common problem that threatens food security, constrains agricultural production and limits incomes. And young entrepreneurs-in-training are helping solve it with motorbikes. “Here in Lower Guinea, we have an irrigation problem,” says Mamadou Sidibe. He is one of many young people gaining hands-on experience in agricultural extension, entrepreneurship […]
Three Steps to $3 Million
September 13, 2018
Could algae address the coming food crisis and provide additional income for women? A European investment firm answered that question with a resounding ‘Yes!’ with their $3 million stake into EnerGaia, a spirulina cultivation technology firm based in Thailand and actively supported by USAID’s Feed the Future Asia Innovative Farmers Activity. To bring this critical […]
Winrock Forward
July 17, 2018
Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson outlines his vision for creating maximum impact. Interview by Chris Warren As the President and CEO of a development organization with projects in the U.S. and around the world, Rodney Ferguson often carves out reading time while on airplanes. On a recent trip from his home base in Washington, […]