News
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 […]
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 […]
Video: Burmese Coffee Arrives in America
September 17, 2016
The story of Burmese specialty coffee is what happens when everything goes right: when the crop is promising, the growers are willing to embrace new production methods and the market is ready for a new coffee origin. As implementer of the USAID-funded Value Chains for Rural Development project, Winrock International is proud to be a […]
A Culture of Innovation at Winrock International
September 16, 2016
Winrock International was born on an Arkansas mountaintop — and now has 120 projects in 46 countries. Innovation is part of its DNA. After Winthrop Rockefeller’s death in 1973, trustees of his estate created the Winrock International Research and Training Center to further his wish that the farm be “venturesome and innovative” and provide tools to help people help themselves. And it’s done just that […]
Burma’s Soybean Farmers Find New Market — In Their Own Back Yard
September 13, 2016
Feed the Future week is September 12-16. Here’s one way Winrock is helping #EndHunger now. By Tim May The humble soybean is one of the most nutritious foods on Earth, and its plants produce more protein per acre than almost any other use of land. Soybeans are also a mighty storehouse of vitamins and nutrients, […]
The Coffee Has Landed
August 25, 2016
Burmese specialty beans hit the international market. And Winrock is there to celebrate. On August 23, the first shipment of Burmese specialty coffee beans in the United States was ground, brewed and poured at La Colombe Coffee Roasters in Washington, D.C. It was the last step in an improbable voyage that connected 6,000 Burmese coffee growers […]
Press Release: Burmese Specialty Coffee Hits The World Market
August 19, 2016
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — On Tuesday, August 23, Winrock International, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Coffee Quality Institute celebrate the arrival of Burmese specialty coffee on the world stage with a special cupping of Myanmar Community Coffee at La Colombe Coffee Roasters, 900 Sixth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Chris Miller, lead roaster […]
Busted!
July 8, 2016
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 […]