News
Building a House — and a Future — in Malawi
January 11, 2021
When he joined the Model Farm School as part of the Achieving Reduction of Child Labor in Support of Education (ARISE) program in Malawi at age 17, Besta Fesitala had no idea that it would change his future, that he would apply what he learned in such a direct and tangible way. ARISE, funded by […]
Celebrating 35 Years of Making the World Smaller… One Volunteer at a Time
December 16, 2020
Flash back to 1985: “Live Aid” concerts raise millions for famine relief in Ethiopia, Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power and Michael Jordan is named NBA’s Rookie of the Year. In the U.S. Congress, another Farm Bill quietly passes — this one with a tiny amount of funding for an obscure USAID program now officially titled […]
Resilient Together: Farmer-to-Farmer in Mali
December 3, 2020
Yacouba Diarra, an émigré from Côte d’Ivoire to Mali, has lived and worked in the small southern community of Bougouni since 2005. Diarra is a member of the 70 member Bougouni Farmers’ Cooperative (BFC), and they organize fishermen and animal breeders to mutually support one another to increase production, improve nutrition, and raise incomes throughout […]
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 […]