Winrock Innovations Newsletter Logo
July 2015
News & Notes Sidebar logo
Winrock’s 2014 Annual Report is now available, providing a financial account of the organization and highlighting the global impact of its innovative programs.

On June 30, USAID's Bangladesh Counter Trafficking-In-Persons Program organized the launching Ceremony of the "National Plan of Action for Combating Human Trafficking 2015-2017" with the Ministry of Home Affairs in Bangladesh. Since 2008, USAID and Winrock have supported civil society and government efforts in Bangladesh to prevent human trafficking, assist trafficking victims and prosecute perpetrators of trafficking. Read more.

Winrock CEO Rodney Ferguson has joined an advisory board to guide a new Cuba Consortium, a member-based group of companies, non-profits, investors and entrepreneurs interested in U.S.-Cuba relations. The Consortium, launched by the Howard Baker Forum, will help prepare members for opportunities to engage with Cuba. Former U.S. Senators Nancy Kassebaum and Tom Daschle will co-chair the advisory board. Read more.

Winrock’s American Carbon Registry applauds the California Air Resources Board (ARB) approval to adopt a U.S. compliance offset protocol for rice cultivation. The adoption of ARB’s first crop-based offset protocol is a critical step in encouraging emissions reductions from the agriculture sector under California’s landmark Cap-and-Trade Program. Read more.

Joyjit Deb Roy was named Senior Director of Agriculture & Enterprise to support Winrock's work promoting economic opportunities for small-holder farmers, communities and agricultural enterprises. Read more.

The next National Good Food Network webinar is Aug. 20. Learn more about the “One Page Cost Benefit Analysis Tool.” Recently created by Farm Credit, this tool is designed to make financial decisions a little easier. Sign up for this free webinar to find out how this powerfully simple tool can help your business today.

Two women smallholder farmers were awarded first and second place for specialty-grade coffee in Myanmar's first-ever cupping competition. The event was part of the USAID-funded Value Chains for Rural Development project implemented by Winrock, and organized by the Myanmar Coffee Association and Coffee Quality Institute. Read more.

Since the Achieving Reduction of Child Labour in Support of Education project was launched in 2011, more than 12,000 children in Malawi have been reached and over 40 schools have been supported. Beyond this, more than 10,000 community members and teachers have been reached through awareness activities. Read more.

Search current openings at Winrock and post your resume, or learn more about new volunteer opportunities.

 Climate-smart rice growing methods boost yields, profits in Vietnam
Le Thi My Dung points to her riceLe Thi My Dung has a rice paddy of less than 1 hectare — roughly the size of a football field — to support and feed her family. Until recently, although she and her children worked the field every day, her earnings from rice sales barely covered her costs. Her field only yielded about 4 tons of rice per hectare, less than other farmers' similarly sized fields that yielded around 7 or 8 tons.

Dung had been tempted to abandon farming until she attended the Farmer Field School program with the Vietnam Agricultural Extension Center and learned rice production practices that help reduce inputs, increase yields and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

These practices were introduced to the Long An province extension center by USAID’s Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program, implemented by Winrock International, during the 2014 farming seasons. Dung learned how to develop internal drainage lines and favor conditions that lead to stronger and healthier rice plants such as rice paddy leveling. She also learned techniques for applying fertilizer and balancing nutrients based on the rice’s conditions and stage of plant growth. Read more.

New report provides guidance on financing sustainable land use activities
Report coverAs part of a U.S. Department of State-funded project, Winrock International has published a new report — Financing Land Use Mitigation: A Practical Guide for Decision-Makers — that provides guidance to policy-makers to help them understand and facilitate the connection between emission reducing activities that require finance, instruments, and sources of funds. The report also targets land managers at the local level seeking finance for specific sustainable land use programs.

The report is the third in a series of high-profile analytic papers that Winrock’s Ecosystem Services unit is leading on key topics on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) and Low Emissions Development (LED), including verification, future options for land-based mitigation and financing strategies.

By connecting activities undertaken to reduce emissions and promote sustainable land management with potential instruments and sources of funding, the report offers practical guidance to support informed decision-making. In addition, the report features an in-depth exploration of relevant experiences raising finance for low emission, sustainable land use activities in Mexico and Ethiopia. Read more.

Winrock volunteer shares organic farming, certification expertise in Cuba
Farmer in his field in CubaWinrock volunteer, and organic agriculture expert, Charles Mitchell traveled to Cuba last month to participate in the country’s first ever National Conference on Organic Certification, where he shared his expertise as both an organic farmer and organic inspector in the United States and Canada.

Building on the initial Winrock-sponsored exchange in March, the Asociacion Cubana de Tecnicos Agricolas y Forestales (ACTAF) invited Mitchell to present at this historic event at the Ministry of Agriculture in Havana. Helping inform 40 participants from various governmental organizations — as well as farmers, processors, researchers and students about the organic certification process — Mitchell outlined the general crop production standards of the U.S. National Organic Program (NOP), discussing inspector qualifications and the inspection process. Read more.

Measuring and understanding household stove use: Call for applications, due Aug. 5
Woman with her cookstoveWinrock and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a call for applications for a training and field testing opportunity on Measuring and Understanding Household Cookstove Use, due Aug.5. This opportunity will provide NGOs and businesses working in the clean cooking sector with knowledge and skills to effectively assess and understand patterns of adoption and use of clean cooking interventions, with the aim of providing valid, robust data to facilitate and guide best practices.

Through this call for applications, Winrock will select organizations to host a training workshop in their region, in which several other local organizations will be invited to participate. Workshop hosts will receive extended technical support for a field study to understand patterns of household stove use for their specific cookstove. Read more.
       


Our mailing address is:
Winrock International
2101 Riverfront Drive | Little Rock, AR 72202
2121 Crystal Drive, Ste. 500 | Arlington, VA 22202

Copyright (C) 2015 Winrock International All rights reserved.