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January 2016

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Join the National Good Food Network for a free webinar on Feb. 18: "USDA's New Cooperative Approach to Farmer Food Safety Certification." Hear from a few of the trailblazers who have already received GroupGAP certification discuss their experiences and answer questions. Register now.

Read about how a Winrock-implemented project helped farmer and mother Shafia Begum save both money and forests in Bangladesh with organic fruits and veggies.

Winrock thanks Lila Footwear for helping women-owned small businesses in Arkansas through their #feelgooddogood campaign.

Steven Luna recently completed a Winrock volunteer assignment with the Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program in Guinea. Check out his thoughts and insights in the Winrock volunteer blog.

Winrock is proud to be a partner with USAID to improve energy security in Macedonia. Read more about how the country is now able to better plan for its energy needs with a more diverse energy supply.

Are you interested in working at Winrock? Search current openings and post your resume. Would you like to volunteer with Winrock? Learn more about new opportunities for volunteers.

If you were forwarded this newsletter, consider signing up as a regular subscriber.

 Increasing Incomes for Smallholder Farmers with the Power of the Sun
Joshua Okundi works hard to earn a living — growing crops such as corn, passion fruit, bananas and mangoes. He also has two fish ponds, where he raises tilapia. Like many smallholder farmers in Kenya, Okundi was spending a significant sum for fuel to run his diesel irrigation pumps, eating into his modest profits.

Now, thanks to a new pump that operates on solar power, Okundi has zero fuel costs, meaning that he will recoup the cost of the pump in only a few months. It has also allowed him to increase his income by adding four new money-generating activities on his farm.

But it’s not just the crops that are growing — word is, too. Winrock’s USAID-funded Kenya Smallholder Solar Irrigation (KSSI) project is raising awareness of the benefits of solar irrigation for small farmers and has developed key partnerships with another USAID-funded project, Kenya Agricultural Value Chains Enterprises (KAVES), as well as DuPont, which sells crop protection products and hybrid seeds to thousands of Kenyan farmers. Okundi, who is a leader in the Bwogi Mac Bwogi farmer group, has helped spread the word — leading to more farmers obtaining a solar pump.

Registration Now Available for 2016 Food Hub Conference, March 30 - April 1
Don't miss out on the National Good Food Network's third biennial Food Hub Conference in Atlanta, March 30 through April 1 — the most comprehensive national conference aimed specifically at food hubs, hub supporters, growers and local food advocates across the country.

This year's theme is "Maintaining Values While Adding Value," and will include sessions on improving your financial bottom line, meeting social and environmental missions, connecting people and resources to impact food systems, and showcasing innovative models from across the country.

Tickets and more information can be found at the conference website. (Note: The last conference sold out long before the conference started, so don't delay.)

The National Good Food Network is part of The Wallace Center at Winrock International.

Movie Theater Trailers Reveal Spectacular Images from Cambodian Forests
Moviegoers in Cambodia are being treated to larger-than-life images of their country's forests, as well as the indigenous, and in many cases unique, inhabitants that call them home.

More than half of the country is covered by forest and about 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, most of whom rely almost entirely on agriculture and forestry for their livelihoods. But decades of armed conflict and political insecurity have left a legacy of environmental destruction, which threatens to contribute significantly to climate change while jeopardizing the livelihoods of these communities.

These trailers, which have played at theaters across Cambodia, are designed to raise awareness of the beauty, significance and diversity of the land rural Cambodians have relied upon for generations. USAID's Supporting Forestry and Biodiversity (SFB) Project, implemented by Winrock, produced the roughly 30-second spots. Watch them all here: Trailer 1, trailer 2, trailer 3, and trailer 4.
       


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