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May 2015

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On May 11, 59 fishermen returned home after suffering in slave-like conditions on fishing vessels. With help from the Counter Trafficking in Persons program in Cambodia, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the men are now being reunited with family. Read more from U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia William Todd.

The Value Chains for Rural Development Project, funded by USAID and implemented by Winrock is accepting applications for grants that will fund initiatives that support value chains found within Southern Shan and the Dry Zone in Myanmar.

To address a missing link in the cold chain process, and protect product from spoilage, the USDA-funded Pakistan Agriculture and Cold Chain Development initiative supported the establishment of a fleet of refrigerated trucks in Balochistan.

Winrock volunteer Kirk Astroth was honored in April with the Volunteer Spirit Award for his dedication and contribution to youth development — particularly in Nepal, where he completed a Farmer-to-Farmer assignment 2014. In this volunteer spotlight, Astroth shares stories and thoughts on why youth development is so important.

The USAID LEAF project is working with government partners and local communities in Laos to reduce pressure on Nam Xam National Protected Area resources by raising awareness of important regulations that govern the use and management of the forest.

Is access to capital holding your food business back from thriving? Whether you run a farm, food hub, processing facility, retail store, co-op or shared kitchen, the next National Good Food Network webinar will introduce you to new and creative sources of capital. Register today for the free webinar on June 18.

Winrock's American Carbon Registry, hosted its annual gala reception on April 28 to recognize and thank its members and partners. Among the honorees, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was honored with the Climate Leadership Award in recognition of his career-long dedication to natural resource conservation. Watch Secretary Vilsack's acceptance video.

“What would you build for Little Rock if you learned how to code?” Applicants encouraged to apply for $60,000 in scholarships for June coding courses are being asked to answer this question. Learn more about the scholarship opportunities through a partnership with The Iron Yard Little Rock.

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.

 Sharing ideas and best practices to eliminate child labor in agriculture
Rodney Ferguson speaks at podium.On May 12-14, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Pathways to Sustainability: Together We Can Eliminate Child Labour in Agriculture conference convened key stakeholders from Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, the United States and Switzerland for discussions on numerous topics related to child labor, and to reach consensus on the activities and policies necessary to eradicate child labor in agriculture.

Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson joined this unique gathering of local government officials, civil society experts and business representatives.

“Today,” said Ferguson, addressing attendees, “we are recognizing and strengthening the efforts of government and local stakeholders to eliminate child labor in agriculture, build rural economies, and agree on outcomes and recommendations for effective rural development and education programs, opportunities and preparing youth with the skills and information they need to build their futures and Tanzania’s.”

Read more. 

Winrock supports groundbreaking policy research on mangrove, wetland conservation
People meeting around a table.The USAID-funded Climate Resilient Ecosystems and Landscapes (CREL) project in Bangladesh has teamed with Winrock’s John D. Rockefeller 3RD (JDR 3RD) Scholars Program to commission two cutting-edge applied research projects with a direct mandate to inform national policies. The CREL/JDR 3RD Mangrove Valuation team will produce an estimate of the value of Sundarbans mangrove areas in providing protection from tropical storms, sustaining the livelihoods of 500,000 local residents, and generating tourism revenues.

While previous valuation studies have relied on proxy indicators, the CREL/JDR 3RD team is conducting 900 household surveys and interviewing tour operators to produce a more accurate estimate of value. The team will present their results directly to the Bangladesh Forest Department to inform an upcoming revision of Bangladesh’s Protected Area Rules.

Another team — the CREL/JDR 3RD Wetland Co-Management research team — will compare the distribution of benefits in wetlands that are co-managed by communities versus wetlands where communities are not included in the management regime.

Read more.

Palm oil extraction equipment creates 2,000 jobs in rural Liberia
Man loads palm fruit into mill.Stimulated by considerably higher palm oil prices, oil palm growers have increased production in recent years in West and Central Africa. However, this increase has not been fully reflected in increased palm oil production due to low extraction rates derived from traditional manual processing methods still used by the vast majority of smallholder producers in the two regions.

Mechanized oil palm processing can provide improved extraction rates, however, the high capital and operating costs of many technologies mean that only oil palm production areas with the highest population densities and income levels are served. Meanwhile, other less costly technologies suffer from low extraction efficiencies and capacities. To address this void, Winrock International has utilized its expertise in oil palm processing, and its strengths in value chain facilitation and market development, to promote the development and dissemination of innovative technologies under two successive projects funded by USAID — partnering with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and ACDI/VOCA, respectively.

For example, the innovative continuous-feed palm oil expeller, called the Freedom Mill in Liberia, pulps the fruit and extracts the oil in the same operation. The per-hour processing capacity of this expeller is eight times greater for the manual version and 20 times greater for the motorized expeller, compared to oil palm processed with the traditional manual method.

Read more.

David Braman joins Winrock board of directors
David BramanDavid Braman, a retired founding partner for a leading global investment management firm, has been elected to Winrock International’s board of directors and will serve a five-year term.

“We are privileged to welcome Mr. Braman to Winrock’s board of directors,” said Board Chair Betsy Campbell. “His global experience and commitment to Winrock’s mission will bring tremendous value to the organization.”

Braman was a founding senior partner at Pantheon Ventures Inc., a global investment management firm that specializes in private equity fund investment.

Read more.
       


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