USADF Signs Grants to Support Coffee Growers in Malawi:

WASHINGTON - April 7, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 7, 2010 – The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) has signed two grants to support coffee farmers in Malawi. The grantees are South East Mzimba Coffee Growers Cooperative Society (SEMCGCS) and Viphya Coffee Growers Cooperative Society (VCGCS).

USADF President Lloyd Pierson stated “USADF works at the grassroots level to create jobs and improve people’s standard of living.  These two grants are designed to increase coffee production, raising farmers’ incomes, and create additional jobs for people in the community.”

SEMCGCS works with coffee farmers in the Mzimba district of Malawi.  With a 168 members, the cooperative works with farmers to help improve their living standards and raising their income by producing high quality Arabica coffee.  The coffee will be marketed through Mzuzu Coffee Union.  The cooperative intends to expand its membership by an additional 142 farmers from the community.  The three year grant will provide funds for pulpery houses, training, coffee processing machines, and motorcycles.

With 153 members, VCGCS assists farmers to grow and market coffee in the Rumphi district of Malawi.  The purpose of VCGCS is to improve the living standards of the farmer members, their families, the co-op employees and the surrounding communities by raising their income through increasing the volume of quality coffee produced and improving the yield of specialty grade coffee.  Coffee will be marketed through the Mzuzu Coffee Union. The three year grants will assist VCGCS to construct pulpery houses, train farmers, purchase coffee professing equipment and solar panels.  By the end of the project, VCGCS intends to increase its membership to 200 farmers.

USADF established programming in Malawi in 2008 and began funding projects in 2009.  USADF receives co-funding from the Government of Malawi. The country’s current portfolio stands at eleven investment projects totaling more than $2.3 million.  For more information about the portfolio, please visit the country’s quick source page at http://www.adf.gov/USADF-QuickSourceCountryPortfolioPage-Malawi.htm .

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is a United States Government agency dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunities to the most marginalized populations in Africa. Currently USADF operates in 20 African countries. Over the past 25 years, USADF has funded in excess of $200 million in African initiated and led development projects.  For more information on USADF, its programs and application guidelines, visit www.usadf.gov.

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