Agriculture

Blog Post:  Posted August 20, 2010, 12:45 pm by Lila Wade

Demystifying our work in North Korea

Country: North Korea

Topics: Agriculture, Economic Development, Emergencies, Food/Nutrition, Global Engagement, Health, Hunger

In North Korea, Mercy Corps programmes focus on alleviating hunger by expanding agricultural production. We also invite North Korean officials to the U.S. as part of building a humanitarian bridge between our country and theirs.

I recently talked about our work in North Korea (also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) including what it's like to host North Korean officials here in the U.S. with David Austin, a programme officer responsible for managing Mercy Corps programmes in North Korea.



Q: First, can you give us a little history? When and how did Mercy Corps begin working in North Korea?



David Austin: Well, Mercy Corps has had programmes in the DPRK for about 15 years. Our work began in 1996 when a North Korean diplomat to the UN began reaching out to aid agencies requesting help with agricultural production as there was a famine occurring in the country. One of the calls he made was to the late Ells Culver, who co-founded Mercy Corps. His response: "Sure! Let’s get started."

Q: What kind of programmes do we have there?



A large portion of our work remains centered on agriculture — improving 
growing techniques and encouraging the bio-diversity of crops. In 2000, Mercy Corps supplied 35,000 apple cuttings to orchards in Qwail County to boost production, which began an ongoing project revolving around apple production.

Since that first shipment, we have sent an additional 200,000 apple rootstock which have been propogated into more than 900,000 apple trees. Our hope for the future is that Mercy Corps can help communities begin making value-added products like applesauce, apple cider or dried fruit bars.

We have also helped on smaller crop projects on an annual basis, such as grass seed, potatoes, poplar trees and fish farms.

When there have been extraordinary circumstances, Mercy Corps has helped in times of crisis, such as providing medicines during the floods of 2007, food crises in 2008-2009 and, most recently, Mercy Corps was part of a USAID-funded initiative to bring medical supplies and electricity to hospitals in North Korea.



Q: What did this hospital initiative entail?


Mercy Corps purchased and installed five generators in five different hospitals in South Hwangae provinces with the help of volunteer electricians from here in Oregon. We then returned to monitor how the new generators were put to use and to assess the hospitals’ material
needs.
Finding the hospitals short on many basic supplies, Mercy Corps arranged for the delivery of several ultrasound machines, X-ray units, power conditioners and other needed supplies, such as operating beds and operating lights. I was able to visit the hospitals myself right after these supplies were delivered along with Nancy Lindborg, Mercy 
Corps' president.



Q: But there's a diplomatic element to our programmes as well, right?



Yes, you might say that we deliver more than just direct assistance. Through our aid work, Mercy Corps plays a unique role as a relational bridge between people in the United States and people in the DPRK. The nature of our work helps create these relationships, because it creates common ground. For instance, most of our work centers on agriculture. Agriculture is a science, which is, by nature, apolitical. Cooperation on these non-controversial fronts creates a space for engagement that will one day, we hope, open a window for the political opportunity.

Q: Tell me more about what you mean by a "relational bridge."


The relationship that Mercy Corps has built has been an incredible asset. By building trust, we have been provided with opportunities to take leadership in times of crisis, such as the famine in 1997 and most recently in 2008 and 2009. Normally, aid organisations don’t operate in the country, but because of our relationship with officials there, Mercy Corps and a few other non-governmental organisation (NGOs) were given unprecedented access. We were able to feed 890,000 people for eight months and crisscross the country visiting with the people who received the aid. We had open access to the areas we served, and in many cases we were
the first encounter North Koreans ever had with an American. 


Q: But constructing a bridge to such an insular country can't be easy.

That's true. Few North Koreans are permitted to leave the country, but we have had the unique opportunity of inviting members of the Korean American Private Exchange Society, part of the government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to visit the U.S. These visits have been enriching experiences. They have given us the privilege of facilitating dialogue between state and local officials. Through these trips, we are able to extend the hospitality of our organisation, present new ideas about our vision for the future and show that there are many similarities between our country and theirs.

Q: What do North Korean officials do when they visit?



They visit our city, meet civic, political, business and academic leaders whose work or interests might inspire or assist the North Koreans. Over the course of their visit, we may take them to visit the World Forestry Centre, Oregon State University, and a national forest, the kinds of places where they can meet with experts on deforestation and agricultural productivity — two issues that the DPRK must address to reduce poverty.


We aim to build relationships and to facilitate the exchange of information. Our hope is that when these officials leave they will have experienced a deeper connection to our organisation, our donors, our city and the vision we have. Hopefully, this helps them understand the many opportunities there are to expand our work into new areas in their country through a deeper partnership.

Q: What's the hoped-for result of these partnerships?



Our hope is that the years and resources we spend in North Korea will relieve suffering today, and lay the groundwork for deeper relationships in the future. It makes a difference that we are a U.S.-based organisation because we invariably represent our country when we are there. Although we are not on a political mission, we are seen as Americans. Thus, our programmes and history in the country serve as a reminder of what is good in our country.

I have heard many survivors of World War II break down in tears of gratitude for the food and aid they received from the United States after the war was over. By providing aid in North Korea, who knows what kind of friends we’re creating for the future? But I'm sure that these relationships will be of lasting value.


Blog Post:  Posted August 19, 2010, 9:52 am by Mark Chadwick

Losing some preconceptions in Afghanistan

Country: Afghanistan

Topics: Livelihoods, Agriculture

I should know by now, but the important lessons are always worth repeating. Although blessed with the opportunity to travel often, I packed a lot of preconceptions when I set out for Afghanistan; this country that dominates our headlines but whose people we know so little.

I was ready for palpable tension in Kabul; no one wanting to linger on the streets, a pervading sadness. But in my short time there (and it was a short time), I saw nothing of that. Instead bustle, chatter, shops with names like “Kabul Asia Fashion”, advertisements for mobile phones, clothes, college courses and smiling teenagers — everything I ought to have expected but somehow didn’t — the old truth (and one time British Airways slogan) that there’s more that brings us together than keeps us apart.

Alongside the more immediate tragedies of this conflict are the missed opportunities of our mutual isolation. It’s a pity that the construction contractor I got talking to on my flight home never got to see anything of Afghanistan except the inside of Kabul compounds and armoured vehicles. It’s a shame that Afghans with expertise in development can’t always get visas to attend training courses in the United Kingdom that will help them contribute even more to their country.

Mercy Corps works closely with communities and implements programmes together with them, wherever security allows. It is a privilege in these difficult times to have the chance to meet with ordinary Afghans in an uncomplicated way.

I had the chance to visit a Mercy Corps agricultural programme, funded by the European Commission, in a comparatively stable part of the country in the east. This programme is demonstrating improved seeds and planting techniques, setting up women with poultry as a source of income, linking farmers to markets and putting money into the household budgets and local economy by hiring local labour to build and improve infrastructure, not least irrigation.

From the air, it’s hard not to be struck by the difference that canals make to the otherwise sparse and arid country and just how important these arteries are to rural life. Building this water infrastructure and helping Afghans improve its management is a big part of what Mercy Corps does around the country.

I accidentally stepped in one of the water channels, to the amusement of local children in one village. I’m claiming this was a deliberate ice-breaking strategy…or at least I’d use that excuse if we hadn’t already been warmly welcomed. Everywhere we were met with great warmth and we had to reluctantly decline many offers of lunch, (although still managed to eat some excellent watermelon). We promised we’d take up their lunch offers next time.

I hope we can.

Posted August 9, 2010

Making the Economy Buzz

Country: Kosovo

Topics: Agriculture, Economic Development, Livelihoods

Ali Rama is a 50-year-old beekeeper from the Vushtri Municipality in northern Kosovo. While Ali has enjoyed relative success in his honey production and sales for the last 10 years, he was looking to expand his business into new opportunities.

Mercy Corps supported Ali to implement quality standards for organic honey production and — this year, for the first time in Kosovo — he has begun to produce organic honey. Conventional honey is sold for eight euros a kilogram, and after Mercy Corps’ trainings in the methodology of organic honey production, he now sells for 10 euros.

Mercy Corps supported Ali to identify gaps in the marketplace and, together, they settled on production of organic honey as a potential niche for Ali’s honey business to increase its sales. He has begun to sell honey in Kosovo and is exploring the lucrative market for exporting in the near future.

Ali Rama with one of his organic beehives. Photo: Mercy Corps

“For me as a producer of honey, production of organic honey was a new experience,” he said. “Mercy Corps supported me at every stage of development of organic honey.”

With Mercy Corps’ support and shifting his operations to organic honey, Ali has increased his production capacities from a single beehive producing about 30 kilograms of honey, to eight beehives that yield a total of 240 kilograms of organic honey. Compared to previous years, he has increased the value of his production by roughly 20 percent and increased his income by 25 percent, from 1,200 euros to 2,400.

With the better market prices that organic honey commands, the increase in Ali's income this year made his life much easier by covering expenses for the education of his five children. Mercy Corps supported Ali for two years with capacity building and linkages with markets.

Through the Kosovo Value Chain Revitalisation programme, we've supported Ali and 58 other beekeepers with technical trainings to improve their production and business capacity, as well as contribute towards sustainable economic development of their businesses and the overall Kosovo economy.

Posted August 9, 2010

How a Tractor Changes Everything

Country: Kosovo

Topics: Agriculture, Citizen Involvement, Economic Development, Livelihoods, Peaceful Change

This tractor, the purchase of which was facilitated by Mercy Corps project funds, is helping once-contentious ethnic groups in one part of Kosovo work together to improve their farmlands and livelihoods. Photo: Mercy Corps

The village of Videja is a rural community of 1,000 residents near the Dukagjini Valley, the heart of western Kosovo's agricultural lands. Kosovo Serbs, who for centuries have represented the vast majority of the population in Videje, are still recovering from the conflict of 1999 through continuous post-war refugee and internally displaced persons returns processes. They face high unemployment and few income-earning opportunities.

Farming and raising livestock are the main sources of income for all ethnic groups that live in Videje and its seven surrounding villages. These ethnic groups — Kosovo Albanians, Kosovo Serbs and Roma — live in relative harmony today and are eager to find ways for cooperation and common welfare, putting their past differences and conflicts aside.

An important element of Kosovo’s future stability and overall prosperity lies in the country’s ability to return and re-integrate internally displaced people and refugee populations to their native homes in a peaceful and sustainable fashion. Through Mercy Corps’ Kosovo Economic Support for Sustainable Returns (KESSR) programme, we are facilitating these peaceful returns by partnering with municipal governments to provide household grants for items like greenhouses and agricultural equipment to help families return and re-establish themselves. To improve the economic environment for returns, the Videje community and municipal government presented a project to Mercy Corps to purchase tractor and tractor attachments for the community’s needs. With a 30 percent contribution from the community, Mercy Corps supplied the remaining necessary funds towards purchase of the tractor.

Nominated by his peers to lead this initiative, Nemanja Vulicevic — a 21-year-old Kosovo Serb returnee from Videje — is representing his fellow farmers to the municipality and leading activities under this project. Returned in 2005 from a refugee camp in Krusevac, Serbia, Nemanja — who lives together with his parents, brother, sister-in-law and their three young children — proudly shows the 400 working hours registered on the tractor’s metre.

“We had nothing without the tractor — the tractor does not care about nationality or religion,” Nemanja says.

Seven months after the programme began, the economic benefits to the community are evident: more arable land planted, more corn harvested and more grass and alfalfa baled. The tractor has also provided chronically needed transport of products to local market or raw materials (including seeds, fertilizer and timber) to households.

“There are families that are planning to return and their land is already planted; when they return they will have wheat, corn and alfalfa to eat or trade,” Nemanja explains.

Perhaps more importantly — in addition to the economic benefits — the tractor provides a free-of-charge service to farmers for seven area villages, all of them of mixed ethnicity, all of which were formerly in conflict with one another. Now, more than 90 Albanian, Serb and Roma farmers all use the tractor to plow, harvest, bale, fertilize or transport, improving their farmlands and communities together.

Posted August 9, 2010

Not Small Potatoes

Country: Kosovo

Topics: Agriculture, Citizen Involvement, Economic Development, Livelihoods, Peaceful Change

Naim Fejza in his field. Photo: Mercy Corps

Naim Fejza is a veteran potato farmer in the small town of Mogila in southern Kosovo. For his entire adult life, he and his household — which includes his parents, wife and three children — have eked out a living on the small income from the sales of potatoes on their farm.

Mogila is a typical Kosovo village of 1,700 residents, where communities of both Albanian and Serb ethnic backgrounds live and work together precariously, relying on crops such as potatoes, wheat and corn for their livelihoods. The mixed-ethnic Mogila Farmers’ Association and municipal authorities approached Mercy Corps with a proposal to provide assistance to farmers of all ethnic backgrounds, in order to improve crop production capacity and overall economic standing.

Following a series of community meetings, the Farmers’ Association and other local farmers nominated Naim to act as the primary representative of the project to Mercy Corps and the local government. With support from the local government and the Farmers’ Association, Mercy Corps facilitated the delivery of farm equipment to Mogila to make their agricultural ventures more efficient. The farmers rent the machinery from the association to use on their lands.

Six months after the project's start, implementation is showing its benefits to the farmers, the Farmer's Association and the wider community. With the new machinery, Naim and the Farmers’ Association have increased the surface planted with varieties of vegetables by an average of more than 100 percent. At the same time, the cost of planting has dropped in half, from the previo£90 per hectare to the present £42

Some farmers have doubled their sales from previous years. Farmers also export their products to Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, as well as selling at local markets. In addition, with the new surplus income, Naim has invested in and built a 500-square-metre greenhouse for pepper seedlings that will increase the quality and their quantity of peppers produced. The Farmers’ Assocation has also grown from 30 to 100 members.

Naim, the pleased father of three, says, “I simply can’t explain the value of Mercy Corps’ assistance — it has doubled the planted surface, cut the cost in half and given meaning to the term ‘profit’.”

Blog Post:  Posted August 4, 2010, 2:06 pm by Tara Noronha

In northern Uganda, hope springs eternal

Country: Uganda

Topics: Rural, Peaceful Change, Marginalized Groups, Livelihoods, Economic Development, Conflict & War, Agriculture

As the brutal twenty-year civil war in Uganda has unofficially ended, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have exited Pader — a district in the country’s northern Acholiland — which was for many years at the epicenter of atrocities committed by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Pastoralist warriors fomenting tensions in Uganda’s eastern Karamoja region now beckon many aid efforts, as do protracted conflicts in neighboring Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But while the days of abduction and murder at the hands of the LRA have ended in “post-conflict” Pader, a long and arduous road to recovery remains. Land disputes between returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have replaced battles between Ugandan forces and LRA rebels. The teacher-to-student ratio in Pader schools often hovers at 1:100. Additionally, northern Ugandans face unprecedented unemployment numbers, as well as few prospects for income generation.

These issues acutely affect youth. A staggering 83 percent of young people in Uganda are currently unemployed— a devastating figure which brands the country with the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. Yet, despite all of these seemingly insurmountable obstacles to economic and social stability, hope remains.

Just ask Akello.

Akello with her daughter in northern Uganda's Pader district. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

She is a soft-spoken twenty-year-old living in the Lira Palwo sub-county of Pader district. Akello is an entrepreneur, the mother of three young children and a child soldier once abducted and pressed into service by the LRA.

She is also a participant in Mercy Corps’ Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP), which operates in Pader with support from the W. Glen Boyd Charitable Foundation. Through YEP, Akello received a small grant to help grow her fish business. She’s also involved in the programme’s Life Skills training, which engages youth in dialogue on topics such as HIV/AIDS, the dangers of early marriage and the importance of effective communication.

Although reserved, Akello is not shy when vocalizing the ways in which the grant from Mercy Corps has allowed her to expand her enterprise. She now buys her fish in bulk and has diversified her business by selling both small and medium-sized fish. She is also devising plans to begin another small enterprise.

This is no tiny feat in a district where 75 percent of individuals report no cash income. Her husband, a farmer, is supportive of her entrepreneurial drive. “My husband is very happy,” Akello told me, smiling. “And he’s proud of our new income.”

Mercy Corps believes in the power and potential of youth, particularly those transitioning from conflict to post-conflict environments. Because of this, our doors have remained open since our Pader office began work in 2006.

Akello is just one of more than 1,000 youth (ages 14-30) benefitting from YEP, a programme which aims to ensure that war-affected youth in northern Uganda are empowered economically, through an increased ability to earn an income, and personally, through an increased ability to make critical life decisions and healthier choices. Yes, Mercy Corps also has teams working in Karamoja (as well as Sudan and Congo), but we continue to work with vulnerable youth in Acholiland, recognizing that these young individuals have the capacity to transform their society and bolster the economy.

Through resilience and courage, and with a little guidance and support, Akello is just one of many young individuals leading the way.

Posted July 23, 2010 by Roger Burks

Responding to Niger’s latest hunger crisis

Country: Niger

Topics: Agriculture, Hunger

Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Five years ago, Mercy Corps responded to a catastrophic food crisis in Niger that put more than 3.5 million people at risk of malnutrition and starvation. Today, Niger is facing potentially worse food shortages — and Mercy Corps is again readying a lifesaving response.

This year, as many as 7.8 million people — more than half of Niger’s total population — face the grim prospect of months without sufficient food. Sporadic rains during the last growing season have had a devastating effect on harvests and food supplies, leaving households with little to save for the long “hungry season” between harvests. There are already widespread reports of families — particularly women and children — skipping meals and having to forage for semi-edible grasses, leaves and other wild food.

They need help to survive until the fall harvest, and the Government of Niger has requested urgent assistance from the international community.

Mercy Corps — which has worked in some of Niger’s poorest villages since 2005 – has plans to deliver food and other critical assistance to more than 211,000 people threatened by the hunger crisis. Through government grants, private support and partnerships with local organizations, we will supply nutritious food to vulnerable households while helping farmers address issues of debt from previous poor harvests. Through a microfinance partner, we will extend credit to farming families in order to help them get back on their feet and better able to support themselves.

Every cycle of hunger in Niger drives already-struggling families deeper into poverty. This year, we’re determined to not only help them feed themselves, but also strengthen their ability to emerge from crisis.

Over the last five years, our work in Niger has helped save and change lives: we’ve ensured therapeutic food for more than 60,000 malnourished children and mothers. Our team has also helped improve maternal and child health by working with local authorities to build community health networks that have reached at least 370,000 people in 547 villages.

This year, hunger threatens Nigerien families once again. We are prepared to respond, and your support will help us save lives in one of the world’s poorest places.

Blog Post:  Posted July 20, 2010, 11:13 pm by Elizabeth Hallinan

Greening Afghanistan

Country: Afghanistan

Topics: Livelihoods, Environment, Agriculture

I’m just going to say it — people think of Afghanistan as a pile of rocks. I see where the mental image comes from; photos on the news do seem to showcase the sand and rocks in their effort to capture the grittiness of soldiers at war. But I know an Afghanistan of a different color: green.

In northern Afghanistan — where I work on a project promoting improved livelihoods through agriculture, infrastructure and livestock — there is the rich green carpet of potato plants in Takhar, the red-tinged green leaves of saplings in our timber plots in Badakhshan and technicolor green seedlings in the new rice paddies in Baghlan.

Our agriculture projects are not the only opportunities for supporting a greener Afghanistan. Now, we are using ‘greening’ techniques on our infrastructure projects as well. Northern Afghanistan is home to snowy mountains and rushing rivers, and as a result flood protection and erosion control are a major concern. The project builds retaining walls, wash culverts and canals to channel and control the water, but recently we have started looking far upstream to try to address the deforestation and soil erosion that make these floods so devastating.

The Yakatal "super passage" wash culvert in Taloqan, Takhar province, serves as a testing ground for this approach. This massive culvert is 120 meters (almost 400 feet) across and protects a local irrigation canal from being washed out by floods by channeling water up and over the covered canal. The culvert basically serves as a highway that contains the water as it runs downhill. This year, the new culvert contained the spring’s heavy flooding, but the sheer volume of water convinced Takhar Program Manager Kerry Sly of the need to work with the local shura (council) to control flooding at the source.

Yaka Zarang village resident Mohammad Ahmad explains the nature of the problem with relying on super passages alone: “Construction of super passages has its benefits, like quick protection of an area which is under threat of flood. After years, the passage will be destroyed by heavy floods anyway. All heavy floods are caused by consecutive rain fall in naked land which has nothing in its soil, and flood washes out everything from the surface of the land, like top soil and fertile land, and eventually farmers or people can not use that land for anything. Also, the river becomes full of mud and dirt which is washed away from the hills of upper areas.”

The Yakatal village elders remember a time when the hills above the village were covered with trees and shrubs and there was better land for grazing. They were eager to work with Mercy Corps to mitigate the current problems with soil erosion and deforestation to protect their downstream land. The shura agreed that the village would provide labor for starting nurseries, replanting trees and constructing a reservoir, as well as a promise to ensure that no more trees would be felled for fuel.

Mohammad Ahmad explains, “If we cover the area with forest and plants, we can easily reduce the floods' effects. Trees, plants and bushes absorb the water into soil, and roots keep the ground strong not to be swept away by fast rain. If we made terraces around the hills it is another way of reducing the flood flow, in the terraces we can plant pistachio, Russian willow and acacia, and these are all soil erosion controllers.”

With the help of the community, Mercy Corps targeted a 200 hectare (almost 500 acre) area that will be replanted with local varieties appropriate to the current dry conditions — and best suited for preventing erosion and improving soil moisture — such as pistachio, lilac, aspen, juniper, acacia, Russian willow, almond and walnut.

Trees thrive in Afghanistan, if given half a chance. By rebuilding a watershed, the community will restore the horticultural tradition and protect their agricultural land from future floods.

Posted July 15, 2010 by Jarrod Fath

Global Agriculture Results for 2009

Topics: Agriculture, Food/Nutrition, Hunger

In 2009, 87 projects in 25 countries contributed to Mercy Corps' Agricultural Development Goal of working with “farmers, agribusinesses and government to decrease hunger, increase incomes and improve environmental sustainability.” Agricultural development programming was used to respond to a number of global challenges — including the recent global food crisis, chronic food insecurity and poverty, resettlement of conflict- and natural disaster-affected populations, and increasing social inclusion.

Mercy Corps works directly with small holder farmers and pastoralists, as well as input suppliers, animal health workers, financial service providers, government extension agents, marketing centers and trade associations to:

Click to magnify

• Improve the performance of high impact agricultural value chains;
• Increase access to financial services; and
• Improve the enabling environment via better business and government services.

Please find, at right, a chart that illustrates the reach and impact of Mercy Corps' agricultural programmes in calendar year 2009.