2022 Midyear Report

2022 MIDYEAR REPORT

Institutional Philanthropy: Partners in Development

THE START OF 2022, Food For The Poor was preparing to celebrate its 40th anniversary and bring more transformative projects to fruition under CEO Ed Raine. Ed has spent years developing a Sustainable Livelihoods Department and focusing on building new alliances in international development. Excitement is growing about the initial success of programs created to build self-sufficiency in our hemisphere’s most impoverished places.

Teaching Haitian Farmers to Produce More Rice

MAKING AN IMPACT IN 2022

What would happen if Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, could produce more of its own food? Farmers in Les Cayes, Haiti, are experiencing this reality, thanks to training by Taiwan Technical Mission and an innovative rice cultivation project.

Seventy-five farmers learned about rice production, marketing and operations in the Haiti Farmers Association Rice Production and Marketing Project. FFTP partnered with Taiwan ICDF (International Cooperation and Development Fund) to establish a multiservice center with a paddy drying ground, rice mill, paddy warehouse and production warehouse in Warf-Massey. Warf-Massey is a major port in Haiti. Farmers will also receive technical support on how to operate and maintain their new equipment and essentials including land, fertilizer and seeds.

This innovative and dynamic project is already impacting local communities. Beneficiaries are selling their rice in local supermarkets, complete with a logo on the rice bags. Additionally, the cooperative recently entered into an agreement with the French Embassy to purchase 18 tons of white rice from this project, to use in their feeding program in Haiti. Thanks to this partnership, not only is the future of rice production looking brighter in Haiti, but 75 farmers are becoming more self-sufficient.

HARVEST GAINS

1ST CROP SEASON: 25 hectares were harvested, with an average yield of 3.98 metric tons per hectare and a total yield of 99.5 metric tons.

2 ND CROP SEASON: 25 hectares were harvested, with an average yield of 4.70 metric tons per hectare and a total yield of 117.5 metric tons.

Farmers receive milling machine operation and maintenance training.

White rice packaging includes brand new bags.

A farmer in Haiti harvests rice.

A ‘HOT’ Project Increases Pepper Production

Jamaica is known for delicious spicy food and peppers. Through FFTP’s partnership with the Norwood-Thatch Walk Farmers Group in the island nation, 16 farmers learned how to increase pepper production as well as their income.

The Thatch Walk Farmers Scotch Bonnet Pepper Production project provided the farmers with materials, agricultural information and equipment necessary to make their farms a success. In addition, to ensure maximum harvests, FFTP and the farmers group trained the farmers on pest management, plant nutrition, farm recordkeeping and fertility management.

Though the project has the practical effect of stimulating economic development, another more personal outcome is the pride among the farmers in their collective accomplishment: abundant farms. The farmers are working together to help each other in the truest sense of community spirit.

FFTP worked with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority to connect the farmers with those who would purchase their products in both Jamaica and the United States. Inspired by their success, some of the farmers plan to expand their plots and plant even more crops next season.

Organic Coffee and Beehive Production Project Has Sweet Success

The COMBRIFOL coffee and beehive production project provides training and technical help and the equipment necessary to reduce expenses for the coffee farmers and beekeepers. COMBRIFOL unites 145 low-income Honduran farmers in a thriving cooperative.

Participants in the organic coffee and beehive cooperative in Honduras work on their

own farms, and when their products are harvested, they sell directly to COMBRIFOL. By combining products to market them more effectively, COMBRIFOL helps the farmers increase their income. The impact of this project on both the community and the environment is something the project participants will enjoy for years to come.

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Education Project in Haiti Invests in the Future

Education is key to escaping poverty, and nowhere is this more true than in Haiti, which has a desperate need for well-trained teachers. To meet this need, FFTP partnered with P4H Global to improve education in 38 schools throughout northern Haiti. The “Training Teachers to Transform Haiti” project was recognized as a winner of the UNESCOHamdan Prize for Teacher Development.

The FFTP-P4H education initiative in Haiti targets three areas – professional development, infrastructure improvements and nutrition programming. Teachers underwent intensive training in the first cycle of the initiative. They learned foundational theories, classroom management techniques and collaborative learning strategies. Teachers also received exams to measure their learning.

But the biggest change can be seen in students, who look forward to their school sessions like never before. Teachers now have a better understanding on how to engage with their students and get them involved so they can learn more effectively. For the first time in their careers, many school directors feel supported.

Gary Dixon, a community member, said he is grateful for the impact the project has made. “The place is more positive. Everything is upbeat,” he said. “When all of this happened, it’s like the whole community wants to get involved and everybody is busy.”

Creating Jobs and Futures

Unemployment and poverty go hand in hand. In Choloma, Honduras, one project is tackling both challenges by creating exciting new opportunities and bringing hope to low-income residents.

The Choloma welding workshop is producing bedframes to sell and – only a year after inception – employing 18 people who are earning a steady income. The shop went from producing 1,500 bed frames in 2021 to 2,000 bed frames in 2022. Seven young people have learned a trade as welders, and they now possess the knowledge and experience to run an entire shop. Instead of a life stifled by hunger, uncertainty and poverty, these young people now have a good trade and a future filled with possibilities.

Young people learn skills in a welding workshop.

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