ACDI/VOCA Wins New USAID Award to Fight Hunger in Eastern, Southern Africa

'Support for Food Security Activities' IQC to Harmonize Regional Food Security Efforts

WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ACDI/VOCA recently was awarded its largest USAID Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC) as part of a newly expanded U.S. effort to reduce hunger and improve nutrition in eastern and southern Africa.  

The five-year "Support for Food Security Activities" (SFSA) contract, which has a $500 million ceiling, represents a significant new source of funding for agricultural development and food security programs in countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as well as Tanzania.

It also represents a new USAID approach to harmonize regional hunger- and poverty-fighting efforts in these countries, where significant portions of populations face chronic food insecurity and the production of staple crops fails to meet local and regional demand.

"Many farmers in these countries—most who work small plots of land—spend up to 80 percent of their income on food, which severely constrains their ability to move beyond subsistence agriculture, even in areas with high production and market potential," says ACDI/VOCA's Chief Operating Officer Bill Polidoro. "USAID's new contract mechanism allows us and our partners to simultaneously address the immediate humanitarian and longer-term economic development needs by integrating both into local and regional markets."

In implementing this contract, ACDI/VOCA will draw on its 46 years of agricultural value chain and food security experience in Africa to oversee efforts to integrate market-oriented humanitarian assistance with market-driven staple food production and trade promotion interventions.  This holistic, interactive approach will cover agricultural productivity, market facilitation and value chain development, trade facilitation, regulatory and policy reform, humanitarian response, information and knowledge management, organizational development, and short-term technical assistance.

Activities and programs implemented through the contract will support the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) framework and efforts of key African institutions to increase investments in agriculture and promote regional trade and integration. ACDI/VOCA will place a strong emphasis on partnering with private and public African organizations.

"Interventions will trigger a 'virtuous cycle' of asset accumulation and expanded opportunities for income, health and nutrition," Polidoro adds.

Effective immediately, ACDI/VOCA will work with specialized subcontractors to form an alliance of expertise to respond to USAID task orders:

• Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• IFDC
• Crown Agents
• Associates for International Resources and Development (AIRD)
• John Mellor & Associates (JMA)
• Kimetrica
• Danya
• The South East Consortium for International Development (SECID)
• Ohio State University (OSU)

ACDI/VOCA strives to promote positive economic and social change worldwide by promoting economic opportunities for cooperatives, enterprises and communities through the innovative application of sound business practices.

SOURCE ACDI/VOCA