This past month, Venture37 received four new awards to expand its food systems impact in five countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zambia. USAID awarded Venture37 with two new cooperative agreements: the first will focus on cooperative development in Rwanda and Zambia, and the second will increase the productivity and profitability of food systems in Egypt, Lebanon, and Rwanda. Meanwhile, USDA awarded Venture37 a new activity that will improve profitability of the poultry sector in Lesotho. Finally, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) awarded Venture37 a new cooperative agreement to strengthen the poultry meat and egg sector in Zambia. Learn more about each of the four awards below.

The USAID Cooperative Resilience and Equity Activity (CORE)

CORE will foster vibrant, sustainable cooperative ecosystems in Rwanda and Zambia from 2023 to 2028. Across both countries, CORE will support over 160 dairy, horticulture, and oilseed cooperatives and 12,000 cooperative members in partnership with local market actors, resulting in an estimated 30 percent increase in cooperative sales. Valued at $11.6 million, the activity will build on best practices from Venture37’s 32 years of Cooperative Development Program implementation, including the most recent Cooperative Development Activity 4, which is still active in Lebanon, and recently closed in Malawi and Rwanda. 

The USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Inclusive Food Systems (F2F IFS)

Venture37 will implement F2F IFS from 2023 to 2028 in Egypt, Lebanon, and Rwanda. F2F IFS will increase the productivity and profitability of market actors across local food systems by providing targeted, sequenced, and layered volunteer technical assistance. F2F IFS will also facilitate people-to-people exchanges that promote connection and understanding in the global community. The program will build on its decades of Farmer-to-Farmer work, including its Farmer-to-Farmer Food Safety and Quality activity, which addressed food safety and quality challenges in Bangladesh, Egypt, and Lebanon through targeted expert volunteer assistance. The activity is valued at $8.5 million, with a 34 million associate award ceiling. The activity plans to facilitate more than 180 volunteer assignments to train more than 4,500 people, with an estimated $1.1 million increase in net income for host organizations.

The USDA Food for Progress Lesotho - Sustainable Transformation of Enterprises in the Poultry Sector (STEPS)

STEPS, a $13.4 million project, will increase agricultural productivity for poultry producers in Lesotho from 2023 to 2028 by improving inputs, services, finance, and market linkages. STEPS will also expand the trade of agricultural and poultry products locally through enterprise access to finance, quality inputs and consistent end markets. By 2028, STEPS will have enhanced the profitability of 35,000 value chain actors in the poultry sector, increased meat production by 40 percent, and increased egg production by 30 percent.
 

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative-Livestock (AIDI-L)

AIDI-L is private sector-led, women and youth focused, livestock-based intervention to contribute to improved food and nutrition security and rural incomes through poultry in Zambia. From 2023 to 2024, AIDI will improve productivity and availability of poultry meat and eggs in markets and for households in Zambia by promoting increased access to improved breeds, bundled advisory services, livestock financing, vaccinations, and new poultry farm technologies. This $1.2 million initiative builds on years of partnership between Venture37 and ILRI, a CGIAR research center that is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. By 2024, the initiative will help 15,000 small-scale poultry keeping households acquire increased access dual-purpose backyard village chicks; support 150 women and youth brooders and vendors with increased business orientation and profitability; and reach 375,000 youth and women with agricultural advisory messages through mass media.
 
These awards signal a diversification in Venture37’s portfolio, including an increased focus on the poultry sector and new geographic reach in Lesotho and Zambia. Venture37 will draw on best practices from over 40 years of international development experience and more than 100 years of agricultural expertise through its affiliation with Land O’Lakes, Inc. to implement the projects and strengthen food systems in Egypt, Lebanon, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zambia.