CREATING 

PATHWAYS TO 

PROSPERITY

for Underserved 

Communities in Africa
Each year, USADF’s portfolio 

of 350 active project grants 

benefits over 1.5 million Africans across 19 

countries. USADF projects promote economic 

growth in hard to reach communities in places 

like the Sahel region across West Africa, northern 

and Delta regions in Nigeria, and in the Turkana 

region of Kenya. USADF projects also promote 

peace and food security in post-conflict areas in 

Burundi, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda 

and Zimbabwe. USADF grants focus on growing 

community enterprises across all 19 countries. 1. Benin

2. Burkina Faso

3. Burundi

4. Guinea

5. Kenya

6. Liberia

7. Malawi

8. Mali

9. Mauritania

10. Niger

11. Nigeria

12. Rwanda

13. Senegal

14. Somalia

15. South Sudan

16. Tanzania

17. Uganda

18. Zambia

19. Zimbabwe

8

2

10

5

17

16

15

14

18

3

12

7

19

1

11

9

13

4

6

Cover photograph: 

Niger, Yobbi Women’s 

Group, Garba Abdoulaye
Sustained 

Growth

USADF grants help 

community enterprises 

achieve economic 

growth and stability—

creating higher 

incomes and more 

employment. 

Speed

USADF’s model allows 

us to move quickly to 

start new programs 

and award grants, 

even in areas impacted 

by conflict or disaster. 

Leveraged 

Funds

USADF combines U.S. 

Government funds 

with other resources 

provided by host 

African governments 

and private sector 

partners to achieve 

greater development 

impact. African host 

governments have 

invested over $25 

million of their own 

resources directly 

into USADF programs 

since 2007. 

Peace & 

Prosperity

USADF is an important 

part of America’s 

diplomatic and 

economic engagement 

across Africa. 

USADF is a U.S. government agency 

dedicated to promoting African-led 

development. USADF grants provide 

capital and local technical expertise to 

grassroots enterprises that empower 

the underserved to become part of 

Africa’s growth story. 

Benin, Mialebouni 

Cassava, Sharon Czarnek

Niger, CODEBA, 

Garba Abdoulaye

Kenya, Lokamarinyang 

Irrigation, Samwel Ekiru

Rwanda, COOPPAVI 

Women Fishing,

Christine Fowles

U.S. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION | 1
USADF 

People

USADF’s programs and 

grants reach four groups of 

people currently underserved 

but ready to do their part. 

SMALLHOLDER FARMERS are the backbone of 

Africa’s economy, contributing more than half of its 

GDP and comprising nearly 70% of its labor force. 

They face enormous challenges in securing land 

rights, access to agriculture technology, farm inputs 

and capital, and access to functioning markets. 

YOUTH between 15 and 24 years represent a 

population dividend for Africa, which has the youngest 

population in the world. Africa needs to create 

economic and entrepreneurship opportunities for 

200 million youth.

WOMEN AND GIRLS often bear the brunt of extreme 

poverty. They face challenges in education, property 

rights and economic opportunity, and they are often 

victims of violence and cultural discrimination. Given 

the right opportunity, women entrepreneurs can lead 

the way out of poverty for themselves, their children 

and their communities.

RECOVERING COMMUNITIES are populations facing 

hardships created by external factors, from conflict 

to natural disasters. These communities are eager to 

restore normal life and work hard to achieve economic 

independence once opportunities are presented.

USADF 

Projects 

Increasing yield, 

nutrition and income 

for Burundi farmers

USADF supports rural farmers in 

Burundi by making available local 

technical advisors who introduce 

new skills in food production, 

animal husbandry, and business 

operations. USADF funding was 

used to introduce a new potato 

variety and improved farm practices 

that increased yields. To make the 

most of the bumper crop, the farmer 

association used local materials 

to construct a storage facility. 

This reduced post-harvest losses 

and permitted farmers to sell their 

harvest when it could command top 

dollar. From the profits, the farmers 

acquired dairy cows that improved 

nutrition for their children. As milk 

production increased, households 

were able to supplement their 

income through milk sales. 

Burundi, Abavudukanakivi Potatoes, 

Christine Fowles

2 | U.S. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
Supporting 

employment for 

Somali youth

Unemployment among Somali

youth is one of the highest in 

the world, posing a great threat 

to the country. In 2012, USADF 

began funding youth training and 

employment programs for more 

than 2,500 youth that helped 

create job placement or selfemployment opportunities. The 

program conducts market studies 

to determine the local demand 

for skilled labor, develops and 

delivers tailored training, and 

then links qualified candidates 

with hiring businesses. In the 

program’s first year, 85% of the 

young men and women in the 

program succeeded in gaining 

employment or starting their own 

small businesses. USADF has 

funded more than 15 youth job 

training and placement programs 

in Somalia.

Creating exports 

for coffee farmers

Coffee farmers in Bukonzo in 

western Uganda grow some of 

finest coffee beans in the world. 

A USADF grant helped a 3,500 

member cooperative—85% of 

whom are women—export organic, 

fair-trade certified Arabica coffee 

overseas. USADF supported the 

construction of a 200-ton capacity 

storage facility, installed motorized 

coffee-processing pulpers, and 

purchased a 25-ton truck to 

transport coffee to Kampala. In 

less than two years, farmers have 

secured contracts to export coffee 

to Japan and the United States. 

More than 125,000 pounds of coffee 

have been exported since 2011. 

Today, the cooperative is an awardwinner, producing for the global 

market. Women are fully involved in 

the cooperative’s decision-making 

and financial planning.

Bringing electricity 

to marginalized 

communities

USADF and GE Africa partnered 

to create a three-year, $2 million 

Off-Grid Energy Grant Challenge, 

providing $100,000 grants to local 

entrepreneurs delivering renewable 

energy solutions to underserved 

communities. One recent winner, 

Afrisol Energy Limited, is 

turning human waste into energy, 

partnering with the Kwa Njenga 

Primary School on the edge of 

Nairobi’s Mukuru slum. Afrisol is 

installing a bio-digester that will 

source sludge from the school’s 

latrines and nearby public facilities. 

Electricity generated by the 

bio-digester will light up the school 

and the surrounding community, 

making it a brighter day for the 

2,000 students at the school and 

the thousands of slum residents 

living beyond the grid. 

Somalia, IPRT, 

Jimale Dayib

Uganda, Bukonzo Coffee, 

Charles Katumba

Kenya, Afrisol Energy,

Rudy Gharib

U.S. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION | 3
USADF: 

Delivering Results

USADF programs deliver 

results that increase local 

food production, grow income 

levels, and improve livelihoods. 

By connecting community enterprises with capital and 

local technical support, we ensure that thousands of 

people in the most underserved communities in Africa 

are given a real opportunity to improve the quality of 

their lives and benefit from the new era of accelerated 

economic growth across Africa. 

Since 1994, USADF has invested more than $260 million 

in African initiated and led development projects. Our 

projects have impacted the lives of more five million 

Africans, and generated more than $500 million in 

new and increased economic activity in low-income 

communities.

USADF’s active portfolio of 350 grants makes a positive 

difference for more than 1.5 million people across Africa. 

These people and their communities benefit in practical 

ways from the more than $158 million of new economic 

activities generated in their communities as a result 

of USADF grants. They are part of Africa’s emerging 

growth story.

USADF supports three 

important White House-led 

Special Initiatives that invest in 

Africa’s future. 

YOUNG AFRICAN LEADERS 

INITIATIVE (YALI)—USADF will 

award 200 entrepreneurship 

grants to Washington Fellows 

to help them expand business 

and social enterprises in their 

home countries. 

POWER AFRICA—In 

partnership with GE Africa, 

USADF will award grants of up 

to $100,000 each to companies, 

organizations and individuals 

that provide off-grid solutions 

deploying renewable resources.

FEED THE FUTURE—USADF 

grants support food production 

and market development 

for smallholder farmers and 

cooperatives in ten of the twelve 

Feed the Future countries in 

Africa. USADF projects help 

smallholder farmers develop 

long term food security 

solutions in areas where the 

need is greatest. Nearly 80% of 

all USADF project grants focus 

on agricultural development and 

food security.

U.S. Assistance 

Priorities in 

Africa 

Mali, Banambani Cabbage, Moussa Gadio
USADF BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jack Leslie, Chairman

Dr. John O. Agwunobi, Vice-Chairman

Ward Brehm, Board Member

Iqbal Paroo, Board Member

Morgan M. Davis, Board Member

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Shari Berenbach, President & CEO 

Michele M. Rivard, Chief of Staff

Doris Mason Martin, General Counsel

Lisa Fiely, Chief Financial Officer

Ellen Teel, Senior Auditor

David Blaine, Knowledge, Learning & Dissemination

Tom Coogan, Regional Program Director 

(Nigeria, Zambia & Power Africa) 

Christine Fowles, Regional Program Director 

(Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, 

Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal) 

Kim Ward, Regional Program Director (Malawi, 

Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia) 

Paul Olson, Portfolio Manager 

Constance Berry Newman, Special Programs

USADF support for the 

Kazoza N’Ikawa coffee 

processing cooperative 

in Burundi increases 

production and income 

for farmers.

Burundi, Kazoza 

N’ikawa Coffee, 

Christine Fowles
United States African Development Foundation

1400 I Street, N.W.

Suite 1000

Washington, D.C. USA 20005

202.233.8800

To learn more, please visit: www.usadf.gov

6 | U.S. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION