African Horticultural Success Stories

USAID's Tanzanian Airfreight Project (TAP) Helps Tanzanian Horticulture Exports Take Off

Published on 13^th May 2009

USAID assisted TAHA to establish a grower-owned freight consolidation firm, TAHA Fresh Handling, Ltd. (TFHL). USAID also provided an investment guarantee fund for TFHL to cover potential volume shortfalls in the early stages of the program. This has been critical to provide growers and their customers a chance to transition to the new cargo service. USAID TAP assisted TAHA to strengthen the association, increase membership by over 500 percent and increase Tanzanian exports.

In a major public private partnership win, USAID helped TFHL to successfully negotiate with private and public operators to lower their charges to make Kilimanjaro competitive.

TFHL’s inaugural cargo flight took off from Kilimanjaro on December 7, 2008. The cargo service has since transported over 400 tons of Tanzanian flowers, vegetables and fruits to Europe. Today, thanks to USAID, Tanzanian exporters of perishables have a new reliable cost effective source of airfreight access to help them compete in international markets.  Click here for full story.

The Horticultural Production Project in Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

The International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) dispatched a Technical Mission Team to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (S.T.P.) in 1998. 

 In cooperating with the S.T.P.’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Agricultural Research and Technology Center, the Technical Mission Team initiated a project to fortify the increase of vegetable production. Since the implementation of the vegetable production program in the S.T.P. in 1998, farmers have successfully established a vegetable production model to perpetuate year-round productions of different vegetable seeds.  Those farmers participated in this program have made significant profits, which were reinvested in buying new trucks to meet their transportation needs, purchasing new homes, even opening grocery stores, or sending their children to study abroad, mostly in Portugal.  The success of this program was further exemplified by the increase of varieties of vegetables sold in the domestic markets in the S.T.P. .  The quality of vegetables found in the markets was also somewhat increased to the satisfaction of local consumers...Read more   

 

Kenya: Exporting out of Africa- Kenya's Horticultural Success Story

With over 70 percent of the poor in developing countries living in rural areas, agricultural growth must play a significant role in poverty reduction, and in small low-income countries this is likely to require improved agricultural export performance. In Kenya, horticultural exports have demonstrated huge potential in terms of both growth rates and overall demand, generating jobs that directly support a half million workers, small farmers, and their families. ...Read more