Clinton Development Initiative

President Clinton is greeted at the SoyCo construction site in Rwanda, on a visit to Africa in July 2012. SoyCo is contracting with an estimated 30,000 local farmers to grow soya for its processing plant and is providing inputs to support those farmers. SoyCo will further employ up to 1,400 farmers on its own commercial soya farm and employ 120 staff in its factory. Photo credit: Barbara Kinney / Clinton Foundation

President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton tour the Mount Meru SoyCo construction site and meet the farmers who work at the site. Once the SoyCo facility is complete, it will provide jobs for 30,000 farmers – 55% women – to grow soybeans for the factory. Photo credit: Barbara Kinney / Clinton Foundation

President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton tour the Mount Meru SoyCo construction site. Once construction is complete, the SoyCo facility will produce and sell cooking oil, which will create domestic demand for the product and provide an opportunity for export. Photo credit: Barbara Kinney / Clinton Foundation

In 2010, President Clinton talked with members of the Trees of Hope project in Malawi, and worked with them to plant a tree as part of the project. The Trees of Hope Project was launched in 2007 in the Dowa and Neno districts of Malawi to help communities reverse deforestation by making tree farming attractive and profitable for smallholder farmers.

Sekanakoni Banda stands next to one of the trees that he grows as part of the Clinton Development Initiative's Trees of Hope project in Malawi. Launched in 2007 in the Dowa and Neno districts, Trees of Hope aims to reverse deforestation by making tree farming attractive and profitable for smallholder farmers.

Agnes Spinala, who is part of the Clinton Foundation's Anchor Farm Project in Malawi preps maize for processing and distribution. The Anchor Farm Project is a CDI-operated 1,000 hectare commercial farm that provides neighboring smallholder farmers with access to quality inputs for maize and soy production, training and market access, and is currently benefiting 2,505 surrounding smallholder farmers.

Though soybeans grow well in Rwanda, they have not been widely adopted because of the lack of demand. In Rwanda, the Clinton Development Initiative is helping people increase their livelihoods and reduce malnutrition by developing soybean production cooperatives and businesses, aiming to provide reliable, long-term buyers for local produce and offer farmers a buffer against the price fluctuations that are endemic to the market.

Rwandan farmer Sekanakoni Banda tends to the soya crops on his plot. The Clinton Development Initiative (CDI) has increased access to various agricultural inputs to spark economic growth in Rwanda.

To provide reliable, long-term buyers for smallholder soya farmers in Rwanda, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative and Rwandan co-investors established Mount Meru Soyco Limited, a large soya processing business that will produce cooking oil. Soyco will supply the Rwandan market, create jobs, and expand export opportunities by contracting with an estimated 30,000 local farmers.

In Rwanda, fruit trees are a great source of both income from reselling and nutrition for local communities. The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative works to make tree farming profitable for smallholder farmers, addressing both economic disparities and the environmental challenges that accompany deforestation.

The Clinton Development Initiative programs are helping fruit farmers improve their harvests by providing them with better seed inputs and increasing production. Through the Clinton Development Initiative's programs, 4,300 farmers in Rwanda increased productivity by 240 percent, helping to feed 30,000 people

The Clinton Development Initiative operates the Kadiridimba Tree Nursery in Rwanda, with the goal of reducing deforestation by making tree farming attractive and profitable for smallholder farmers. The Kadiridimba Tree Nursery is one of 200 small community nurseries, self-sustaining, profitable business for small villages. In 2011, 630,000 tree seedlings were prepped and grown in these nurseries.

A casava farmer in Rwanda shows how his harvest has improved through the help of Clinton Development Initiative's (CDI) programs. CDI's programs are helping farmers build sustainable livelihoods by providing them with better inputs and reliable, long-term buyers.

Ifijenia Kamtaza, a Malawian soy farmer, is not only improving her harvest and turning more profit - Ifijenia will be able to send her daughter to boarding school and make improvements to her home.

Through Clinton Development Initiative's programs in Rwanda, smallholder farmers learn improved planting techniques and have expanded access to seeds. The programs have helped 4,000 farmers’ increase their yields by 240 percent on average and are helping feed 30,000 people.

Women at one of the Clinton Development Initiative's co-operatives sorts parchment coffee prior to drying. The Clinton Development Initiative is helping to expand the farmers' coffee sales by over 30%.