Farmers to Markets: At a Glance

Sponsored by: The Paul Carlson Partnership and the U.S. Agency for International Development

Location: Ubangi region in the northwest Democratic Republic of Congo

Program: Assist small farmers in the Ubangi to grow better crops, then transport those crops to markets in Kinshasa, where prices are highest.

Purpose: Bring more money into circulation in the poverty-stricken Ubangi region, and into the lives of families there.

Plan: Build a "value chain" in three stages:

1: Grow the food
Groups of subsistence farmers in Ubangi villages receive loans in the form of seeds, implements, and other farming aids. An agronomist helps them learn productive techniques.

2: Move the food
Individual entrepreneurs receive loans in the form of bicycles so they can move farm products from the villages to a port city in the area.

3: Sell the food
Experienced wholesalers receive loans to expand their businesses to serve our farmers. The wholesaler buys the product from the farmer, hires a transporter to bring it to the port city, then ships the goods by boat to Kinshasa, where he sells them.

Click to enlarge

Goal: 4,000 farmers involved by the end of the second year, in "coops" of 15-30 started by 16 "animators" (organizers), 8 based at each office

Total cost of project: $1,000,000

USAID grant: $658,000

PCP responsibility: $342,000

Program offices: Loko, Bumba

Management offices: Kinshasa, Gemena, Chicago

PCP executive director: Byron E. Miller

F2M manager: Texa Dembele Menda

Partner organizations: 
CEUM (Communaute Evangelique de l'Ubangi-Mongala)

HOPE International Development Agency (Canada)

Your opportunity: Become a partner in this important program by donating money for loans. The Paul Carlson Partnership's primary financial responsibility is to provide the loan funds that make all this possible. Participants begin to earn cash incomes to provide for medical care, school fees, and other family needs. Loans repaid roll over into new loans for more people. As these circles widen, hospitals and schools will become better able to support themselves. The economy of the region will grow stronger, benefiting all. Click here to give to this project.

Cost of a loan to a farmer: $35

Cost of a loan to a bicycle entrepreneur: $165

Cost of a loan to a wholesaler: $5,000

Contact us: The Paul Carlson Partnership, 5101 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL 60625, 773-907-3302, pcpinfo(at)paulcarlson.org.

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