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The Path Out of Poverty
As many a sais graduate knows, the international development
field is constantly grappling with the challenge of sustaining
development initiatives after external funding comes to an end.
i am a newcomer to the field and had the opportunity to confront
this problem during a six-week consultancy last spring in Kabul,
afghanistan.
i worked with CnFa inc., an international agricultural economic
development organization that harnesses the power of the private sector.
On this particular project, CnFa inc. serves as an implementing part-
ner for the u.s. agency for international Development (usaiD) under
an initiative to increase the incomes of farmers in afghanistan. usaiD
and CnFa are pursuing this goal by providing higher-quality, more
affordable seeds, fertilizers and crop-protection products to farmers on a
timely basis and in reliable quantities. they also are connecting farmers
to buyers and traders to promote the development of licit agriculture.
this assignment focused on building the capacity of the Farm service
Center association of afghanistan. in addition to getting my foot
in the door, i accepted the CnFa assignment because i was intrigued
by its matching investment requirement. afghan entrepreneurs selected
to own and operate farm service centers are required to match usaiD
funding 3:1. that is, for each dollar of u.s. funding, the afghan side has
to invest three dollars, which can be in the form of capital, land, inventory
or other in-kind contributions. “skin in the game” does not guarantee
success, but it improves the odds that the afghan investors will make
a serious effort to succeed. the project meshed well with my professional
mission to do sustainable, market-based work that offers people
with a pathway out of poverty.
During the first two years, usaiD, CnFa and their afghan partners
opened seven privately owned Farm service Centers, which provided
over $25 million in agricultural inputs and services to more than 40,000
afghan farmers, according to CnFa. the incomes of the target farmer
group are projected to increase by approximately 25 percent annually.
the program has been extended for an additional two years and will
open 10 more centers throughout the country. let’s hope that a combination
of hard work, sound judgment, good luck and the co-investment
model will magnify these results and raise rural household income.
—Andrew Goldberg ’82
Haji Ghulam Mohammand, owner of the Ghazni Farm Service Store, and Andrew
Goldberg ’82
90 saisPHeRe
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Stay in Touch With SAIS and Each
Other Through Alumni Groups
Around the World
sais graduates are part of the JHu alumni
association, a network with chapters in more
than 20 u.s. cities and more than 20 countries,
many headed by sais washington,
D.C., Bologna and nanjing alumni. the JHu
alumni community is a volunteer-driven effort
through which people come together to support
each other, the university and its nine
schools, including sais. Find fellow alumni
by employer, class year or geographic region
with Johns Hopkins Connect, a new alumni
database and career-networking tool. Go to
www.connect.jhu.edu.
SAIS Regional Alumni Clubs
sais alumni Relations works with graduates
to form strong regionally based alumni
clubs in metropolitan areas with significant
sais alumni clusters in cities such as Boston,
london, new York, san Francisco and washington,
D.C. the goal is to develop effective,
locally based communities to deliver alumnioriented
programming and communication.
members reconnect with each other and with
sais, participate in student recruitment,
provide career guidance and employment
opportunities, and more fully engage in their
support of sais.
International Points of Contact
sais alumni volunteer as points of contact
(POCs) to help form alumni groups abroad.
POCs often serve as the communication hub
for alumni traveling or relocating to new
destinations, and when possible, POCs assist
newcomers with introductions to fellow
alumni. POCs have hosted dinners and happy
hours for relocating alumni and for visiting
sais professors and students on study tours
during winter and spring semester breaks.
most POC volunteers reside abroad in latin
america, the middle east and asia. For a
listing of sais POCs, visit www.sais-jhu.edu/
alumni/clubs.htm.