Part of a $41 Million, 5-Year Initiative in West Africa’s Sahel Region

BALTIMORE—Lutheran World Relief, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, is launching a $13 million initiative in southern Niger to reduce poverty by increasing farmer incomes. The initiative aims to benefit more than 100,000 people, at least half of them women and girls.

This innovative project, known as the 12/12 Alliance for its goal of providing year-round food security, is one of several LWR initiatives in the Sahel region of West Africa with a total program value of $41 million over the next five years that will help move poor rural farm families from relief to resilience. In addition to USAID and its foundation partner, LWR is also working with private sector entities in the 12/12 Alliance, and in the wider Sahel region with donors that include the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the European Union.

“We’re looking to make a significant impact in breaking the cycle of poverty for tens of thousands of poor farming families in the Sahel,” said Ambassador Daniel Speckhard (rt.), LWR’s president & CEO. “Through these projects, we are working with farmers and cooperatives to create sustainable solutions that will enable the farmers to provide year-round support to their families.”

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