President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Frank Giustra visit
Port-au-Prince, Haiti — The Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, founded by President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Frank Giustra, today announced the launch of the “Acceso Peanut Enterprise Corporation,” a supply chain enterprise in Haiti that will improve the livelihoods of more than 12,000 smallholder peanut farmers. The Enterprise Partnership will provide a network of service depots throughout the Central Plateau and Northern regions of the country facilitating the delivery of quality inputs and training to farmers as well as the collection and safe storage of peanuts.
The announcement came as President Clinton and Frank Giustra visited one of the depots that are providing peanut farmers with training, supplies, and a market for their harvests. Five of these depots have already opened, and 35 are planned throughout the Central Plateau and the North.
“We are committed to long-term, sustainable economic development in Haiti,” said President Clinton. “The enterprise partnership model, which has worked with great success in other countries, will connect thousands of farmers to high-quality supplies and help them improve their incomes and livelihoods.”
“The Acceso Peanut Enterprise Corporation is modeled after the success of a similar supply chain enterprises we have launched in Latin America and India and illustrates a replicable solution that has the potential to alleviate global poverty,” said Giustra, co-founder of the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership. “We’re very excited at the potential it has in Haiti not only to increase the yield and productivity, but to scale up Haiti’s peanut supply chain to meet the growing regional demand for peanuts without relying on imports. We are also delighted to have Fundacion Carlos Slim’s partnership in making this investment reflecting our joint commitment to economic development in Haiti.”
The Enterprise Partnership will sell peanuts to regional buyers including Meds and Food for Kids and Partners in Health – manufacturers of peanut-based nutrition supplements for children. The training of farmers will also be facilitated by TechnoServe as a result of grants received from the Kellogg Foundation, the Abbott Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The farmers in Haiti are willing and able to work and this enterprise will enable them to become competitive players in a potentially thriving market,” said Mark Gunton, CEO of the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership. “A market-driven approach to poverty alleviation such as this empowers these farmers to earn a reliable source of income and provide for their families – a much more sustainable solution than charitable handouts.”
The results of this enterprise will help to improve the yields and qualities of peanut farms in Haiti and increase in farmer income the coming years.
The Enterprise Partnership’s implementation of its Supply Chain Enterprise model continues the Clinton Foundation’s active engagement in Haiti since 2009. Since the 2010 earthquake, the Foundation has focused on reconstruction and long-term, sustainable development, through economic diversification, private sector investment and job creation. The Haiti team has provided and facilitated grants and investments to support Haitian entrepreneurs, small businesses, and farming cooperatives; helped to facilitate more than $30 million in foreign direct investment into Haiti; and continued to provide capacity building and access to markets for Haitian businesses and the Haitian Center for Investment Facilitation.
About the Clinton Foundation
The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change. Because of our work, 20,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; 28,000 farmers in Malawi have improved their incomes by more than 500 percent; 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced in cities worldwide; more than 5,000 people have been trained in marketable job skills in Colombia; 8.2 million people have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications; $200 million in strategic investments have been made, impacting the health of 75 million people in the U.S.; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 2,800 Commitments to Action to improve more than 430 million lives around the world.
Learn more at http://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation and on Twitter @ClintonFdn.
About the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership
The Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (the Enterprise Partnership) established by President Bill Clinton and Canadian philanthropist Frank Giustra, combines the best of non-profit and for-profit approaches to create new enterprises that capitalize market opportunities to generate social impact and financial returns by addressing existing market gaps in developing country supply and distribution chains. The Enterprise Partnership has been refining its approach for several years and believes there is great potential to enhance the economic and social benefits of marginalized communities by incorporating these individuals into one of three “market-driven” models – Distribution Enterprises, Supply Chain Enterprises, and Training Center Enterprises. Through these models, the Enterprise Partnership seeks to help people work themselves out of poverty.
Learn more at http://www.CGEPartnership.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/CGEPartnership and on Twitter @CGEPartnership
About Acceso Peanut Enterprise Corporation
Acceso Peanut Enterprise Corporation S.A. (APEC) is a Haitian company seeking both financial and social returns. APEC operates a network of depots throughout the Centre and North East departments of Haiti, providing capacity building and selling inputs to significantly improve smallholder peanut yield, income and quality. Additionally, APEC purchases production from smallholder farmers at favorable, fixed prices, and sorts, tests and re-sells these peanuts directly to buyers and the general market.
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