Moments Captured on Camera
USAID highlights our work in food and water security around the world
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A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. The Feed the Future and Water for the World initiatives teamed up to showcase how we are putting America’s engine of ingenuity and opportunity to work abroad — and the people who are improving their lives and futures because of it.
Feed the Future works hand-in-hand with partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger; Water for the World, together with partners from across sectors, provides safe drinking water and sanitation services, and facilitates water security for millions of people.
By equipping people in some of the world’s poorest countries with the knowledge and tools to feed themselves and gain access to safe water and sanitation services, these two initiatives are driving progress toward a more food- and water-secure future.
Feed the Future and Water for the World have shown that progress is possible, even in the face of unprecedented crises like COVID-19 and climate change. By bringing partners together to invest in agriculture-led growth, nutrition and water security, sanitation and hygiene, we have helped millions of families lift themselves out of poverty.
Our partners from the private sector, universities, nonprofits, NGOs and the U.S. Government submitted more than 150 inspiring photos of Feed the Future and Water for the World in action around the world. These pictures give us a glimpse into that progress and the people who are transforming their own lives and their communities for the better.
Meet the winners of the Feed the Future and Water for the World Photo Contest for 2021! You can also view all the amazing food and water security submissions on our Flickr accounts.
Ending Global Hunger
First Place Winner: Expanding Market Access in Nepal
Durga Thapa is a farmer from the Jagaruk Cooperative in Nuwakot, Nepal. By partnering with Feed the Future, Durga is able to sell her quality produce for fair prices at the cooperative’s collection center and vegetable outlet in Chhahare, Nepal, and has gained access to other markets.
During Nepal’s COVID-19 lockdown, Feed the Future linked 30 trader and cooperative partners with online delivery companies, like Kheti and Munaa, to ensure farmers like Durga had market access for their produce while also meeting the vegetable demand of families in and around Kathmandu valley.
Second Place Winner: Delivering Milk in Kenya
Ntabas Logal delivers a gallon of milk to the Mt. Marsabit Women’s collection point in Karare, Kenya, where Rosemary Lesintele receives it. After buying milk from community members, the group stores it and sells it on their behalf. Thanks to Feed the Future, which trained the group on proper milk hygiene and business diversification, the group has been able to increase profit, including through the sale of cow’s milk and milk by-products like fermented milk and ghee.
Third Place Winner: A Mother Feeds Her Daughter Yogurt in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, a mother feeds her daughter yogurt prepared at home. Feed the Future promotes the equitable consumption of animal-source foods, especially milk, dairy products and meat, through courtyard sessions with local community agents and by integrating nutrition messaging into private sector service delivery.
Fourth Place Winner: Farming Fortified Beans in Rwanda
To sustainably increase smallholder farmer income, improve nutrition and strengthen climate resilience, Feed the Future introduced high-iron beans across Rwanda. Since 2017, Feed the Future has worked with agro-dealers, farmers, seed multipliers and government stakeholders to increase the production and consumption of these beans in Rwanda. In this photo, the iron-rich beans are sorted by cooperative members in Bugesera.
Honorable Mentions
All in the Family. For the past 40 years, 65 families have run Xelac Dairy, a milk-producing cooperative in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. They produce more than 50 products — including a range of cheeses, fresh milk and yogurt. USAID helped the cooperative invest in machinery repairs, reviewed the profitability of their products, and developed a marketing plan to identify where new sales routes could be opened to increase revenues. Improved production and improved marketing mean the next generation of cooperative members can continue the successes of their parents.
Going Organic in Cambodia. In Cambodia, Feed the Future awards grants to private companies to help solve challenges faced by horticulture buyers, suppliers, input firms and other service providers. Through Feed the Future’s Horticultural Solutions grant program, Laey Baitong, a safe vegetable supplier, promotes organic vegetables by improving the supply chain and establishing franchise retail outlets. These activities strengthen access to quality products for Cambodian consumers.
A Pineapple Winery in Rwanda. Josephine Mukabarayavuga has been an employee for five years at the Abasenga winery in Rwanda’s Ngoma District. Catholic brothers run this facility that produces wine from pineapples. Through the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program, American farming volunteers have trained the owners on developing a business plan to expand and secure employment for workers like Josephine.
Boosting Water Security
First Place Winner: A mother and her child stop by a handwashing station in Rwanda
A mother and her child try out a newly launched handwashing station in Rwanda’s Nyabugogo District. This handwashing station is one of eight that USAID built with the aim of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Second Place Winner: Senegal’s Only Female Septic Truck Emptier
Senegal’s only female septic truck emptier (pictured right) assists with a fecal sludge emptying operation at a treatment plant. In Senegal, the financing gap between the current government budget and the total investment needed is a problem for the sanitation sector. USAID is helping to close this gap by improving the creditworthiness of sanitation service providers, enabling them to obtain financing to expand urban service delivery.
Third Place Winner: Clean Drinking Water in Batangas, Philippines
Vidal Delizo, a customer of the San Isidro Rural Waterworks and Sanitation Association in Batangas City, Philippines, drinks potable water inside her kitchen. USAID has helped more than 45 communities in the Philippines to identify and develop new water sources, and improve water quality, financial management, and water safety planning abilities to ensure access to clean and safe drinking water, especially in the face of climate change.
Fourth Place Winner: Learning Water Source Data Collection in Mozambique
Alberto Saimone Nherezane, a local municipal sanitation worker in Mozambique’s Manica Province, learns to collect data on water sources using a new online system. USAID helps countries in Africa collect and apply sound water, sanitation, and hygiene sector data that can be used to increase citizens’ access to safe water and sanitation services.
Honorable Mentions
Children enjoying consistent water supply in Haiti. A morning starts with water collection in a northern suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haïti, one of five metropolitan areas targeted by the USAID Water and Sanitation Project. These two children are among the nearly 150,000 people enjoying new or improved access to water, thanks to USAID. Through this project, all the local water utilities can now supply water almost every day, instead of one or two days per week.
Nenkityena Village Chief Woman Alur Filder pumps water. Village Chief Woman Alur Filder pumps water at a borehole built with support from USAID in northern Uganda’s Gulu District. With greater access to water, Alur can wash, cook, and maintain hygiene in her household.
Carrying out practical water management exercises. In Morocco, an H2O Maghreb trainee carries out a practical water management exercise. The public-private development collaboration implemented cutting-edge solutions to urgent water needs while improving the skills and employability of young Moroccans in the water sector. Nearly 80 percent of the trainees were women.
About the Authors
Joey Lu and Zoë Landless are Virtual Student Federal Service Interns with USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security.
