Partners in Agriculture is implementing a two year plan to expand the reach of our Family Security Program (FSP) and the Centre de Formation Fritz LaFontant (CFFL). This plan, which will offer rare opportunities for education to 150 additional individuals and ongoing agricultural assistance to nearly 200 families, will be made possible by a $384,000 grant generously provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. (Use of logo does not designate an official W.K. Kellogg Foundation announcement.)
Increasing Food Security
Dedicated to providing pathways out of poverty, Partners in Agriculture (PIA) formed the Family Security Program (also known as the Family Assistance Program) to provide agricultural education, produce seeds, and livestock to families whose children had recently received an intensive treatment for malnourishment. This program has helped an astounding 1,500 families with long-term solutions, and is now poised to expand its reach to 200 more.
The first step in reaching more families will be to hire nine Haitians out of various area communities to act as representatives. Community representatives each evaluate and partner with about ten community families in need.
“The community representatives are the key to taking appropriate education and material assistance to farmers.” – Charles Warne, co-director
Milestones for the FSP:
- Increase the number of benefiting families and agricultural agents
- Establish a new Monitoring and Evaluation system to better measure project impact
- Increase technical and financial support to the families for a greater impact
- Improve health education and demonstrating impact of a consistently healthy diet, sanitation, clean water problem on learning and survival
Providing Educational Opportunities
In addition to expansion of the FSP, the Kellogg Foundation grant will be used to expand technical education and research programs at PIA’s college, the Centre de Formation Fritz Lafontant (CFFL) in Corporant, Haiti. CFFL aims to generate information and increase local capacity for responsible economic development.
Through CFFL’s expansion, PIA will educate 150 new people in the next two years. Now the hub for PIA, CFFL will align its facilities and resources to PIA’s increasing numbers of faculty, students, and staff. A double technical degree program in plumbing and electricity will join CFFL’s initial agriculture, woodworking, and construction programs. As housing and development continues to expand in Haiti, the need for a qualified resourceful workforce is becoming more and more important, and the knowledge of responsible and efficient work ethics is paramount. Site and fiscal management form a large part of the curriculum for CFFL students, as do the foundations and ethics of business management.
The Kellogg Foundation grant will help us in our aims to:
- Keep CFFL as a high level educational institution and work towards the creation of a University/ Bachelor degree program while maintaining the standards of small size classes to facilitate the learning process.
- Provide our students with a large number of opportunities such as exchange programs, internships, and job opportunities.
- Ensure continuing education for our staff.
- Develop partnerships with other national and international universities to promote sharing of knowledge through different programs such as training, online courses, direct transmissions from class to class, internships, and professorial exchanges.
“We are continuing to establish a highly qualified teaching staff at CFFL while contracting new professors, and preparing some of our excellent students to become professors and lab technicians in the future, in order to grow our local staff for the school.” – Gillaine Warne, founder and co-director
Thank You
Partners in Ag is thrilled to have our programs recognized—and championed toward future growth—by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Your grant is allowing us to expand our reach in ways we’d only dreamed about until now.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.