Coffee is the second most-traded commodity in the world and prized on a multibillion-dollar international market. Yet coffee bean farmers in Ethiopia – the official birthplace of coffee – earn an average of $1 a day, reports the New York Times in a recent article.

However, the Abyssinian Baptist Church, an African-American church in Harlem, N.Y., founded more than 200 years ago, is working to increase these farmers’ earnings. According to the Times, their international aid and development arm, the Abyssinian Fund, is on “a mission to improve the quality of the farmers’ lives by helping them improve the quality of their coffee beans.”

The Abyssinian Fund is the only nongovernmental organization in Ethiopia formed by an African-American church. It was created partly to help the congregation reconnect with its spiritual and ancestral homeland, says the Times. They are working with a co-op of 700 Ethiopian farmers in the city of Harrar.

It seems so simple, but the ability to export better-tasting coffee could help Ethiopia become more competitive on the international coffee market, creating a vital source of income for the country. Once these farmers’ incomes have increased, the Fund will add part of what they make to local development projects like schools and clinics.

This truly sounds like the start of something great. Economic growth, driven by trade and investment, is the engine that will help end poverty and increase employment and incomes.

Read more about the Abyssinian Baptist Church and their Fund in the New York Times.

Excerpt below, full piece here.

The shipment includes 9,390 MT of split yellow peas, 6,150 MT of vegetable oil, 6,320 MT of corn soy blend, and 1,400 MT of wheat flour, the agency said in a statement.

“This is only one of multiple strategies USAID is implementing to alleviate impacts of the world food crisis in that region and elsewhere around the world”, it said.

Accordingly, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace plans to provide over 1 million MT of food, valued at more than $857 million, to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti in fiscal year 2008 in response to the drought emergency affecting the Horn of Africa.

-Chris Scott

Thanks to all the ONE members who rallied and contacted their elected officials in support of PEPFAR reauthorization. Last week’s action by Congress will bring hope to millions of children living in countries hit hard by the AIDS crisis. If you are curious about how your actions will trickle down to the country and community level, let me share the stories of four young boys orphaned by AIDS in Africa. PEPFAR is helping them cope with their loss and look to the future.

One country that has been particularly hard-hit by the AIDS crisis is Ethiopia, struggling to meet the needs of four million orphans nationwide. This year, a popular children’s television show, “Tsehai Loves Learning,” has helped orphans deal with grief, while changing attitudes among other young children about children made vulnerable by AIDS. PEPFAR funding made it possible for Whiz Kids Workshop, in partnership with Save the Children, USAID and other partners to produce and broadcast four episodes devoted to helping the youngest Ethiopians understand the issues faced by children orphaned and affected by AIDS.

You only have to see the changes in a little boy named Yonatan, now 8 years old, and his half-brother, Dagmawi, 16, to appreciate how PEPFAR funding is benefiting countless children in Ethiopia. Yonatan was only five when his mother died, but he recalls her death as if it happened yesterday. “He always remembers her, tells stories about her and cries,” says Dagmawi.

Through simple puppets, a little animation and a lot of imagination, “Tsehai Loves Learning” has taught both brothers some valuable life lessons. “That was emotional for me,” said Dagmawi, who watched the first episode about coping with grief with his younger brother. “Not to exaggerate, but tears came up. But it gave me the idea that whenever I’m sad about my mom, I can imagine that I’m talking to her and can tell her that I’m doing ok.”

In Mozambique , twins Samuel and Pedro, 5 year-old orphans who lost both parents to AIDS, live with their grandmother in Guemulene village in Mozambique. Samuel and Pedro now attend preschool thanks to PEPFAR, which funded construction materials for the classrooms, teacher training and education materials. We’re talking about a poor community, where many of the men work in South Africa’s mines and there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS.

When Save the Children first started working in this community, there was only one toy — a hula hoop — which all the kids had to share. The PEPFAR funding is awakening hope for change for these children. Pedro’s grandmother said, “The school will help Pedro to grow and find something to do when he grows up. He says, ‘I want to take my bath and eat so I can go to school.’”

This week, we await President Bush signing the bill into law, and in doing so, Save the Children will be able to help change the lives of millions of children worldwide.

-Tonya Nyagiro, Associate Vice President, HIV/AIDS Program Save the Children

From AllAfrica.com:

According to press statement from the US embassy in Addis Ababa , the donation was in response to Ethiopian government’s revised June 2008 Humanitarian Requirement Report.

This new donation coupled with last month’s announcement of $80 million in emergency assistance brings the total US assistance in response to the drought to [nearly] $200.

“The donations have come in response to continuing humanitarian needs in Ethiopia, where poor end erratic rainfall distribution, high food prices, ongoing conflict, arid limited humanitarian access have negatively impacted food, water, and pasture availability, resulting in increased malnutrition rates, food and water shortage, and heavy loss of livestock,” the statement said.

A majority of the funds will be divided between non-governmental organizations already performing on-the-ground relief work, such as UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee. Through their work, the funds are expected to help over 1 million people, including over 50,000 malnourished children.

-Betsy Avila

From the Christian Science Monitor :

In this African nation, about 10 million people, more than 12 percent of the population, are now in need of emergency food aid after a drought wiped out harvests. But because grain is now twice as expensive as a year ago – if it is available at all – there is not enough food in Ethiopia to feed everyone in need.

The UN estimates that 4.6 million Ethiopians are suffering from “severe malnutrition,”, but the lack of food is so severe that foreign and domestic aid-workers need to “prioritize” who is the most needy. Some have take to weighing children on wooden scales and providing food rations to the most malnourished.

UNICEF has made an appeal for $49 million to go towards “immediate intervention” in Ethiopia. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson emphasized the severity of the situation:

“We talked to mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers and all actors in the field. This picture was confirmed by all of them and a clear message was conveyed: there is no food. The assistance needs to be taken to scale and it has to happen urgently.”

-Betsy Avila

“This past summer, I was in Addis Ababa. I was able to spend quite some time at a wonderful orphanage for HIV+ children.

Once they started getting the ARVs that were needed and at a fair price, children stopped dying. And so money that they used to save to pay for children’s coffins is now being used for growth and development, empowering the organization to grow and help so many more people.

There aren’t words to describe the feeling I had when seeing so many life saving drugs arrive at the orphanage.”

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I just wanted to share. Looking forward to seeing tonight’s show too.

-Katie Andrews, ONE regional field organizer