DuringthemonthofApril,theAfricanDevelopmentInitiative

(ADI) participated in the April Open Challenge hosted byGlobalGiving, an online platform connecting donors with high‐impactnon‐profitorganizations.Participatingorganizationsthatsucceeded in raising $4,000 from at least 50 unique donorssecured themselves a permanent page on the Global Givingwebsite.Itismygreatpleasuretosharethat,withyourhelp,theAfrican Development Initiative raised $7,808 and received a$300 bonus for having one of the top highest Facebook sharenumbers(seepage4).We are thrilled about our success in this April Global GivingChallenge,butcouldhaveneveraccomplisheditwithoutyou. Iwould like to thank you on behalf of the whole ADI team foryour contributions. More importantly than helping uswin thischallenge, your donations will help transform the lives ofcommunity members in Ekumdipe by enabling them to profityear round. Whether its the ability to purchase seeds andfencingmaterials,extendthecurrentirrigationsystemwithnewpipes,or learn thenewestdry‐season farming techniques froman expert local farmer, farmers will be able to increase theirrevenueandbetterprovideforthemselvesandtheirfamilies.Bysupportingus,youhave improvedfrommultipleanglesthelivesoftheindividualslivinginEkumdipe.Wehopethatyouwillcontinue following Project RISE’s progress through our GlobalGivingwebpage.Again,thankyousomuch,CaraGuentherVicePresident,OperationsCara Guenther joined the ADI team in 2010. Cara is a risingjunioratHarvardUniversity.

Inside

ProjectRiseFeature(2‐3)

GlobalGivingResultsandNextSteps(4)

UndergraduateTeam

Commentary(5)

May2011

TheGlobalGiving

Report

June2011

OverviewProject Rural Irrigation System for Ekumdipe (RISE) shows local people how to use farming techniques toovercomeidlenesstypicallyexperiencedduringthe6‐monthdry‐season.RISEutilizesthenearbyDakaRivertocreateathoroughwaterirrigationsystem.Withproperirrigation,cropscurrentlygrownonlyseasonallycanbecultivatedthroughouttheyear.Cropstypicallyunabletobeharvestedduringthedry‐seasonsellinthemarketsof the nearby urban center of Tamale for high prices compared to the prices in regions familiar with thetechniquesofdry‐seasonfarming.Ourtechnicalassistancewillstimulatesmall‐scaletradegrowthandincreasethefoodsupply.

SpotlightonProjectRISE

FromPumpsandPipes

TheProblemInGhanatherearetwoseasons,therainyseasonandthedry season. During the rainy season from March toOctober,precipitation isabundantandfarmersareabletogrowcropssuchascorn(maize),millet,sorghumandrice. Farmers seasonally growother vegetables aswell,such as onions, tomatoes, okra, assorted bean types,peppers, cabbages, carrots, and many other localvarieties. During the dry‐season, however, rainfalldecreasesdrasticallyandgrowingcropsbecomesnearlyimpossible. With no means to produce crops, manyfarmersremainidleforthedurationofthese6months(OctobertoMarch).Asaresult, thesefarmers lacktheoption to farm throughout the dry season, and thuslyhelpthemselvesoutofpoverty.

TheSolution: IrrigationsystemusingHondaWB30XTpumps Ditchfarmingtechnique Micro‐financesystem:

o Communitydevelopmentofconstitutiono Expected annual revenue from 4‐acre onion

farm:$3,800o Totalloancost:$2,800

Components trainingby2localfarmers insecticides,weedicides seedlings,pipeworks pumpfuel,tillagecosts

o Obligation to pay 40% after one year and 60%with10%interestthefollowingyear.

SpotlightonProjectRISE,continued June2011

ToWaterandOnions

Completed Checklist from October 2010Newsletter Selected10farmersbasedonprecedenttrendsof

successinrainyseasonfarming Purchase4HondaWB30XTpumps Purchase approximately 400 meters of rubber

pipeworkstoattachtothesystem TransportsuppliesfromthecapitalofAccratothe

northerncommunityofEkumdipe Begin pilot irrigation system utilizing the

transportedpipesystemandthe10initialfarmers Identify on the ground communication liaison to

ensuremoreaccuratereal‐timeupdates Provideliaisonwithpropercommunicationmeans

(laptopcomputer,wirelessrouter,etc) Hire outside farmer fromBawku region to better

demonstrate successful dry‐season irrigationmethods

Revamp system to measure outcomes (newsystem will rely on prevailing market pricesinsteadratherthanviafarmerrecollection)

Acquire extra pipe connections to spread area ofwatering and further enhance the existingirrigationsystem

Newfarminputsfornextseason:o vegetableseedso weedicideso insecticides

HistoryProjectRISEbeganinAugust2008whenADIPresidentEmeritusAdamDemuyakorrecognizedtheneedfordryseasonfarmingcapabilitiesinruralGhana.Fromthefallof2008tothesummerof2009,AdamandtheADIteamdedicated themselves to tireless planning andfundraising.Phase1ofRISEwaslaunchedinApril2009,howevercropyieldswere lowerthanexpected. Adamandhisteamreevaluatedtheirapproachtotheprojectand began planning Phase 2 with the help of localprofessorsandconsultantsfromGhana.InDecemberof2010,theteamreturnedtoEkumdipetoimplementthePhase 2 changes to the program. On March 4th, theBawku farm successfully harvested their first dryseason onion crop. This subsequently promptedadditionalProjectRISEparticipationbyothermembersof the community. Most recently, at the KEM farm,seedlingsaroseandappearedmoredenseandthickerthantheirPhase1counterparts.

Bynearlydoublingouroriginalgoalof$4,000,wewillbeableto:• Purchasemoreoperationalequipment

o Pumps,pipeconnections,fencingmaterials,seedlings,trainersetc.

• Distributemoreloanstomorefarmers

• Incorporateofadditionalnewtechniquestoincreasecropyields

• Considerpurchasingastoragefacility

$7,808raised268individualdonations$25=averagedonation2,091Facebookshares

3rdplaceof275+organizationsinnumberofuniquedonors$300additionalbonusforTop5innumberofFacebookshares

June2011

TheResults

NewPossibilities

BackgroundThe GlobalGiving Foundation is a registered 501(c) 3 organization hoping to change the way people give by offering donors atransparent, high‐impactgivingexperience.GlobalGivingenablesdonors to fund theunderdogwithout takinganundue risk. Thefoundationhasa rigorousandtestedduediligenceprocess thatsimultaneouslyendorsesorganizationwhilebuildingsupportandfundsforthegroups. TheGlobalGivingOpenChallengewasacompetitionamongstnon‐profitstoraise$4,000duringthemonthofAprilbyat least50uniquedonors.Organizationsthatreachedtheirgoalreceivedapermanentslotontheirwebsitewhichisapopularsiteforpeopleinterested in donating to charitable causes. Bonus awardswere distributed aswell for themost funds raised, themost unique

June2011

“The GlobalGiving campaign pushed us to be creative and togarnerdonationsbyanymeanspossible.Giventhelimitedtimeframe,we urged friends and family to support us and foundways to spark interest on campus. Activities included aprovidingaserviceauctionfordonations,pokertournaments,andother cash related activitieswhere substituteddonationsweresubstitutedfor“buy‐ins”.Thisallowedustoconvertfunactivities into donations increasing our number of donationsbutalsocontributinggreatlytothenumberofuniquedonors.The global giving campaign allowed us to raise awareness ofADI on campus, in the greater Boston area, thus placing aspotlightonProjectRISE.Wehopethatthepermanentspotonthe GlobalGiving website, along with the increase inawareness,willprovideevenmorefundsforADI inthefutureallowingustohelpEkumdipeevenmore.”

‐NigelDeenVicePresident,Finance

“GlobalGivinghasbeengreatforthefuturepotentialofProjectRISE.Withthemoneywehaveraisedthusfar,wehaveenoughfundstoloantwomorefarminggroups(approximately20farmers)withthenecessarysuppliestosuccessfullyfarminthedryseason.Additionally,wealsohavetheneededfundingtoworktowardsimprovingthecurrentsystemandloanthatarealreadyinplace.Withthisgenerousvoteofconfidencefromourdonors,weareextremelyoptimisticaboutourincreasedcapacitytocontinueimprovinglivesandfightingpovertythroughthisproject.” ‐AdamDemayukor

PresidentEmeritus

UndergraduateBoardCommentary

ChiefExecutiveOfficer,DarrylFinkton

darrylfinkton@africandi.com

ExecutivePresident,SanguDelle

sangudelle@africandi.com

Forgeneralinquiries,contactadmin@africandi.com