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Our Impact
More than 34,000 farmers in Uganda planted a new hybrid variety of sunflower seed, which yielded double the oil content per acre, increased the farmers’ household incomes by nearly 30 percent, and resulted in a collective net earning of more than $3.7 million over three years.
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Our Work
Working under contract to the U.S. Agency for
Inter-national Development and other foreign aid donors,
Chemonics designs and implements development projects in many of the world’s developing coun-tries. Integrating a range of consulting capabilities, we offer solutions in finan-cial services, private sector development, health, envi-ronmental management, gender, crisis prevention and recovery, democracy and governance, and agri-culture. Through our work, we promote meaningful change by helping people live healthier, more pro-ductive, and more indepen-dent lives.
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Millennium Challenge Corporation Projects
Albania
Support for Albania’s Millennium Challenge Threshold Agreement, 2006-2008
Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID
When measured against Millennium Challenge Corporation indicators, Albania scored poorly in a number of areas. But corruption is widely viewed as the main problem facing the country. To initiate change, the Albanian government devised a plan to overhaul tax administration, public procurement, and business registration to reduce opportunities for corruption. Chemonics’ approach moves beyond modernizing government agencies’ systems. The project blends anti-corruption best practices with expertise in dealing with the complexities of public administration. Through state-of-the-art business process management and e-government information technology, the project aims to build an integrated system that responds to the needs of people within and outside the government. The project recently launched a Web site, www.mcata.org.al, which includes a spectrum of real-time information and represents a step toward integration.
Indonesia
Control of Corruption Project, 2007-2009
Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID
Chemonics is assisting the Government of Indonesia to combat corruption in the executive and judicial branches to improve its score under the MCC Control of Corruption indicator. The program focuses on four areas: judicial reform, corruption eradication commission improvement, financial intelligence unit enhancement, and e-government procurement improvement. Chemonics works in close coordination with the Indonesian Supreme Court, providing assistance to improve court efficiency and transparency. With the Indonesia Financial Intelligence Unit, Chemonics is increasing the unit’s capacity to monitor and report on money laundering activities. For the government procurement component, Chemonics is working with regional and local government officials to establish an electronic government procurement system, creating entry points for public dialogue and establishing monitoring and accountability measures.
Madagascar
Services and Strategies in Rural Agribusiness Development, 2007-2009
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy in Madagascar, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing 80 percent of the population. As such, improving the farm-to-market value chain and applying new agricultural innovations is critical to the growth of the economy. In Madagascar, Agricultural Business Centers (ABCs) provide a range of services to rural producers and entrepreneurs related to improved production, marketing, business practices and profitability. To improve their services to farmers and help them find alternate financial resources so they can continue to function without external funding, Chemonics helps ABCs identify the most promising opportunities to establish trade relationships with farms and enterprises in target zones. The team helps identify target commodities and the support services that ABCs could provide, as well as ensuring that ABC services are available to farmers and farmer groups. In addition, Chemonics’ is helping ABCs develop strategic plans and organizational structures so they can in turn help farmers and producers increase productivity, return on investment, and better collaborate vertically and horizontally.
Mozambique
Private-Sector Productivity and Competitiveness, 2006-2008
Millennium Challenge Corporation
In 2005, Mozambique submitted a revised proposal to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to promote economic growth and reduce poverty overall through private-sector development. In September 2005, MCC and the government executed a pre-compact grant agreement to assist with developing a final program design and implementation framework for the proposed compact. Now Chemonics provides technical and advisory services to the government in support of their MCC proposal. Our services will work in coordination with the government’s personnel and enable them develop their proposal by providing recommendations on the design and feasibility of proposal elements, as well as providing baseline data to allow the MCC to complete due diligence and monitoring and evaluation activities.
Paraguay
Formalization of Economic Activities, 2006-2008
Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID
The government of Paraguay struggles to provide a system that is just, lawful, and efficient to its people. Using the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s goals of “ruling justly” and “economic freedom” as a necessary framework, Chemonics is working with the government to implement an aggressive plan to respond to the needs of the private sector, such as decreasing corruption, improving government effectiveness, promoting rule of law, and creating an enabling environment for formal economic activities. This program will help the government of Paraguay increase operational efficiency and transparency of tax authority, strengthen customs and border control, design and implement systems to facilitate the legal establishment of new businesses, and promote investment in local factories.
Ukraine
Combating Corruption and Strengthening Rule of Law II, 2007-2009
Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID
Corruption is one of the biggest problems facing the judiciary in Ukraine. In a recent survey, 74 percent of lawyers stated that corruption plagues judicial system, and one fifth of respondents who had appeared in court admitted to bribing judges. These and other practices create an environment that allows those in power to manipulate the system for political purposes, thereby maintaining the cycle of corruption. To fully establish the rule of law in Ukraine, Chemonics works to improve transparency and accountability in the judiciary, in accordance with the Millennium Challenge Account Threshold Program. Complementing the work of a second Chemonics’ corruption project in Ukraine, this project seeks to increase transparency and accountability in the judiciary by reducing opportunities for corrupt practices.
Zambia
Zambia Threshold Project, 2006-2008
Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID
As a landlocked country in the middle of Southern Africa, Zambia must entice outside investors and businesses to become the “African lion” economy it aspires to be. Before this can happen, the Zambian government must work to end corruption and to reduce the cost and number of procedures required to start a business — two key indicators for Millennium Challenge Account eligibility. Chemonics plans to help Zambia accede to eligibility by streamlining the processes to register and run a business, import and export, and obtain land titles and work permits. The project also will help limit the scope for administrative corruption, reduce the cost of doing business in Zambia, and foster economic development to benefit a wide cross-section of the population.
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