Military Coup in Niger

As many of you are aware, on July 26th there was a military takeover of the government in Niger.  This has happened all too often in Niger (4 times since its independence in 1960) and too often in the African Sahel (6 countries in the last 3 years).  Niger was considered the most stable country in the region and served as a base for the fight against Islamist militants by many countries, including the US.  The stated reasons for the coup are to improve the country’s security and economy, but there is wide speculation about other possible motives. 

Hamani Djibo, President of LIBO, the NGO implementing our EPN projects, reports that everyone in his organization is safe and that routine life is little changed for now.  It is likely to take weeks or months before we know what impacts, if any, this will have on our programs and plans.

Speaking of changes to our plans, the week before the coup we held an internal meeting to review our readiness to launch technician training at the Dov Institute this October.  We concluded that there was simply too much work to do and too little time to get it all done.  We considered delaying just a few months to January, but that timing is not ideal from an academic or agricultural perspective.  So, we all agreed that October 2024 should be our new launch date. 

It's not clear what impact last week’s coup will have on all of this.  If improving economic conditions is truly one of the goals, then the Dov Institute is well positioned.  Our plan is to continue preparations for an October 2024 launch, monitor conditions closely, and make whatever adjustments may be required as the future becomes clearer.

Most importantly, we remain committed to do all we can to Eliminate Poverty NOW!

Phasing out Little Rock Scholarship Program

I'm writing to share important news about the Little Rock Scholarship program. The program enables the brightest students from Kibera to attend Kenya’s top secondary schools and provides the opportunity to continue their studies at the university level. Well over 90% of students have successfully graduated high school and the vast majority have qualified to attend colleges and universities. Their lives are forever changed, and the positive ripple effects will impact lives for generations to come.

Faith Amondi

Little Rock Scholarship HS graduate

Despite that success, the EPN Board has decided to phase out the program.  It’s a decision we did not come to lightly.  EPN has always focused on creating the greatest impact for the most people.  As wonderful as the Little Rock Scholarship Program has been, the agricultural training center we are building in Niger has the potential to impact 100-times more lives!  With the powerful leverage from “training-the-trainers,” we can help hundreds of thousands of Niger’s rural poor. 

Dov Center Main Gate Entrance

We stopped awarding new Little Rock Scholarships in 2020 but continue to support all students currently on scholarship to the end of their high school years.  Our last cohort will complete their studies in 2023 at which point the program will officially close. 

The Little Rock Scholarship Program has been a wonderful success.  And with the creation of The Dov Center we look forward to eliminating poverty for even larger numbers of Africa’s extreme poor in the future.

Dov Center Update

Eliminate Poverty NOW is creating Niger’s first technical center devoted to horticulture and maximizing farmer income. Honoring the late Professor Dov Pasternak, the Center will be outstanding in the quality of its facilities, staff, and educational programs. It will feature a technician training program to spread the principles of agricultural transformation to hundreds of villages throughout Niger, drawing on Dov’s 50 years of global experience with dryland agriculture and a decade of experience implementing his Farmers of the Future model. The program will be innovative in content and method of instruction, placing heavy emphasis on practical, hands-on learning.

After breaking ground in 2021, construction of the academic hall, cafeteria, and dormitory is now complete. Current activities include furnishing the facilities, landscaping the campus, filling key staffing positions, and creating the 2-year comprehensive training curriculum. Our goal is to open in Q4 2022.

You can find more details about the Center at www.DovCenter.org.

EPN Scholar Graduates

Elizabeth Teresa lives in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya. Living conditions there are horrendous — severe overcrowding, no running water, raw sewage in open trenches. There is a pervasive sense of hopelessness. But not for graduates of the Little Rock Early Childhood Development Centre.

For them, higher education is the surest route to a better life. Students in 8th grade work with tutors paid by EPN to prepare for Kenya's entrance exam to secondary school. Those who score at the highest levels qualify to attend government-subsidized boarding schools. Tuition, room and board is a modest $1,000 per year. But these families lack the money to pay.

The Little Rock Scholarship program provides 4-year scholarships to the country's top boarding schools. These amazing young women and men overcome extraordinary obstacles to achieve at the highest level. And for those who qualify to continue on to university, EPN pays their entrance fees as well. Many Little Rock Scholars are now studying for degrees in business, law, engineering, architecture, pharmacy and more.

Farmers of the Future News

The Farmers of the Future program is our learning laboratory for Professor Dov Pasternak’s vision to transform agricultural practice in the African Sahel. Dov was a world leader in dryland agriculture who literally wrote the book on Agricultural Prosperity in Dry Africa. In the Farmers of the Future model, women are organized into local village cooperatives, provided with water and power for irrigation, and taught to approach farming as a business. Our field technicians work with the women intensively for a minimum of 3 years to help them master new farming techniques.

The results are life-changing — generating up to twice the average income of Niger. That money provides access to education and medical care. It improves the family diet, living conditions, and overall quality of life. And as women become a major source of household income it raises their self-image and self-respect. It fundamentally changes how they are viewed within the household and the community.

Farmers of the Future has been patiently tested in Niger since 2012. Now, with the creation of the Dov Center we will have the technical capacity to expand the FOF philosophy to hundreds of villages throughout the country.

You can help tackle poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in rural Africa through your support of Eliminate Poverty NOW.

DHL to the Rescue!

Professor Dov Pasternak, the visionary behind the Farmers of the Future concept, wrote the “go to” book for farming in arid sub-Saharan climates. We thought it would be wonderful to give copies of this all-important reference to students attending The Dov Center and a great way to expand awareness for Dov’s message of “income security” as the ultimate goal for agricultural development.

It’s a great idea but expensive – printing and shipping costs are high for 1,000 books.  Robin Mednick, president of Pencils for Kids, suggested she approach Ken Allen, a friend she made at DHL 15 years ago when he was head of their Canadian business.  Today Ken is the head of DHL’s global ecommerce business.  So fearless Robin writes to Ken, describes what we want, and sure enough, Ken steps right up with a generous donation and ensures all arrangements are made. The books just arrived in Niger – duty free – ready for distribution when school opens. We are profoundly grateful to our friends at DHL who supported this effort and made it possible for students of The Dov Center to continue Dov’s legacy of lifting subsistence farmers out of poverty.

Our Nigerien NGO partners are happy to receive the books!

Our Nigerien NGO partners are happy to receive the books!

Latest Update on Dov Center

This year Eliminate Poverty NOW! focused its annual fundraiser on The Dov Center - the pre-eminent Horticultural Education location in Niamey, Niger.  We described it as “The Big One” – the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken with by far the biggest impact.  It will improve lives in Niger by the tens of thousands.

Since last month’s mailing went out, we have two pieces of good news to share.  First, the response to our appeal to “go above and beyond” has been encouraging.  To date we’ve received contributions from 37 donors and almost all are at or above historical levels.  Thank you!  And for those still waiting to donate, please take advantage of the 100% match opportunity and make your contribution before year-end. 

Second, with the help of interim financing, construction contracts have been awarded and construction at The Dov Center is underway!  The groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 24th.  Crowd size was kept down given COVID concerns, but the ceremony was attended by members of the national government and many local officials. 

Niger’s Minister of Higher Education lays the cornerstone for the Dov Center

Niger’s Minister of Higher Education delivered the keynote address and spoke enthusiastically about the Center and its goals.  He also participated in laying a cornerstone of the main building.  Two local tv stations provided coverage and greatly increased awareness of the event.

As progress is made we will send updates.  In the meantime, we wish you all Happy Holidays and our hopes for a kinder, saner and happier 2021.