Farming in Africa is widely viewed as poor man's work and for good reason. Most are subsistence farmers growing barely enough to feed their families. They are trapped in chronic poverty, relying on natural rainfall to harvest one meager crop a year.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Irrigation is the key to unlocking the economic potential of the land. With irrigation farmers can grow high value crops year-round and vastly increase household income. That money is life changing — providing access to education and medical care and improving the family diet, living conditions, and overall quality of life.

Farming for profit requires major change: different goals, different crops, and different growing methods. It requires years of training by knowledgeable technicians to master new techniques. But agricultural technicians in Niger are in desperately short supply, especially in horticulture.

To address this need, Eliminate Poverty NOW has partnered with ONG LIBO in Niger and Pencils for Kids in Canada to create Niger’s first agricultural training center devoted to horticulture and maximizing farmer income. Honoring the late Professor Dov Pasternak, the man who literally wrote the book on Agricultural Prosperity in Dry Africa, the center will train a new generation of field technicians to help transform agricultural practice in Niger. For more details about The Dov Center, go to www.DovCenter.org.

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