Testimonials on the Impact of ADF's Participation in Guinea's Social and Economic Development

Eugene Camara
Minister of Planning, Government of Guinea

The Government of Guinea is privileged to have the African Development Foundation as a partner. We particularly appreciate ADF’s role in the Village Support Program (PACV), which is one of the mechanisms for the implementation of the decentralization and poverty reduction policy adopted by the Government of Guinea.

ADF was one of the stake-holders in the formulation of this broad program, and it intervened in its pilot phase by funding and monitoring the Bady Rural Development Community and by funding two other rural development communities, Baguinet and Banguiny. In addition to the Village Support Program, ADF has also funded poverty reduction initiatives in poverty pockets identified in Upper and Middle Guinea.

On behalf of the beneficiary communities, the Government of Guinea would like to thank the people of the United States for ADF’s work in Guinea.

Aminatou Barry Camara
National Coordinator, Village Support Program of the Government of Guinea

ADF's teams, both in Washington and Conakry, have significantly contributed to the proven success of the Village Support Program’s philosophy, strategies and approach, which are considered a national pride.  We will capitalize on and apply ADF's support for productive and income-generating activities during Phase II of the PACV.  One of the things that I have particularly appreciated in my work with ADF's is the support that the Foundation has provided for the establishment of the Center for Development Support, a local NGO whose mission is focused on promoting decentralized development in Guinea.

ADF's approach helps sustain the spirit of the PACV in particular, and it contributes to the advancement of decentralized participatory development and poverty reduction in Africa in general.

R. Barrie Walkley
United States Ambassador to Guinea, 2001-2004, and current United States Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

ADF's programs have had a positive impact on local Guinean society. [The Foundation’s] grassroots-level projects energize local citizens to develop their own communities collectively. The individuals who directly benefit from these programs are involved in all aspects of project creation and execution. As a result, citizens not only resolve pressing issues in their communities, but learn valuable entrepreneurial skills and knowledge, essential tools which help to generate small businesses that increase local employment and family income.

During my three years in Guinea, I had the pleasure of visiting several ADF projects, including an agricultural project in Soumbalako, a small district in the Mamou region. There, a local farmer's cooperative was interested in increasing production but was unable to afford the required equipment. ADF funded a new irrigation system, which allowed the cooperative to increase their harvest substantially. Although the funding came from ADF, the inspiration for - and the execution of - the irrigation system originated with the Soumbalako farmers themselves. They were rewarded with increased revenue, which they chose to reinvest in the purchase of refrigerated containers that could better preserve seedlings before planting. That's precisely the kind of admirable entrepreneurial initiative which ADF projects foster.

Suzanne Piriou-Sall
Senior Rural Development Specialist, The World Bank

We have worked with ADF in Guinea since 1997, and it has been an exemplary relationship. ADF joined us as one of four project implementers in a collaborative effort designed to identify best practices and generate a real nationwide program for rural development. Throughout the process, the Foundation showed tremendous creativity, flexibility, and responsiveness, and ADF’s history of concrete, on-the-ground experience in Guinea provided us with valuable insights and ideas. What impressed us most was the fact that ADF worked with local staff, citizens of Guinea who knew their country and its needs. That gave us perspective we could use to the benefit of the entire rural development program.