Program

Economic Growth

Increased Regional Trade and Integration

Overview Program Description Activities Documents

Program Description

TRADE ACTIVITIES

The USAID/East Africa Trade Division aims to alleviate poverty, reduce conflict, and generate sustainable economic growth by increasing both the volume and the value of trade in the region.

The USAID/East Africa Trade Division contributes to the goals of the President’s Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA) by increasing productivity, competitiveness and trade in agriculture.   It contributes to the implementation of the President’s African Global

Competitiveness Initiative (AGCI) by strengthening the ability of East African businesses to take advantage of trade opportunities in the region and with the United States.  One example of this is through support to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which provides sanitary and phytosanitary technical assistance to strengthen animal health, plant health and food safety systems in Africa. The Trade Division also supports the goals of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) by working to increase trade between East African countries and the United States.

The USAID/East Africa Trade Division achieves its goals through three mechanisms:

• a Strategic Objective Agreement (SOAG) with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariat;
• the East and Central Africa Trade Competitiveness Hub, a contract with Bearing Point Inc, and;
• the Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) Program, a contract with Chemonics International.

AGRICULTURE

USAID East Africa collaborates with African governments and other G8 donors to achieve a 6% growth in agriculture by providing support to the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) which aims to increase the productivity of Africa’s farmers. USAID East Africa also supports the Crop Crisis Control Project (C3P), a regionally coordinated response to the catastrophic spread of Cassava Mosaic Virus disease (CMD) and Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) in six countries of East and Central Africa.

The Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas (RELPA) program aims to improve the livelihoods of pastoralists in the drought-prone “Mandera Triangle” area – the tri-country border area of northeast Kenya, southeast Ethiopia and southwest Somalia. The RELPA program bridges the gap between emergency relief assistance in pastoral areas and more sustainable economic livelihoods.

ENVIRONMENT

USAID East Africa works to achieve economic sustainability by ensuring that natural resources are properly managed in the region.  All USAID funded activities overseas are required to be consistent with United States environmental policy and laws, as laid out in Regulation 216 (22 CFR Part 216).  Through the Environment Team of the Regional Economic Growth and Integration Office, USAID/EA provides core support services to Missions in East and Central Africa.   

REGI currently funds two modest programs in this area:

Regional ENvironmental Assessment and Management CAPacity Building (ENCAP) for Partners and Programs in Africa  

Transboundary Water for Biodiversity in the Mara River Basin (TWB-MRB) Project