The Agricultural Business Development Services Center in the village of El Brinsat – Mattai Center – Minya Governorate, affiliated to the Local Development Unit of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, received the Excellence Award “Supporting Adaptation to Climate Changes to Support Small Farmers”, from the US Agency for International Development and Fenby Company. The award was granted to the center under the name “Supporting Adaptation to Climate Changes for Small, Medium and Micro-projects in the Agriculture Sector” during the honoring ceremony that was held at the National Museum of Civilization in Al-Fustat on Thursday.
Mrs. Margaret Saroufim, Head of the Local Development Sector at the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, said: “The idea of the center’s work was based on the experience of the organization which it gained through working with tens of thousands of small farmers during more than fifty years, during which hundreds of small farmers’ associations were formed in local communities, while developing the work of local cadres of field partners from grassroots associations with the aim of achieving the main goal of our work, which is improving the quality of life of small farmers and their families through the implementation of many interventions, the most important of which are improving soil properties, increasing productivity, supporting productivity requirements, providing marketing contracts and linking farmers to the most profitable markets.”
Saroufim added: “The organization is partnering with the “Sustainable Services (SSA)” project implemented by Finby Company and funded by the United States Agency for Development USAID. Advisory services and training were provided to the center with the aim of supporting and strengthening the center’s role in developing agricultural entrepreneurship with small farmers in the Egyptian countryside, and in appreciation to the Sustainable Services project of the efforts made by the “Agribusiness Development Services Center in the village of Al-Brinsat” in supporting and providing agricultural services and social protection interventions for small farmers and their families, especially at the time of the crisis of the Corona Virus pandemic and the challenges and difficulties it caused in addition to the problems resulting from climate change.”
The center’s activity comes within the framework of the continuation of the development work carried out by the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services through the Local Development Unit to provide support to small farmers, by providing a package of direct agricultural interventions and services with the provision of non-financial support services. Ever since January 2019, CEOSS started the establishment of “The Center for Providing Agricultural Business Development Services in the Village of El-Brinsat – Matai Center – Minya Governorate” to provide agricultural services and the support needed to enhance the skills, abilities and contacts of small farmers, turning them from individual work to team work, while strengthening the principles of agricultural investment for them as well.
