Agricultural Missions, Inc.2007 ANNUAL REPORT |
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SEEDS OF SOCIAL CHANGERESISTANCE TO IMPOVERISHMENT AND OPPRESSIONRURAL PEOPLE ORGANIZED!VISIONTo become a leading ecumenical organization recognized for prophetically standing with and connecting rural networks and faith communities in challenging the injustices of globalization.
MISSIONTo follow the example of the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, to accompany and support people of faith and conscience around the world in the struggle to end poverty and injustice that affect rural communities, and work toward creation of a sustainable society. PROGRAMSRURAL NETWORKFacilitates exchange of communication, personnel and knowledge among peoples’ organizations.
CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING, WITNESS AND ADVOCACY FOR FUTURE DIRECTIONIN RURAL MISSIONEducation and training among representatives of member denominations and agencies, and North American church and community-based constituencies, leading to advocacy and support on issues important to AMI constituencies.
RURAL SUSTAINABILITY
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AFFECTED BY DISASTERS Program assists partners in restoration and rebuilding of their capabilities to function effectively following natural disasters and to address specific issues of injustice, resulting from or exacerbated by disasters.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENTDear Board Members, Partners and Staff of Agricultural Missions,
As we engage the New Year I wish you all good health, success in your endeavors and a renewed reserve of energy to undertake all that needs to be done. We have big dreams and major challenges ahead. May God give us strength, stamina and success in our work together.
As we take this time to formulate wishes for the future, let’s also look back at the past and celebrate what we have accomplished. In 2006, Agricultural Missions responded to calls from partners in the U.S. and overseas affected by major natural disasters like the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. We focused our attention on rehabilitating community groups, on rebuilding their capacity through training events in Sri Lanka, India and in the Mississippi area of the USA. Thanks to the support of denominational members, funds were obtained and disbursed through numerous grassroots groups to help protect poor communities’ right of access to land and their right to decent housing.
Agricultural Missions staff worked untiringly to position our organization on the international scene of peoples’ movements and earned the recognition, respect and collaboration of numerous key international and domestic networks. Their participation in various regional social forums, international conferences and training events on current key issues offered tremendous opportunities for awareness building and advocacy as well as for networking with grassroots organizations from various parts of the world.
Agricultural Missions also underwent some major institutional changes, particularly with the recruitment of Joe Keesecker as its new Executive Director. Winston Carroo stepped aside from that position last June, while continuing to provide leadership to Agricultural Missions programs in Africa and Asia. In addition, a strategic planning process was engaged with Rev. Alfonso Roman from Puerto Rico as facilitator. We are looking forward to completing this planning exercise at our upcoming board meeting in March 2007.
We have made some progress in terms of funding for Agricultural Missions and its partners, but we are still faced with a very tight financial situation. It remains crucial for us to sharpen the focus of our programs, develop more aggressive fundraising strategies and broaden our base of financial support. We need to keep this as a priority and find some innovative approaches. For 2007, I want to throw out the challenge and invite you all to mobilize your energies and creativity to do something significant--something “out of the box” and more effective than anything tried before. Only in this manner will we move away from the funding vulnerability in which we have been operating for the past few years.
I continue to be thankful for each one of you and the ways that you contribute to Agricultural Missions. May God be with us as we continue to work together.
Lionel Derenoncourt President, AMI Board of Directors MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORAh, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing; Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.(Isaiah 5:8-9)Isaiah lived long before this totally unprecedented time of amassing great wealth as he spoke truth to power about the injustices around him. Our time was graphically illustrated in 2006 when all the 400 richest Americans listed by Forbes Magazine had fortunes of at least one billion dollars. Forbes reported there are nearly twice that many billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of $2.6 trillion. How does that kind of wealth get gathered together? At what cost? Who pays the cost? And how can we accept that phenomenon alongside continuing and increasing poverty, in the U.S. and worldwide?
French President Jacques Chirac has called this, “a moral scandal as much as an economic absurdity and a major political threat.”
Agricultural Missions, Inc. has for three quarters of a century chosen to walk with people who pay some of the biggest costs within economic and political systems that serve to “add land to land”. These are the rural poor, in whatever country, culture or climate. Payment is made in land and water stolen, or sold cheap. It is exacted through lack of access to quality health care and education. It is stolen by governments and sometimes corporations with the power to confiscate, to restrict, to relocate, to condemn, to define and control.
But rural people continue to struggle against the forces that would remove them entirely from the land. Agricultural Missions, Inc. stands in solidarity with organized rural people fighting for justice, for equity, for better lives for their families and their communities and for the right and power to make meaningful choices. We connect those movements with one another and with churches in the U.S. and Canada. Saul Alinsky, the early guru of community organizing, insisted there are just two kinds of power: organized money and organized people. In this time of surging economic globalization, with disciples singing its values while ignoring the masses left behind or swept away by the flood, there is plenty of organized money. We are placing our bets with organized people and we invite you and all who believe in the Gospel’s promise of “abundant life” for all people to stay with us, or to join us in our walk with the rural poor.
This report provides glimpses into the accompaniment work of Agricultural Missions over the past year. The pictures convey human realities of courage, challenge and accomplishment. I invite you to reflect on the human stories represented and I encourage you to continue your support or to join us in solidarity with rural peoples’ organizations in their struggles.
Joseph Keesecker Executive Director
AGRICULTURAL MISSIONS, INC.A Faith Response to Rural Poverty and Injustice
Demonstration to support fisher people in the land struggle — Nellor District, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA CONFRONTING DISASTER-RELATED INJUSTICES
During the year, Agricultural Missions continued to provide active support and assistance to confront and challenge the injustices that were and are being committed against the poor and disadvantaged in the wake of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Following these disasters injustices took the form of caste, class and racial discrimination in emergency and rebuilding assistance, without regard to the location of the victims. Land grabs by the governments and the wealthy constituted one of the most egregious forms of injustice. In India and Sri Lanka fisher folk displaced by the tsunami were not allowed to rebuild on their traditional fishing beaches and their lands were reserved for tourism and industrial development. In the coastal areas of Mississippi, the casino industry, backed by local governments, is attempting to displace local homeowners to make way for casinos.
Working with local partners in India, Sri Lanka and in Mississippi, AMI is focusing its efforts on addressing the injustices related to the land issues through education and advocacy of displaced residents, legal challenges, awareness building in the wider community and assistance to victims in negotiating the legal and economic challenges placed in their paths to rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. Challenging Globalization Through Network-Building
South-South People's Dialogue participants walk to MST settlement, BRAZIL.
The tentacles of globalization are reaching into the most remote rural areas, negatively impacting the lives of rural peoples in ways that are difficult to comprehend and challenge. Rural peoples are losing control over their land, water and other natural resources as globalization and the “free market” neo-liberal economic policies favor transnational corporations and the wealthy elites. Rising global social movements are presenting serious challenges to the advance of the globalization agenda and slowing its advance. With the cry of “Another World is Possible” these social movements are building strong networks and sound alternatives.
Through the Rural Network Program, AMI supports and facilitates the network building activities among partners and other grassroots organizations at the local, national, regional and global levels in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the United States. Two examples in 2006 were support for the National Farm Worker Ministry in farm worker advocacy, and for the 5th National Congress organized by the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terras-MST (Landless Movement) in Brazil. Building Sustainable Communities
Building community-based institutions and developing human resource potential in order to respond to the ever-changing needs enhance the long-term environmental and economic sustainability of rural communities. AMI places a high priority on institution building through training of local persons and material support to community based organizations. AMI also serves the needs of our denominational partners in providing technical support in their efforts to build sustainable rural communities. One such example is AMI’s ongoing accompaniment of the Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program (SA&D) of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church that is achieving remarkable success in building sustainable rural communities in remote and war ravaged areas of many African countries. During the year, AMI provided leadership in the planning and delivery of a two and a half week workshop, held in Ghana, for 19 community-based farmer-extensionists from five African countries.
We also continued to accompany the International Institute for Cooperation Amongst Peoples in El Salvador, in its Network building activities to develop an educational process for advocacy and action related to issues of water and sustainability.
(left and right) African women trainer at the UMCOR/SA&D Workshop Training of Trainers Event in Ghana
Consistent with its philosophy and practice, AMI ensures considerations of gender equity in all its organizational and program activities. Recognizing that women and girls are the subject of structural gender-based discrimination that impacts their lives on a daily basis, AMI pays special attention to the needs of women through our program activities and in our partner relationships. Our attempts to address this vexing problem include challenging the structural problems of gender inequities while assisting women to overcome the impacts on their daily existence. For example, through the Gender Development Institute in Ghana, AMI supports activities that develop awareness of the issues among women, political and business leaders, school children and the public at large, and provides skills and training in gender planning. Women are also encouraged to enter the political arena and other aspects of public life. In 2006 support was given for the Institute to hold a National Gender Conference for Policy Decision Makers, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations and government Ministries Departments.
The Forum for Women’s Rights and Development in India was supported in their efforts to assist women’s groups in organizing and meeting basic needs of Dalit women following the Tsunami disaster. At the same time, AMI accompanied several partners serving needs of women for economic development and independence through assistance for production and economic initiatives, including the Southern Alternative Agricultural Cooperatives in Albany, GA, in their pecan processing plant that is owned and operated by African-American Women.
Forum for Women's Rights and Development (FORWARD)—School supplies for Dalit children, INDIA
Consciousness-Raising, Witness and Advocacy ForFuture Directions in Rural MissionThis program replaced the long-standing "Education for Future Direction in Rural Mission" program and is designed to expand the educational activities to include active advocacy on issues important to Agricultural Missions' constituencies. At the same time, increased efforts were made to engage the North American church and community-based constituencies in more deliberate and meaningful ways. While education and training among representatives of member denominations have been an integral part of Agricultural Missions’ work since its inception, this new program is intended to extend these efforts to include parishioners, students, farmers and community-based organizations. The members of the board and program staff of church agencies involved in rural issues and development remain important audiences for this program, but increased emphasis has been placed on the wider community.
Activity in 2006 included organizing and coordinating a delegation to Venezuela to attend the World Social Forum, conducting the annual study session in Mississippi with a focus on issues of racism and globalization in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the first Electronic Forum on Immigration, Free Trade and U.S. Agricultural Policy. AMI continues to publish the NETLINE Newsletter for constituency education on many issues, including social movements in Latin America, Immigration mobilizations in the U.S., farm worker justice campaigns, World Trade Organization, World Bank and IMF impacts on rural communities, the negative polices in the U.S. Farm Bill and others. Photo: International Partners in Mission
(left) Farmers walk to Field Training during Sustainable Agricutlure and Development Workshop; (center) Workshop on legal (land) rights for victims of Hurricane Katrina, East Bilozi, Mississippi; (right) Small trees nourished, one by one, each tree planted into clear-cut land—Reforestation Project, Sustainable Agriculture and Economic Development Project in El Cercado, Dominican Republic.
LIST OF PARTNERSAfrican Center for Human Development (ACHD), Ghana
Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative, USA
Alternative Community Marketing Network (Red COMAL), Honduras
Belize River Valley Development Project (BELRIV), Belize
Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society (BIRDS), India
Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agrícolas (CITA), USA
Chaithanya, India
Chethana Network, India
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), USA
Colectivo de Organizaciones Populares, Dominican Republic
Comercializadoras de Productores del Campo (ANEC), Mexico
Comissão Pastoral di Terra, Brazil
Community Farm Alliance (CFA), USA
Community Research on Environment and Development Initiatives (CREADIS), Kenya
Confederación Unida Nacional de Seguridad Social Campesina (CONFEUNASSC), Ecuador
Confederación de Organizaciones Populares Indigenas (COPINH), Honduras
Consejo de Médicos y Parteras Indígenas Trabajando en Chiapas (COMPITCH), Mexico
Convergencia de Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Americas, (COMPA), Latin America and the Caribbean
Cooperación y el Desarrollo Comunal de El Salvador (CORDES), El Salvador
Coordinadora Agraria Nacional Ezequiel Zamora, (CANEZ), Venezuela
Coordinadora Nacional de Mujeres del Campo (CONAMUCA), Dominican Republic
Family Farm Defenders (FFC), USA
Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), USA
Federación Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas Indigenas y Negras (FENOCIN), Ecuador
Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC), USA
Food Project of Boston, USA
Forum on Women’s Rights and Development Organization (FORWARD), India
Gender Development Institute (GDI), Ghana
Grenada Community Development Agency (GRENCODA), Grenada
Indian Social Development Center (ISDC), India
Indigenous Women's Network (IWN), USA
International Institute for the Cooperation Amongst People (IICP), El Salvador
Kamusinde Christian-Based Community Organization (KCCBO), Kenya
Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF), Kenya
KINAL, Antzetik, Mexico
Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (MUDHA), Dominican Republic
Movimento Dos Trabalhadores Ruraís Sem Terra (MST), Brazil
National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC), USA
National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM), USA
National Fisheries Solidarity Organization (NAFSO), Sri Lanka
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH), Honduras
Organización de Lucha por la Tierra (OLT), Paraguay
Parroquia San Pedro Apostal, Dominican Republic
Projects for People (PFP), Jamaica
Rural Church Network, USA
Rural Coalition (RC), USA
Sindicato de Trabajadores Bananeros de Izabal (SIBTRABI), Guatemala
Sligoville Basic School, Jamaica
Southwest Alabama Association of Rural Minority women (SAARMW), USA
Uganda Resource and Developmemt Foundation (URDF), Uganda
Uniendo Manos Por La Vida (UMAVIDA), Bolivia
United Social Development Organization (USDO), Sri Lanka
U.S. National Committee for World Food Day, USA
Via Campesina, Worldwide
Virginia Organizing Project (VOP), USA
Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN), USA
BOARD OF DIRECTORSOfficers
Lionel Derenoncourt, President Marta Benavides, Vice-President June Kim, Treasurer Junius Williams, Secretary
Board Members (*Executive Committee)
Br. David Andrews, CSC National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Marta Benavides* International Institute for the Cooperation Amongst Peoples
Elizabeth Calvin World Day of Prayer
Richard Chambers United Church of Canada
Guillermo Chavez Community Activist
Lionel Derenoncourt* Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Christopher Falco* Church World Service, Inc.
Sherry Flyr Presbyterian Women, Vice Moderator/Mission Relationships
Willis Goodwin New Francis Brown and Washington, UMC
June Kim* United Methodist Church (UMCOR)
Sandra LaBlanc* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sung-Ok Lee United Methodist Church (Women’s Division)
Michael Mann* American Baptist Churches (ABCUSA, Thailand)
Virginia Nesmith National Farm Worker Ministry
Denise O’Brien Women, Food and Agriculture
Edward Pennick* Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Lorette Picciano* Rural Coalition
Shirley Sherrod Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Samuel Smith Caretaker Farm
Diana Stephen Presbyterian Church (USA)
Joseph Szakos Virginia Organizing Project
Baldemar Velasquez Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Cynthia White Self Development of People, Presbyterian Church (USA)
David Wildman* United Methodist Church
Junius Williams* Leadership Development Group
Billie Jean Young The Drama Project/SWAARMW
Staff:
Joseph Keesecker, Executive Director Winston Carroo, Director of Programs Stephen Bartlett, Constituency Education Coordinator Mozzie Johnson, Program Coordinator for Business and Women’s Concerns Doris Rivera, Administrative Assistant
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS |
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DENOMINATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Church World Service, Inc. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America First Presbyterian Church Heifer Project International Oxfam America Presbyterian Church (USA) - Hunger Program - Presbyterian Women United Church of Christ United Methodist Church - Mission Contexts and Relationships - United Methodist Committee on Relief - Women's Division
OTHERS
Concerned Citizens of Newport, Inc. Holyoke Community College University of Louisville
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INDIVIDUALS
Baldemar Velasquez June Atienza Ben Poage June Kim Betty Kastl Karla Andreu Daniel & Barbara Olson Laura A. Karlen Deborah J. Hunter & Donna Wood Loree Taggart Derek L. Parker Loretta Whalen Diana Stephen Marie C. Losh Don & Anna Sibley Marilyn J. Harter Donald Roberts Mark & Jeanne Smucker Doris Rhoades Mary Humfleet E. Kay McDivitt Mary Sanderson Eleanore Kolar Michael Mann Elsa Comerota Michael Matejka Emily Nammacher Patricia Patterson Frances C. Nyce Paul & Rebecca Choitz Franklin Smith Paul & Sheila Trautmann Gerald Currens Ray Bromley Gladys Bunts Richard & Barbara Hutchison Harry & Marilyn Brunger Richard H. & Sharon Craft Hiroshi & Arlene Kanno Samuel Smith J. Stuart Mill Sherry Flyr Jack & Mary Jane Baird Shirley & William Patton James & Janet Petersen Stephen Bartlett James Cogswell Steven L. & Jane E. Davis Joseph & Selena Keesecker Sue & Darrell Yeaney John Snider Telma B. & David J. Cramer John Sinclair Virginia Nesmith Joseph Szakos William Billingham Kenneth D. Flemmer Winston Carroo & Annie Donovan
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2006 FINANCIAL REPORT
INCOME:
Member Agencies 635,169 Related Organizations 12,000 Individuals 23,516 Other Sources 500 Registration Fees 2,934
TOTAL 674,119*
EXPENSES:
Administration 55,318 Program Support 323,454 Printing/Publications & Resource Development 5,187 Program Activities & Partner Support 206,575
TOTAL 590,534
*Includes funds designated for 2nd year program activities and partner's support.
UNAUDITED |
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CONTRIBUTOR REQUEST FORM Your tax-deductible contribution will enable Agicultural Missions, Inc. to continue its critical role in the support of sustainable development. You may support our work directly, through your local church or through your denomination. Contributions may be sent by check or by using PayPal on our website. For more information contact:
Agricultural Missions, Inc.: 475 Riverside Dr., Suite 725, New York, NY 10115. Telephone: 212-870-2553; Website: www.agriculturalmissions.org
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