Ox Plows to Reduce Hunger in Southern Sudan 
In the first six months of work in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Unity states in Southern Sudan, the USAID-funded BRIDGE Program has provided training to more than 250 farmers and agricultural input suppliers on topics such as ox-plow use and manufacturing. Ox plows reduce workloads and enable farmers to cultivate three to five times as much land, which is critical in a region where 1.5 million people face severe food insecurity. BRIDGE helps farmers test different ox plows, train oxen, and adopt sustainable farming practices. To increase availability of ox plow equipment, BRIDGE also provides training to blacksmiths on the construction and repair of ox plow parts. 

The BRIDGE Program is promoting community development and strengthening the ability of state and local governments to deliver agriculture, education, and water and sanitation services. Other notable successes to-date include: forming 64 community and women's support groups to plan and implement projects that improve citizens' quality of life; conducting workshops to strengthen 19 local government units; and providing 65,000 people with access to safe drinking water.

Wallace Center's National Good Food Network Partnership with Sysco Makes an Impact
The $40 billion Sysco Corporation is on a mission to meet growing demand for healthy, green, fair and affordable food from its food service customers—restaurants, hospitals, universities and more—around the country. To do so, Sysco chose to work with the Wallace Center's National Good Food Network (NGFN) to help it source and distribute more good food.

In 2008, partnership discussions began with local fruit and vegetable growers in Michigan and Kansas respectively. An assortment of fruit, vegetables and some cheeses were aggregated, packaged and distributed to Sysco operating company warehouses, providing new markets for small and some socially disadvantaged growers. In early 2009, growers entered into training programs in partnership with Sysco and other state and regional partners to learn more about "values based value chain" practices and food safety certification requirements. As of August 2009, two Amish growers in Kansas City have now received food safety certification, a first for the NGFN/Sysco partnership program. 

After one year of the partnership, Sysco and the NGFN have released a case study that details how the NGFN/Sysco partnership approached this work through two regional subsidiaries: Sysco Grand Rapids and Sysco Kansas City. Each region came to the project with unique grower, crop and market situations. Each was also successful in moving more local produce from growers to food service customers, with positive returns for both. In fact, the new products and marketing in 2008 helped mitigate the downside of a tough year and short season for produce.