Washington, DC - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Brasserie Nationale d’Haiti, S.A. (BRANA), a Haitian brewery owned by Heineken, have signed on July 19th a memorandum of understanding on sourcing locally grown sorghum.

"Through the partnership, BRANA expects to partially replace the imported malted barley used to make its non-alcoholic drink Malta H with locally grown sorghum. And USAID will move a step closer to improving rural food security and connecting small-scale farmers to markets," announced USAID.

To improve the quality and quantity of Haitian sorghum, USAID would support farmer training in modern agricultural techniques and production standards. To increase productivity and farmer incomes, BRANA would invest in upgrading processing and storage techniques and facilities, developing farmer associations and federations, and purchasing the sorghum produced.

This partnership aims to increase access to agricultural expertise and technologies and sustain demand for the resulting product, as well as create jobs and improve salaries for some 18,000 small-scale farmers.