The Christian Post recently announced an innovative strategy by my friends at Food for the Poor to both help those in need and create jobs for those in need. An excerpt is below. My question to readers:

What other ideas are you seeing that go beyond helping the poor but also empowering those in need?

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In a move to help Haitian farmers as well as to supply food even more efficiently to the hungry in that country, the international relief and development agency Food For The Poor will start buying rice from 2,000 farmers in the area most affected by the 2010 earthquake. The partnership will begin today and will provide a third of the rice that the charity needs for its feeding programs in Haiti.

“This initiative is going to help the rice growers increase their production and grow a better strain of rice through help we are providing,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “We are happy we’re able to work with the farmers in this way, and we believe it will help us better meet the needs of the poor we serve.”

The program will begin with Food For The Poor buying about 200 tons of rice each month, but Mahfood said he hopes that will continue to grow as the farmers have more success with their crops. “We will buy everything they produce,” he said.

Read the original article here.

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DILLON BURROUGHS is an author, activist, and co-founder of Activist Faith. Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has investigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books include Undefending Christianity, Not in My Town (with Charles J. Powell), and Thirst No More (October). Discover more at ActivistFaith.org.