The African Development Foundation (ADF) is a United States government agency that was created by an act of Congress in 1980 in order to facilitate the participation of Africans in their own economic development. The agency focuses upon four project areas: trade and investment, enterprise development, participatory development, and HIV/AIDS mitigation. The Trade and Investment program promotes non-traditional export crops and helps small enterprises to reach regional and international markets. The Enterprise Development program helps small and micro-enterprises to overcome structural obstacles like a lack of technology or capital.
The Participatory Development program assumes that African farmers and villagers know best what they need. The program then attempts to fulfill those local needs. Finally, the HIV/AIDS Mitigation program provides funding for community-based initiatives that mitigate the virus’ economic impact.

In order to execute these projects, ADF provides small grants to nongovernmental organizations and private actors in Africa for the purpose of alleviating poverty and stimulating grassroots development. None of the African Development Foundation’s resources are granted to international organizations government agencies. Instead, local communities propose, design, and implement their own projects with funding and guidance from ADF. The African Development Foundation currently operates in sixteen sub-Saharan African countries.

http://www.adf.gov