Guinea

In 2010, Guinea’s electoral commission and government invited The Carter Center to observe long-delayed presidential elections following months of tension and unrest.

We deployed a team of observers to monitor the voting and counting of the first-round election in June and the runoff election in November. Observers remained in the postelection period to monitor results transmission and tabulation processes.

While we offered various recommendations for the future, voting was peaceful and orderly, participation was high, and the processes broadly met the international and regional obligations for genuine democratic elections. 

Link to final election report for Guinea

How it started

In 1986, a joint venture between The Carter Center and the Sasakawa Africa Association began teaching Guinean farmers how to increase crop yields with the use of new technologies. The program was part of a larger initiative, led by the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug, that helped over 8 million small-scale sub-Saharan African farmers in countries where malnutrition is a constant threat.

Our Work and Methods

Through this program, we helped:

• Provide farmers with credit for fertilizers and seeds to grow test plots
• Encourage successful farmers to teach neighbors and stimulate food self-sufficiency
• Offer alternative methods for growing, harvesting, and increasing production
• Promote crop rotation experiments
• Recruit women, who dominated Guinea’s agricultural production, to participate in cultivation and food preparation activities
• Focus on production and distribution, soil fertility, and management techniques

Impacts

The program’s goal to empower Guinean farmers and institutions, setting them up for success, was achieved. The Carter Center ended its agricultural activities in Guinea in 2004.