The Mitchell Group, until recently concentrated a majority of its efforts in Africa where the needs are great and the development context complex. TMG since its inception, developed corporate capabilities in this challenging environment - and succeeded. This success is due primarily to our ability to integrate the cultural, political, environmental and economic frameworks within which we must design, implement and manage development assistance projects. For example:

Ecological degradation in the Sahel exists due to persistent drought and unsound management of natural resources-particularly in land, water and vegetation. These realities have led to a significant imbalance between Sahelians and their environment. Moreover, these societies are made up of the small family farmer-dependent on agricultural production to survive and poorly equipped to battle both desert and drought. Our work in natural resource management and anti-desertification projects is helping to change these realities.

The continuing economic crises across the region and rapid population growth call for the immediate attention of and commitment from the international community, African leaders, and nongovernmental organizations. At the present rate, the population will double by 2020, and unmanaged population growth could have an adverse impact on food security, economic growth and fragile natural resources. The Mitchell Group, in partnership with other U.S. and African organizations, worked to develop a regional population strategy that addressed the urgent issues of maternal health, family planning, education and food production. Ministers from the nine Sahelian states adopted this strategy in 1997. The Mitchell Group is continuing efforts to ensure the successful implementation of this strategy.

The Mitchell Group's early experiences in Africa strengthened our resolve and helped us to create a formula for success to apply in other developing countries and regions. These early experiences shaped us and helped us to form a strong foundation. These early experiences included the management of multi-sectoral development assistance projects. Many of these projects incorporated cross-cutting themes in such areas as: Child survival Food security Population policy Primary education reform and decentralization Small grants management Natural resources management Through our work in Africa, we learned never to underemphasize the importance of operating within the cultural, political and economic frameworks of a country. We learned that solving tough development problems must, at a minimum, incorporate a thorough understanding of these frameworks. We learned to cultivate our human resources. Today, our most valuable resource continues to be our senior and professional staff, recruited from private industry, the public sector and development organizations. Our staff's multilingual capabilities, diverse educational backgrounds and extensive field experience make our management approaches culturally relevant, realistic and cost-effective. In short, our formula for success is built upon a foundation that includes:

Cross-sectoral technical expertise and management ability; thorough understanding of the cultural, social, and political frameworks of a project environment; and an experienced staff committed to the development process.

These capabilities are at the core of our ability to manage development assistance projects worldwide.