Chemonics International is a global consulting firm promoting economic growth and higher living standards in developing countries.

Chemonics performs its work under contract to the U.S. Agency for International Development and other bilateral and multilateral aid donors. In Washington, D.C. and more than 90 countries, it offers management services, technical assistance, research, training, and special expertise in communications, grants management, procurement, and performance monitoring.

Projects

Chemonics manages and runs numerous project throughout the world. One it’s most high profile ones though is the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

Early warning systems<br />
Chemonics manages FEWS NET, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which works to strengthen the capacity of countries and regional organizations to manage risk of food security through the provision of timely and analytical early warning and vulnerability information. FEWS NET teams in the United States, Africa, Afghanistan, and Central America collect, analyze, and disseminate remotely-sensed and ground-based data such as meteorological, crop, and rangeland conditions as early indications of potential threats to food security.

FEWS NET also works to strengthen early warning systems through capacity development, network building, developing policy information, and forming consensus about food security problems and solutions. FEWS NET has been a pioneer in developing livelihood strategies for food security and examining the linkages between food security-related areas such as agriculture, health, and economic policy reform.

Mission==
To promote meaningful change around the world to help people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives.

==History

1975. Chemonics International is founded in Washington, D.C. by the company's first president, Thurston F. Teele. Its mission, then and now, is to promote meaningful change around the world, helping people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives.

1975-76. Landmark agribusiness studies in Cameroon and Kenya represent Chemonics' earliest work, earning high praise from our client, USAID.

1977. Chemonics launches its first long-term effort for USAID, a rural economic development project in Mali. The commitment to work in sub-Saharan Africa has remained unbroken for nearly 30 years.

1978. The company initiates projects in two Asian countries: one to improve financial management and marketing for the Afghan Fertilizer Company and the other to conduct an investment analysis for Thailand's Board of Trade.

1981. A large initiative, Egypt Basic Village Services, marks the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between Chemonics and the people of the Middle East. This project also represents the company’s first major contributions to municipal governance, finance, and infrastructure.

1985. Within a decade of its founding, Chemonics is active on four continents and in every field of international development.

1988. The company adapts to rapid growth by establishing regional divisions to respond to the priorities of individual countries and USAID missions. This decentralized structure exists today.

1992. Chemonics collaborates with a group of local professionals to launch a management-services affiliate in Egypt.

1995. The company begins to serve transitional governments and nurture emerging markets in more than a dozen former Soviet bloc countries. Chemonics experts win praise for groundbreaking work in privatizing banking, business, and land assets.

1996. The Environment and Infrastructure Group is launched, Chemonics' first technical incubator, to leverage growing knowledge about urban and regional environmental issues. In addition to USAID, the Group works with a range of U.S. government agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, and public institutions worldwide.

1997. In what was then the largest, most-ambitious environmental management project in USAID history, Chemonics sets out to tackle air pollution in Cairo and reduce the impact industrial pollution was having on the health of Egyptians.

1999. Chemonics sponsors Propaganda and Dreams, an exhibition of 1930s U.S. and Soviet photography. The exhibition is part of a series of Chemonics grants designed to highlight artwork that raises public awareness of international development. A more recent project, Secret Games, in 2001, featured efforts to empower children in disadvantaged communities.

1999. With a new shareholder structure that grants part ownership to senior managers of the company, Chemonics becomes an independent company.

2000. A sixth division, the International Health Group, is established to respond to the urgent need to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other threats to human health.

2002. In an effort to help fight tuberculosis in the Philippines, Chemonics launches its first major stand-alone project in health care. The company also begins one of several large activities to revitalize agriculture and municipal services in post-war Afghanistan.

2003. Chemonics sponsors the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign as part of an increasing effort to promote the importance of U.S. foreign assistance. Simultaneously, the company launches an initiative to help agricultural producers in developing countries increase their competitiveness though better understanding of international grades and standards.

2004. Chemonics builds on its emerging status as an international development leader with company-wide campaigns to share knowledge more broadly, train and support a new generation of development professionals, and formalize ethical and professional standards for international development work.

2005. Founder, Thurston F. Teele, passes away on March 21. Mr. Teele, who started Chemonics as a one-man business in 1975, worked first as president and CEO then as chairman of the board up until his death. He was 70.

2005. In May, 11 Afghans are killed in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. Among those killed are four Chemonics employees working on the USAID Alternative Incomes Project (AIP) in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. It marked the first time a Chemonics’ employee died as a result of violence.

2006. On March 31, President and CEO Ashraf Rizk retires after 25 years at Chemonics. Executive Vice President Richard Dreiman is named by the board of directors as Mr. Rizk’s successor.

2006. In September, ownership shifts hands following a transfer of shares from majority shareholder Scott Spangler to minority shareholder Eyk Van Otterloo. Mr. Van Otterloo becomes new chairman, and Barbara Teele is elected to the board.

External links

Chemonics Company site