world Southern Friends from page 24 ESTATE & JEWELRY BUYERS Your neighborhood experts for the Purchase and Sale of Estate Jewelry, Precious Metals, Coins and Valuables Phone: 248.723.4653 33366 Woodward Avenue Birmingham, MI 48009 (Just north of Fourteen Mile, east side of Woodward) ww-w.estateandjewelrybuyers.coin 26 June 16 4. 2011 Signs of change are already here. There are many Israeli companies in Africa involved in building roads and hospitals and working in water management and medi- cine. The Israeli irrigation company Netafim introduced low-pressure, low-cost drip irrigation systems for subsistence farmers, providing them with enough water to raise crops year- round. "We are a private company and our luck is that we are doing well by doing good by giving answers to problems like hunger:' said Naty Barak, head of sustainable devel- opment at Netafim. In a Kenyan village called Kitui, Barak said that 200 poor, small- scale vegetable growers who adopted Netafim's product saw a 140 percent increase in harvested yield and a 200 percent increase in income while saving about 60 per- cent of water resources. Previously, they had irrigated crops by hauling water from wells. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also is becoming involved, invit- ing African business delegations to Israel to learn more about its industries and twinning economic attaches at Israeli embassies in Africa with Israeli companies to help scope out opportunities. "We are sending the message that it is good to do business with Africa," said Rafael Harpaz, direc- tor of the ministry's economic department that deals with the Americas and Africa, told JTA. "There is potential to grow, and we are looking for new markets to trade with. If the Israeli economy is going to grow, it needs these new markets." To that end, the Foreign Trade Administration, a department within the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, is seeking new policies that will help harness Israel's competitive advantage in the developing world, including Africa. Jewish Heart for Africa said that bringing Israeli know-how to Africa is particularly attractive to its donor base of young American Jews. "Young donors like our proj- ects," said Sivan Borowich Ya'ari, the organization's founder and president, "because we are not only helping Africa but helping Israel by helping the Israeli economy and Israel's image' 17