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Smallholder Market Creation, Zambia Project - n/a Enterprise & Agriculture Zambia 2003 - 2005 USAID |
Using Market-based Approach to Guide Smallholder Farmers to Sustainable Income
RATIONALEThis project builds on IDE Zambia's five years of practical experience in developing private-sector micro-irrigation supply chains, conducting rural awareness-raising and marketing campaigns, and supporting farmers in agricultural intensification. The SMC project proposes to take this market-based approach to the next level by placing an increased emphasis on market opportunities as the driving force behind smallholder market systems. The project will take advantage of market "pull," as opposed to technology "push," to enable smallholder wealth creation.
OBJECTIVES
To integrate some 2,000 smallholder families into agricultural markets where they will have access to appropriate micro-irrigation technologies and agricultural inputs, enabling them to produce and sell high-value vegetable crops and earn an sustainable average extra net income of $300 per year (for those participants starting in the first year). This two-year project is the first phase of a comprehensive six-year program that will reach more than 10,000 households.
ACTIVITIES
There will be a division of tasks between IDE and Winrock according to each organization's strengths. The project will be implemented as an integrated whole with close cooperation and coordination among all activities under the direction of the IDE Zambia Country Director. IDE will focus mainly on the input side of the market system (production technologies, supply chains, promotion/awareness campaigns) and Winrock will concentrate primarily on the output side (post-harvest technologies, output market development) and making appropriate linkages.
Winrock will provide short-term specialists to the project in the areas of: post-harvest technology, gender, and output marketing. The output marketing staff will also provide input in relation to credit needs of enterprises providing output marketing services to the project. The gender specialist will also provide input as it relates to the credit needs of women. In addition, Winrock will provide a volunteer crop production specialist as an in-kind contribution to the project.
Winrock will provide training and workshops for smallholder capacity building, local NGO capacity building, and technical demonstrations.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
SMC Zambia has been succeeding well with all its activities based on the newly adopted Poverty Reduction through Irrigation and Smallholder Market Creation (PRISM) concept/methodology Winrock's input has been in the area of capacity building in agronomic aspects to enhance product quality and other output market related issues. Entry points have been area specific crop enterprise assessment and selection focusing on high-income crops with undisputable market opportunities. In the process, various partnerships have been developed to link farmers to various business development service providers such as micro-credit finance providers and output markets through out grower companies. Several partnerships emerged with NGOs, private and government credit and output market organizations are shown below: Agribusiness Support for Natural African Plant Products (ASNAPP) - collaborative work in the promotion of lemon grass, linking a total of 28 lemon grass farmers to Nash Import and Export Company, the main buyers of lemon grass for tea processing. Technical Assistance-Strategic meetings and field visits to mobilize farmers and determine smallholder farmer needs and nature of financing. Applications for the SME loans (worth close to US$70,000) are still being received and reviewed. Cheetah Zambia-Collaborative meetings have been conducted to review the needs of the smallholder farmers on Paprika extension (seed input, production and post harvest processes) and marketing. One thousand farmers have been linked to Cheetah by accessing seed and other inputs to produce Paprika by May 2005. Cheetah will in turn buy off all crop estimated around 60 metric tons worth about US$30,000. Livestock Development Trust (LDT)-IDE has forged partnerships with LDT to develop out grower schemes with loan facilities for on-farm livestock development and provide an opportunity for smallholders to improve available draft power for tillage and short haul transport. Global Commodities–A few farmers have been linked to Global Commodities to engage them in Irish potato production. Potatoes are a increasing becoming lucrative due to the increase in consumption of fast foods a bigger potion of which potatoes are but production restricted by quality seed supply. Open market for vegetables- A total of 1,118 vegetable producing smallholder farmers in Lusaka, Copperbelt, and Southern and Central province were linked to vegetable markets with a total crop value of US$26,775. Credit linkages-Through collaborating partners, smallholder farmers have accessed low cost irrigation technology on favorable credit repayment schedules, primarily based on their agricultural production. A total value of US$ 35,000 worth of treadle pumps (400 treadle pumps) have so far been linked to smallholder farmers within the Paprika program. Winrock has also facilitated linkages to the smallholders for the procurement of either irrigation equipment (treadl