New Agrodealer Program in Sierra Leone

CNFA has recently been awarded a one year, $1.5 million pilot program by the Government of Sierra Leone, entitled Pilot Agrodealer Strengthening Program through the International Fund for Agricultural Development. This result-oriented program is designed to increase rural incomes through better agricultural productivity, improved food security, and reduced poverty by transforming Sierra Leone’s fragmented, limited and informal input distribution system into an efficient, commercially-viable input supply infrastructure operated by the private sector. The primary tool of this pilot program is the development of an agrodealer network which provides a one-stop-shop through which smallholder farmers can find greater access to improved inputs, services and output marketing, thereby improving production and establishing additional markets on which to sell their agricultural products.

In addition to the development of a commercial rural private network of Agrodealers, the program will increase access to trade credit to enhance the flow of productive inputs to agrodealers, and strengthen key private sector agro-inputs associations to provide member services and advocate for member interests. Through the training of 40 agrodealers; 10,000 farmers will receive improved inputs, and at least $240,000 in trade credit will be leveraged through credit guarantee facility. Through the program’s strategic methodology, household revenues will increase by at least 20%.

 

New Program to Drive Pakistan's Economic Growth

November 2011: CNFA has begun implementation of a five-year, $5.3 million program entitled the Agribusiness Project, which is funded by USAID-Pakistan. The Agribusiness Project is the first USAID award led by a Pakistani organization. This approach aligns with CNFA's core belief that empowering local leaders and entrepreneurs drives sustainable development. The program will increase economic growth, create employment opportunities and amplify the competitiveness of horticulture and livestock value chains in Pakistan.

A competitive agribusiness sector can lead to export-led growth, food import substitution, improved food security, and poverty reduction. Agriculture currently constitutes the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, contributing to 21 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 50 percent of the employed labor force.

The Agribusiness Project will strengthen local capacity within the horticulture, livestock and fishery value chains to increase sales to domestic and foreign markets; improve the ability of smallholders and farmer enterprises to operate autonomously and effectively; and enhance agriculture productivity through the adoption of new farming techniques. As a result of the program, 62,500 farmers and 2,500 agribusiness stakeholders will receive technical assistance. In addition, $310 million will be leveraged from the private sector through the provision of cost sharing support to 45,000 Farmer Enterprise Group members, 100 associations and cooperatives, 250 individual and corporate farmers, 40 R&D and extension providers, and 100 Small to Medium Enterprises. The program will create 1.3 million jobs and substantially raise farm incomes, contributing towards poverty alleviation and enhanced food security.

 

 

Afghanistan Mobile Money Press Conference

August, 25

The Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah, spoke at a press conference yesterday at the Government Media and Information Center in Kabul, Afghanistan to announce the approval of three USAID innovation grants to major mobile phone service providers; Etisalat, MTN, and Roshan M-Paisa. The grants, totaling $2.1 million, are part of the Mobile Money Innovation Grant Fund, managed through the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan (FAIDA) program.

The grants distributed included an application that allows the Afghan Education Ministry to pay rural teachers directly through mobile phones. This application also removes the danger many Ministry employees currently face transferring money in-person across the country. Secondly, a grant was given to build an application that allows citizens to pay for their water bills via the phone. A third grant was distributed to enable a local microfinance consortium to extend their reach of credit and make loans more accessible to women. In addition to these grants, USAID announced the kick-off of a co-sponsored competition with the Afghan Mobile Money Operators Association, which encourages Afghan university students to develop an innovative mobile money application within categories such as; agriculture, women’s empowerment and small business development. Winners of this competition will receive cash prizes and the development of their mobile idea.

This ceremony further emphasized USAID’s focus on investment in mobile innovation, specifically mobile banking, in Afghanistan. “Increasing access to safe, sound financial services for the under-served majority in Afghanistan and building transparency in the financial system is fundamental to economic growth” - said Dr. Shah.

FAIDA/USAID Video: Afghanistan’s emerging mobile money sector

Administrator Shah’s recent blog post: Innovating in Afghanistan

 

 

CNFA Awarded New Program to Strengthen Egypt’s Olive Sector

 August 2011: CNFA has received a new 2 year, $3.2 million award from USAID Egypt to strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s olive sector. The olive sector currently represents approximately 30,000 Egyptian jobs, but does not effectively capitalize on export market opportunities due to substandard production and post-harvest practices. These constraints limit raw material supply to processors and traders, which in turn causes them to operate below capacity and limits possible value addition. Egypt is currently the 2nd largest exporter of table olives in the world, but ranks only 9th in terms of revenue due to lack of value addition. This underperformance also highlights the potential for the Olive Sector Development Project, (OSDP), to impact the sector, which can be a strategically important contributor to rural employment and income generation.

 

OSDP will assist olive producers to improve production practices and post-harvest handling, help processors improve quality and engage in value-adding activities that lead to increased exports, profits and employment, and facilitate producer-processor linkages between growers’ associations and processors. As a result of OSDP implementation, CNFA will create 600 new jobs, benefiting 2,500 farmers and increasing smallholder incomes by at least 30%.