The major innovation of the project is the set
of measures aimed at introducing the Rwanda poor smallholder growers
of cash and export crops in the world of modern industrial business,
marketing and finance. The institutional and financial arrangements
proposed provide the bridge between local small farmers associations
and the type of organizations that have the legal and financial
power to play in the global international market. A key innovation
of the project design is the association of a non-profit organization
specialised in promoting the linkages between producer cooperatives
in developing countries and Fair Trade organizations having access
to the retail gourmet market in high income countries. In view of
the limited experience of both IFAD and the partner Government of
Rwanda in dealing with FT organization, IFAD has secured the participation
of TWIN as FT project partner and project co-financier. These features
of the project respond to IFAD strategy aimed at increasing participation
and empowerment of the poor in the full cycle of production processing
and marketing of their produce, and of securing effective cooperation
with the private sector.
The key points of IFAD Strategic Framework and
of the Regional strategies have been recalled at the beginning of
Chapter IV. The project design attempts to put them into practice
within the context of the cash and export crop sub-sector in Rwanda.
The following table summarises the response of the project design
to the IFAD strategic thrusts in Rwanda as adopted in the COSOP
approved in 2001.
| Project components
|
Coffee Diversification |
Tea development |
Smallholder guaranteed
credit |
New cash crop development |
Project Coordination |
| IFAD strategic thrusts |
|
|
|
|
|
1. Support to GOR decentralisation and privatisation
policy |
Establishment of
autonomous private (cooperative) companies for processing
and marketing |
|
Project responds
to demand of grower groups., small and medium size private
enterprises |
|
| 2. Development of sustainable micro-finance
institutions |
|
Strengthening role
of primary cooperative societies and farmer associations,
linkages with viable commercial enterprises, and establishment
of relationships with RDB and commercial banks |
|
|
3. new ways of technology generation &
transfer |
Linkages with FT
organizations to secure know-how for top quality production
Funding national
research to keep abreast of developments |
|
|
|
| 4. diversification of income generation and
marketing |
Emphasis of top
quality production, FLO certification of tea and coffee products,
prices guarantee by quality control and FT trading partners
|
Smallholders including
women get tea plot in
Nshili |
|
Farmers, particularly
women, not involved
in traditional crops are encouraged to grow new cash crops |
Participatory Performance
Evaluation Workshops. Beneficiary Tracking |
|
5. support to small and medium size enterprises |
|
|
Main thrust of new
crop development |
|
|
| 5 support to community infrastructure |
|
|
|
|
|
| 6. cross cutting emphasis on women |
Women coffee growers
encouraged to join primary societies |
30 to50 per cent
of tea plots of Nshili OCIR-Thé estate go to women |
|
Many new crops
will be grown by women |
|
| 7. decentralised project management & improved
reporting and monitoring |
Processing and
marketing enterprises are private independent units with fully
autonomous management |
The credit scheme
is operated by independent autonomous primary societies |
Production processing
and marketing by autonomous PMEs or farmers associations |
Outsourcing implementation,
agreements with providers of services to poor smallholders
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
