Programme area. The programme will be located in northern Mozambique (in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia), a region that generally produces a food surplus. Activities will mainly be carried out in 14 districts that feed into the Nacala Corridor, the primary physical distribution channel for food products marketed in the region.
Target group. The programme will mainly target semi-subsistence smallholder farmers who are, or could become, members of farmers’ associations. The target group will include poor rural smallholders, women farmers, woman-headed households and small rural traders. Specific activities will be supported for the poorest community members and for households affected by HIV/AIDS. From 50,000 to 60,000 households and 200 small rural traders are expected to benefit from programme activities.
Programme objectives. The programme’s development goal is to improve the livelihoods of poor rural households. Specifically, the programme will enable smallholders to market their agricultural surpluses more profitably through a combination of linked interventions that: (i) capitalize on opportunities within specific value chains and, at the same time, (ii) improve market efficiency by enhancing the capacity of farmers’ associations and small and medium-sized traders to produce and sell high-quality agricultural products.
Programme description. The programme will have five components:
- Value chain response facility. This facility will provide high-level management skills and technical expertise to develop projects jointly with emerging, growing or restructuring agri-enterprises that wish to incorporate smallholder groups into their operations, or to improve/expand the scope of their current smallholder operations. The facility will be flexible and responsive, operating at both the demand and supply end of pro-poor commodity value chains in order to provide income opportunities for participating farmers.
- Institutionally linked smallholder supply chain initiative. The programme will increase the competitiveness and efficiency of the supply chain so that smallholders can profitably expand sales of their marketable surpluses. To this end, it will leverage the purchasing power of the World Food Programme (WFP) (and possibly other large institutional buyers) to smallholders’ advantage by extending WFP’s existing food procurement system down to farmers’ organizations. This will ensure that a greater share of the buying price goes to farmers than under the current procurement system.
- Development of more dynamic market intermediaries. The programme will promote the development of farmers’ organizations and small and medium-sized rural businesses that offer inputs and marketing services to farmers. Two subcomponents are envisaged: (i) strengthening of farmers’ organizations; and (ii) support to traders.
- Market environment improvements. The programme will address three key factors that determine the ability of smallholders, traders and other market players to interact with the market: market access/market infrastructure; market information; and access to finance.
- Knowledge management and policy and institutional support. The programme will help develop governmental capacity to effectively oversee the development of market linkages and value chains in the country. Three subcomponents will be supported: (i) knowledge management and coordination; (ii) policy and institutional support; and (iii) programme management.
Important features. The proposed programme is consistent with the Government’s policies and in line with IFAD’s strategy to promote transparent and competitive agricultural input and produce markets with which the poor can profitably engage (an objective of the IFAD Strategic Framework 2007-2010). It is also consistent with IFAD’s country strategic opportunities paper for Mozambique. The programme will build on the experience gained during implementation of similar programmes, including the ongoing IFAD-financed Agricultural Markets Support Programme. It will also form alliances with a number of complementary programmes, such as the IFAD-financed Rural Finance Support Programme and the National Programme for Agricultural Extension (PRONEA) within the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (PROAGRI).
Potential cofinanciers. It is foreseen that IFAD will be the main programme financier, with the Government covering a relatively small portion of total programme investment and recurrent costs. There are also some indications that WFP may finance a major portion of the second component. Other sources of finance are actively being sought. Interested cofinanciers are invited to contact IFAD.
Photo caption 1: Photo provided by the Agricultural Markets Support Programme - Rural Trader
Photo caption 2: Photo provided by the Agricultural Markets Support Programme - Horticultural farmers at work
