Rural Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Support Programme

Rural Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Support Programme

The programme helps improve rural employment opportunities in 6 of the 21 regions in mainland Tanzania: Iringa, Manyara, Mwanza, Pwani, Ruvuma and Tanga. These regions have been selected because they show a potential for entrepreneurial activity, with a higher than average percentage of the rural population already engaged in some form of self-employed activity.

The programme – also known by its Swahili acronym MUVI – provides selected medium and small-scale rural entrepreneurs with improved skills training, knowledge and access to markets to help increase productivity, profitability and off-farm incomes. The target group includes smallholder farmers and fishers who could profitably link up with processors and sell their produce to them. Women, young people and other disadvantaged groups, including people living in remote areas, people living with HIV/AIDS and the elderly, are particularly encouraged to participate in programme activities.

The programme has three goals:

• to improve the awareness of rural entrepreneurs of market opportunities and how these can be exploited through the development and implementation of a communication strategy (including radio linkages to poor and remote areas) and the training of the entrepreneurs to improve their businesses
• to improve the coordination and cohesion of selected value chains, through the creation and  strengthening of backward and forward linkages for the selected chains
• to strengthen public and private sector institutions to provide efficient and effective support to rural enterprises.

Source: IFAD