Agricultural Services Support Project

In line with the government policy for the development of the agricultural sector, IFAD financed the Agricultural Services Support Project (ASSP) with a loan of US$4.0 million and a grant of US$ 1.6 million. The project was approved by the Executive Board in December 2010, and entered into force in February 2012. A start-up workshop was held in April 2012 in Gaborone, Botswana.

The project's goal is to contribute to economic diversification, reduce rural poverty and food insecurity, and improve livelihoods of rural communities. The specific development objective is to achieve a viable and sustainable smallholder agricultural sector based on farming as a business, and not reliant on subsidies or welfare measures.

Activities focus on introducing conservation agriculture techniques which are adapted to low rainfall areas, constructing one-stop agricultural service centres in certain districts to provide crop and livestock inputs, tractor parts and services, and establishing and implementing a 29 ha. pilot wastewater irrigation scheme to supply vegetables to local and national markets.