Agro-dealer named Charity in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia standing in front of her inventory. After 3 months of field experience with IDE in Pemba, I'm ready to start something new and challenging. Based on my work experience, my strengths, and interests, EWB decided to pair me up with CARE International-Zambia's ADAPT Project. The acronym, ADAPT, stands for "Agro-dealer Project".
The problem
Smallholder farmers in remote areas lack access to affordable agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer, seeds, and agrochemicals such as herbicides and pesticides. Most smallholder farmers lack reliable and affordable transport and may have to travel at least 50 km to the nearest town centre to access the agric inputs that are necessary to ensure a successful yield in crops.
CARE ADAPT's solution
CARE-Zambia's ADAPT is a 3 year project aimed at increasing access to affordable intputs through the establishment of a network of rural input agrodealers and distributors in the Central, Eastern, and Copperbelt provinces. CARE ADAPT field staff recruits, trains and certifies agro-dealers in rural neighbourhoods. ADAPT field staff help these agro-dealers build capacity by giving them business (i.e. marketing) and technical training (i.e. agrochemical handling). Furthermore, as facilitators, ADAPT field staff organize demand-creation activities, such as field days and seed fairs, to link stakeholders, such as farmers, agro-dealers, and input suppliers.
A new approach to development
Unlike other CARE projects, ADAPT is unique in that it adopts a market value-chain facilitation approach. Activities in traditional NGO agricultural projects come in the form of direct service delivery to smallholder farmers (like what I did with IDE). A Market Facilitation approach addresses overall system constraints by adjusting activities and intervention practices that are in line with the dynamic nature of markets. In traditional projects, NGO's directly intervene by providing farmers with inputs and services (e.g. WorldVision giving away seeds to farmers for free) thus risking the distortion of market realities. In a market facilitation approach, the NGO takes on a neutral role, as a facilitator, and catalyzes linkages, adoption and ownership amongst value chain players; but does not become part of the chain nor interferes in market transactions. This approach is the heart of our focus in the Agriculture Values Chains team at Engineers Without Borders. We only partner with organizations and projects that adopts this approach and with those who envision market-based solutions to development in impoverished nations.
My role as EWB Africa Project Staff
Effective market facilitation requires new organizational capacities and management approaches. To assist with developing these capacities, I will be supporting the ADAPT team in two major management capacity building areas:the development of implementation-level monitoring and evaluation system (M&E) in order to gather relevant information and thus support improved decision making for day-to-day management; and offering on-going support to upgrade staff skills as market facilitators in the form of business training. As an M&E advisor, I will need to strike a fine balance between capacity building for existing staff and gap-filling due to the lack of time and human resources. As an external advisor, I will have to balance between the the needs and demands of various stakeholders at different levels (field staff --> project management --> national office --> international office --> donor), and the practical needs of system design.
The problemSmallholder farmers in remote areas lack access to affordable agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer, seeds, and agrochemicals such as herbicides and pesticides. Most smallholder farmers lack reliable and affordable transport and may have to travel at least 50 km to the nearest town centre to access the agric inputs that are necessary to ensure a successful yield in crops.
CARE ADAPT's solution
CARE-Zambia's ADAPT is a 3 year project aimed at increasing access to affordable intputs through the establishment of a network of rural input agrodealers and distributors in the Central, Eastern, and Copperbelt provinces. CARE ADAPT field staff recruits, trains and certifies agro-dealers in rural neighbourhoods. ADAPT field staff help these agro-dealers build capacity by giving them business (i.e. marketing) and technical training (i.e. agrochemical handling). Furthermore, as facilitators, ADAPT field staff organize demand-creation activities, such as field days and seed fairs, to link stakeholders, such as farmers, agro-dealers, and input suppliers.
A new approach to development
Unlike other CARE projects, ADAPT is unique in that it adopts a market value-chain facilitation approach. Activities in traditional NGO agricultural projects come in the form of direct service delivery to smallholder farmers (like what I did with IDE). A Market Facilitation approach addresses overall system constraints by adjusting activities and intervention practices that are in line with the dynamic nature of markets. In traditional projects, NGO's directly intervene by providing farmers with inputs and services (e.g. WorldVision giving away seeds to farmers for free) thus risking the distortion of market realities. In a market facilitation approach, the NGO takes on a neutral role, as a facilitator, and catalyzes linkages, adoption and ownership amongst value chain players; but does not become part of the chain nor interferes in market transactions. This approach is the heart of our focus in the Agriculture Values Chains team at Engineers Without Borders. We only partner with organizations and projects that adopts this approach and with those who envision market-based solutions to development in impoverished nations.
My role as EWB Africa Project Staff
Effective market facilitation requires new organizational capacities and management approaches. To assist with developing these capacities, I will be supporting the ADAPT team in two major management capacity building areas:the development of implementation-level monitoring and evaluation system (M&E) in order to gather relevant information and thus support improved decision making for day-to-day management; and offering on-going support to upgrade staff skills as market facilitators in the form of business training. As an M&E advisor, I will need to strike a fine balance between capacity building for existing staff and gap-filling due to the lack of time and human resources. As an external advisor, I will have to balance between the the needs and demands of various stakeholders at different levels (field staff --> project management --> national office --> international office --> donor), and the practical needs of system design.
Outside Charity's agro-dealer shop in Kapiri-Mposhi, Zambia
Another agro-dealer shop in Kapiri-Mposhi, Zambia
