AGRA MARKET ACCESS PROGRAM
GRA MARKET ACCESS PROGRAM
By
Anne Mbaabu 1
AGAGRARA?
he Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an
frican-based and African-led organization working with
ur partners to catalyze change that rapidly and sustainably
creases the productivity and incomes of smallholder
rmers, most of whom are women, and achieves food
ecurity for Africa.
ur goal is to catalyze a uniquely African Green Revolution.
Smallholder farmers
(mostly women)
In Africa
Smallholders
constitute the
backbone of
farming in Africa
about 85%
Large farmers
Medium
farmers
AGRA focus 13 countries
4
AGRA Strategy
Overview of AGRA
Confidential
– The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is focused on
3 key dimensions:
• Driving innovation
• Funding demonstration
• Engaging with partners to scale up success across staple
breadbasket areas and countries
– AGRA’s strategy focuses on:
• Breadbasket regions
• Food staples e.g. maize, rice, cassava, sorghum, millet and
grain legumes
• Use of M&E to establish baseline, track performance,
long/short term objectives, learning and mid-course direction
AGRA Strategy
:Holistic value chain approach
Land
Preparation
Input Supply
Farm
Production
Processing
Distribution
& Trading
Retailing
Consumption
Soil Health
PASS (seeds)
Market Access Program
Policy & Partnerships – in support of the program to create an enabling environment
AGRA has set three main strategic goals for 2020:
1. Reduce food insecurity by 50 percent in at least 20 countries.
2. Double the incomes of 20 million smallholder families.
3. Put at least 15 countries on track for attaining and sustaining a uniquely
African Green Revolution.
Market Access
Program
Market Access
Global objectives
Increase incomes and
reduce poverty by
promoting efficient,
well functioning
markets that will create
market linkages for
millions of smallholder
African farmers
AGRA Strategy
The Importance of Markets
Confidential
• Where large increases in agricultural productivity occur without corresponding
market access improvements, the outcome is dangerous for farmers because;
• Localized gluts drive down farm-gate prices
• Farmers abandon new technologies
• Low production occur in the next season, driving up food prices
• In the next five years, Market Access will focus on using an integrated value chain
approach to deliver the following key objectives:
• To reduce transaction costs for the 4 million smallholder farmers in the 13
AGRA target countries in Africa
• To increase value addition in food usage in the 13 AGRA target countries in
Africa
• To increase demand of food staples through alternative usage of food
staples in the 13 AGRA target countries in Africa
• To promote an enabling environment for local and regional trade of food
staples in the 13 AGRA target countries in Africa
Market Access business plan
• The Market Access Program will reach 4 million smallholder farmers
directly and an additional 1.5m indirectly in 5 years.
• The total estimated spend across all initiatives between 2010 and 2014 is
US$160 million.
• Program is not funded upfront. $9m available up to July 2010.
• Currently mobilizing funding
• Phased implementation of business plan P1 countries (Mozambique,
Tanzania, Ghana, Mali) and Kenya
9
Market linkages to public/private sector
Three intervention archetypes that describe what and how the
Market Access Program invests :
– Direct Procurement (DP)
• Facilitating linkages between farmer groups and top of supply chain
players and/ or SMEs ( e.g. WFP, Millers, large traders etc.)
– Market Development (MD)
• Facilitating access to credit via guarantee funds, investment funds,
and product development, MIS, Small medium agro-processing
– Storage & Services (SS)
• Increasing available storage capacity, particularly in main production
zones
• Training farmers, traders and processors on structured trade systems
e.g. warehouse receipts and commodity exchanges
Market Access Grant making (20 grants)
Confidential
Bank guarantee funds to banks to facilitate access to credit facilities by poor smallholder farmers,
agro-dealers and other players in the small holder value chain (Standard Bank, NMB & Equity
Bank)
Building a competitive banana industry in Kenya and Uganda
Provision of Business Development Services to SMEs; Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana
Market information systems ; Malawi and Kenya (private sector driven)
Cassava commercialization through village –level semi-processing for industrial feed use
Strengthening g capacity of small holder farmers to access rice markets; Tanzania
2 joint investments with Soil Health Program in Kenya and Nigeria to link soybean producers to
processors
Collaborative Master of Science in Agricultural & Applied Economics; East and Southern Africa
Grants Committed 2008 – 2009 in $Millions
4
3.5
3
2.5
$3.0
$3.5
2
$1.8
1.5
$1.1
$1.5
1
0.5
$0.6
$0.8
$0.7
$0.40
0
Amount of Grants
Approved - $Millions
Expected Outputs/outcomes targets
40,000 farmers linked to market in Northern Ghana in sorghum and
nuts markets
30,000 farmers supplying cassava chips to feed industry in East Africa
47,000 banana farmers’ incomes doubled in Kenya and Uganda
38,000 grain growers in Kenya targeted in Kenya & supplying P4P
100,000 farmers using SMS to access market prices in Kenya and
Malawi (MIS). Prices delivery over Radio reaches over 3m
The Standard Bank grant targets 750,000 smallholder farmers and
SMEs in 3 years.
Some key achievements in the first two years
Confidential
• Market Information System (MIS);
– Farmers able to negotiate better prices; for
example in Malawi farmers increased their pigeon
peas margin by 50%
– Established virtual trading floor through the
national radio program called supermarket on air
which is broadcast in vernacular language reaching
more than a million smallholder farmers
– USD$2.6 million worth of commodities traded by
smallholder farmers using MIS
Some key achievements in the first two years
Confidential
• Linking Banana Farmers to Market;
– In Kenya, the banana project has so far reached 20,638 smallholder farmers
organized into 530 farmers owned and business oriented groups (Producer
Business Groups.).
– Introduced the system of weighing bananas now farmers receiving 300% more
margins than before. They have sold 12,796.8 MT of bananas earning revenues
of US$1,577,038.
– Farmers have regular market days, as opposed to farmers waiting in their home
for brokers to show up and buy their produce leading to low farm gate prices
– In Uganda, we supported 17,353 farmers who have sold 77,550 MT of bananas
earning them revenues of US$7,300,000
Some key achievements in the first two years
Confidential
• Linking Cereal Growers to Market;
– linked a group of 86 widowed women farmers in Kenya, who sold US$400,000
worth of maize to the World Food Program (WFP) Purchase for Progress
Program (P4P)
Some key achievements in the first two years
Confidential
• Loan guarantee funds to banks
– Working with other Partners we have provided a
10% first loss guarantee to leverage USD 100m
from Standard Bank
– 10 Small and Medium Enterprises assisted in
preparing business plans in Uganda
–
– Now smallholders farmers able to access credit
(Kilimo Biashara) through Equity Bank in Kenya
($50m facility)
PRIVATE PUBLIC SECTOR INVESTMENT POTENTIAL
• Areas of private sector investments and financing
• Investment in cleaning and drying facilities in the rural areas
• Investments in storage facilities (silos and warehouses) to reduce postharvest
losses
• Investment in agro-processing ( cassava, maize, soya beans) and animal
feed industries
• Build rural market places ( wholesale and retail markets) for improved
trade
• Investment in agricultural market information services including farmer
help-lines through call centers, for timely, accurate market information
services.
Thank You
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