CTA Technical Reports
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Item Youth Economic Empowerment Through Agribusiness In Kenya (Vijabiz) - Synthesis of Activities and Outcomes(Report, 2021-04-01) Lohento, KenUstadi and CTA have jointly implemented the project “Youth economic empowerment through agribusiness in Kenya (VijaBiz)” in the Nakuru and Kilifi counties in Kenya. The project aimed to create sustainable employment for rural youth through active engagement in agribusiness for wealth creation and poverty reduction. More specifically, VijaBiz built entrepreneurship capacity for 163 youth agribusiness groups in cereals, dairy and fishery value chains in the Kilifi and Nakuru counties. The project facilitated the growth of youth-led enterprises through collaboration with innovative financial service providers, creating market linkages, integrating innovatively digital technologies and enhancing business management capacity. The project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), CTA and Ustadi through grant number 2000001651, started in June 2018 and ran until October 2020. This synthesis presents an overview of VijaBiz’s main activities, outcomes and impact. Most illustrative quotations have been taken from one of the project’s publications: “Growing rural youth agribusiness in Kenya – Stories and best practices of the VijaBiz project”, CTA, Wageningen, 2020.Item Preserving CTA’s intellectual property assets(Report, 2020-12-31) Khadar, IbrahimIn the run-up to the closure of CTA at the end of 2020, the Centre implemented a rigorous process to take stock of its intellectual legacy assets and plan for their responsible transfer, retention or disposal, in close consultation with EU and ACP stakeholders. Eight categories of CTA’s intellectual legacy assets identified 1. Projects and related content, such as reports, articles and blogs 2. Data assets, such as farmer profiles generated by projects and held by CTA as data controller under General Data Protection Regulation rules 3. Information products, such as publications (both physical and electronic), photos and videos 4. Platforms, including CTA websites, online platforms and software and systems such as CTA’s project management system 5. Digital applications created under projects – in all cases, ownership of these resides with the project partner 6. Social media, including CTA’s corporate channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vimeo and YouTube), those associated with CTA information products (e.g. ICT Update, Spore) and those associated with CTA initiatives (e.g. Web2forDev, ARYDIS and Innov4Ag Pacific) 7. Professional networks, most of which were moderated by CTA staff 8. Brands, such as Spore, Brussels Briefing, ICT Update, Pitch AgriHack and VALUE4HER and UAV4Ag.Item Report on CTA’s Intellectual Legacy Assets(Report, 2020-12-31) Khadar, IbrahimThe Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) countries, the legal and financial framework that supported the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), was due to end on 28 February 2020. As a consequence, CTA was also set to close. An orderly closure of the Centre was agreed by the OACPS-EU authorities, with the process to run from March to December 2020. As the negotiations on the future agreement between the OACPS and EU were delayed, the parties agreed on transitional measures to extend the application of the Cotonou Agreement first until December 2020 and later until November 2021. Although the process of closing CTA continued into 2021, the work described in this report was carried out between March and December 2020. Established in 1983, CTA actively supported agricultural transformation in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries for over 35 years, with wide ranging results and uptake of innovative practices in nearly 80 countries. Over the years, CTA adapted its approaches from its original role as a knowledge broker to driving wider investments, promoting innovation exchange on technologies, digital solutions, business models and relationships that have been critical to the sustainable transformation of ACP agriculture and the improvement of food and nutrition security. These decades of investments have yielded impressive results, a strong reputation and a rich intellectual property legacy, most of which is extremely useful to ACP agriculture and the development sector. Although CTA as an institute will cease to exist, the Centre has made every effort to ensure that its rich portfolio of valuable intellectual assets remain global public goods and continue to be available publicly to those that can benefit from them. As part of the orderly closure process, the Centre’s management instituted a process to take stock of its intellectual legacy assets and plan for their responsible transfer, retention or disposal, in close consultation with EU and ACP stakeholders. This included a comprehensive plan for handling these assets, which was approved by the EU and CTA’s Executive Board.Item Supporting and Scaling Up Youth Agripreneurship in Kenya(Report, 2020-12-20) Dianga, Alex Wasonga; Lohento, Ken; Bosire, EricThis analytical document on rural youth agribusiness is a source of evidence-based knowledge for youth in agriculture, or those doing agribusiness as well as organisations or entities implementing or supporting youth agribusiness in Kenya. The 9 articles in this document cover themes such as access to finance, business mentorship, ICTs and social media for agribusiness, market linkages and access that effectively shape-up and enhance rural youth agribusiness in Kenya and beyond. The articles were submitted by authors who responded to a call for articles launched by the project.Item Achieving Widespread Impact: CTA's impact pathways based on 23 evaluation reports(Report, 2016) Petrutiu, Stefan; Huet, Eva; Khadar, Ibrahim; Leuvenink, AnnemiekThis report presents an analysis of the impacts of CTA’s programmes and activities by 75 impact narratives. It looks into the types of impacts and beneficiaries reached, and the division between short- and long-term impacts. The report also includes a chapter which provides an interpretation of causal and chronological impact and another in which lessons learned are discussed. The 23 evaluation and impact studies, from which the 75 narratives were extracted, were produced in the period 2013–2015 and cover a portion of CTA’s activities from 2003–2014.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment(Report, 2020-12-08) Khadar, Ibrahim; Aniambossou, Imelda; Leguit, JosinaManagement of a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is a critical function in international development institutions such as CTA. CTA’s goals for investing in a strong M&E system are to promote accountability, learning, decision-making and visibility. CTA’s Learning Monitoring and Evaluation (LME) Unit was established in 2011 as a separate entity from the programmes, with overall responsibility for promoting organisational learning, supporting programme planning and overseeing project-based evaluations. Between 2012 and 2015 the Unit commissioned five major independent project-specific evaluations and 14 joint impact studies of CTA’s long-term support to partner organisations. Following the formulation of CTA’s 2016–2020 Strategic Plan, which included a fully-fledged corporate logframe, the Unit’s focus shifted to accompanying projects and programmes in planning for and demonstrating impact.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Hello Tractor(Report, 2020-06-16) Koutchade, Folake; Lohento, KenThis project was launched following a call for proposals on information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled mechanisation that CTA launched to support activities of its ICT programme in particular and identify how digital innovations could support mechanisation and youth jobs. The winning proposal selected was the project “Connecting Smallholder Farmers to Tractors Powered by Hello Tractor”. Knowledge has been generated to inform CTA’s programme of activities and stakeholders about digitalisation opportunities to support mechanisation and create jobs for youth.Item CTA Project Completion Report: AgriHack Talent: Focus on Pitch AgriHack(Report, 2020-10-30) Lohento, Ken; Koutchade, Folake; Bellinzas, GiorgioCTA’s AgriHack Talent initiative aimed to strengthen youth-led digital innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It was a key part of CTA’s strategy to encourage youth’s meaningful involvement in agriculture and promote youth employment and agricultural transformation through innovations. Co-designed with young innovators and partners, the AgriHack Talent project included: • competitions to develop information and communication technology (ICT) applications for agriculture (hackathons) when there is a need • a start-up competition (called Pitch AgriHack) targeting young companies already offering e-agriculture services • capacity building, mentorship and incubation opportunities • promotional and networking opportunities • facilitation of access to grants and investments to scale-up services offered. The project was launched in 2013 when a regional agricultural hackathon was organised in the framework of the international ICT4Ag conference that CTA organised in Rwanda. It was probably the first initiative of its kind at the international level targeting Africa. The hackathon targeted East Africa only, leveraging on the stronger development of digitalisation in that region. Hackathons were then organised annually until 2015. From 2016, the project focused on start-ups that already owned digital solutions as many prototypes were already in existence and needed support to grow. This was the launch of Pitch AgriHack. Four editions of Pitch AgriHack were organised. The 2016 edition covered all ACP countries, the 2017 edition focused on West Africa and the last two editions organised in 2018 and 2019 again covered all ACP countries. For these last two editions, CTA put young women’s digital entrepreneurship at the core of the project and 50% of finalists and winners were women-led businesses.Item CTA Rapport de fin de projet: iDEAL – Burkina(Report, 2020-08-10) Koutchade, Folake; Lohento, Ken; Son, Leticia Adama Gandema; Congo, Gueswindé Amos; Ouédraogo, SylvestreLe projet a mobilisé les technologies numériques pour renforcer l’entrepreneuriat agricole mené par les jeunes au Burkina. 146 jeunes entreprises et coopératives agricoles ont bénéficié de divers types de produits et services numériques. Bien que la plupart de ces services aient été offerts par des fournisseurs de services professionnels matures, en lien avec l’esprit du projet, quelques jeunes entrepreneurs numériques soutenus par le projet ont eu des engagements professionnels avec les jeunes producteurs et entrepreneurs agricoles. Les entrepreneurs numériques identifiés ont été incubés auprès d’incubateurs réputés de la place tels que KeoliD, afin de les préparer à développer leurs services et à les offrir aux jeunes entrepreneurs/exploitants agricoles. Les exploitants/entrepreneurs agricoles ont bénéficié d’un soutien numérique intense. En dehors des formations à l’utilisation des outils de traitement de texte (en particulier le tableur Excel très utile pour la tenue des comptes) et à l’utilisation des réseaux sociaux dans un but professionnel, un accent a été mis sur les services numériques favorisant un meilleur accès au marché (conseils agricoles, services de ventes collectives, informations sur les prix des produits agricoles, facilitation de vente via une plate-forme e-commerce, etc.). L’entreprise EcoData, qui gère le système d’information de marché AgriData a été un fournisseur de service principal du projet. En outre, vingt coopératives et entreprises agricoles impliquées dans le projet ont été sélectionnées et dotées de matériels informatiques pour consolider leurs usages des TIC. Les jeunes agriculteurs/agripreneurs impliqués viennent d’organisations de producteurs et ou ont été proposés par des projets soutenant l’entrepreneuriat agricole (Congrégation Paysanne du Faso (CFP), Fédération des Producteurs Agricoles du Burkina (FEPAB), projets du ministère de l’agriculture et d’organisations diverses, etc.) afin de favoriser synergies et durabilité. Un grand nombre d’exploitants/agripreneurs ont pu augmenter leurs revenues, trouver de nouveaux clients. Les activités liées aux TIC ont constitué un complément au soutien purement agricole dont les jeunes exploitants agricoles ont bénéficié. Différents produits communicationnels et de capitalisation des résultats ont été réalisés et promus. Il s’agit notamment de vidéos promotionnelles pour les meilleurs jeunes producteurs et entrepreneurs agricoles ainsi que d’un rapport sur les usages des TIC dans l’agriculture au Burkina.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Capitalizing on experiences for greater impact in rural development(Report, 2020-05-11) Chavez-Tafur, JorgeThe “Capitalizing on experiences for greater impact in rural development” project was a large-grant project which followed the proposal submitted to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the agreement signed between the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation and IFAD in March 2016. It was implemented by CTA and its partner organisations: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA). The project lasted for 3 years, and involved projects and organisations working in different parts of the world. Following the structure and the list of activities outlined in the project proposal, during these 3 years the project • helped complete the FAO/IMARK learning module on experience capitalisation and supported the production of the Spanish and French versions; • built and maintained a thematic website, and completed it with an online repository with guidebooks and manuals as well as with the results of different capitalisation processes; • prepared, used and shared a series of training materials, together with a facilitators’ guidebook – building on the resources already available, but more specifically on the experience accumulated by the project; • ran a series of training workshops and supported the completion of experience-capitalisation processes in East Africa, Mozambique, India, West Africa (in French and in English), South East Asia, the Pacific region and Latin America; • completed the editing, layout and publication of 10 booklets with the results of the capitalisation processes started in different parts of the world (with more than 120 cases in total), together with two additional booklets focusing on the capitalisation process itself and on its institutionalization; • worked together with other organisations, such Farm Radio International and the International Land Coalition, in the analysis and documentation of their projects’ activities; • ran a series of webinars for online facilitators, focusing on the organisation and facilitation of a community of practice, and invited different participants to guide and facilitate the regional communities - in English (East and West Africa and in the Pacific region), French (West Africa), Portuguese (Brazil and Mozambique) and Spanish (Latin America); • presented the results achieved in international conferences and seminars (in Benin, Mauritania and the Netherlands); and • helped prepare a series of capitalisation processes within CTA, as part of a thorough analysis of its different intervention areas.Item CTA Project Completion Report: ICT Update(Report, 2020-04-30) Addison, Chris; Muyiramye, Didier; Staden, Paul vanThe ICT Update magazine has been running for over 20 years, originating as an e-mail newsletter, and developing into a print magazine and website. Since 2018 a number of changes were implemented, and 12 issues have been produced in English and in French. A number of activities were undertaken to make the magazine more cost effective and more inclusive.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground – Transforming Africa's Agriculture(Report, 2020-06-15) Rambaldi, GiacomoBy embodying components like scientific research, proof of concept initiatives, capacity building, support to investment, enterprise development, networking, experience capitalisation and communication, this action has started transforming Africa’s agriculture into a high-tech industry, with decisions being based on real-time gathering and processing of data, productivity and yields The establishment of 38 rapidly expanding, youth-led enterprises offering drone-based services in 21 African countries, represents a significant development for the continent and a milestone for the building of the African Information Society. Started at the end of 2016, this initiative caught the attention of young entrepreneurs who were selected via a competitive processes, trained, and technically and financially supported in offering drone-based services to farmers’ organisations, agribusinesses, government, international development agencies and other parties. A June 2019 survey confirmed that the enterprises have been recruiting staff, investing in new equipment, increasing their turnover and client portfolio. An industry association (Africa Goes Digital Inc. [AfGD]) has been established to support further growth of the enterprises and enable members to group, offer diverse services and be more competitive. The project played an important role in establishing an enabling environment for the technology. It supported the African Union’s appointed High-Level African Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) in selecting drones for precision agriculture as one of the most promising technologies which would foster Africa’s development. In January 2018, the African Union (AU) Executive Council recommended that all Member States harness the opportunities offered by drones for agriculture. A full report entitled Drones on the horizon: Transforming Africa’s agriculture was launched at the Africa Innovation Summit in Kigali on 6 June 2018. Project implementers co-authored the report and have been advising national civil aviation authorities in developing regulations for the responsible use of drones. The project has been nominated as Champion and most importantly as winner in the category e-Agriculture of WSIS 2020.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Data4Ag(Report, 2020-04-30) Addison, Chris; Msengezi, Chipo; Muyiramye, Didier; Neate, PaulThis project is based on a request from the Pan African Farmers Organisation members developed during the succession of continental briefings examining their capacity building needs and policy issues between 2012 and 2016 in the following steps: Using a discussion forum amongst the more than 200 members, they identified a number of successful farmers organisations requiring support for capacity development. A study was then carried out by the ZED group together with a further e-discussion to establish the needs to improve financial management. This identified the need for data to improve access to finance in terms of credit, but also to ensure access to insurance. At the fourth Continental Briefing, the PAFO identified the need to upport data driven farming within the farmers organisations and the new opportunities offered by different sustainable models like precision agriculture. To ensure coverage across Africa the Regional Farmers Organisations were approached to propose further cases to ensure activities in each region. Several services were considered for support during the data4ag project: • Membership registration covering data take-on with mobile phone details so that farmers can update and receive further information through SMS services. The Farmers organisation can view this data through the Web, and download information locally and view dashboards of the information online. • GPS mapping. This involves geolocation of farms and potential boundary mapping. • Strategic development advice.Consultancy support to develop membership services can be provided for software development and data ownership agreements • Data take-on agents. Financial support to hire short-term agents to assist with initial registration and promotion of services.Item CTA Project Completion Report: D4Ag report(Report, 2020-08-01) Addom, Benjamin K.; Kermah, Michael; Chavez-Tafur, JorgeWorking together with Dalberg Advisors, CTA published The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report in June 2019 (the publication can be downloaded from https://tinyurl.com/y6546zwh). This was a “first-of-its-kind”, baseline report that highlights the state of digitalisation in enabling the transformation of African agriculture. The report was distributed through different channels – and reached thousands of readers in Africa and elsewhere. Several months later, CTA conducted this study to assess if the objectives of the report had been achieved. CTA was specifically interested in seeing how the report had been or is being used, and the extent to which the recommendations of the report have been or are being implemented. Next to this, CTA wanted to see if there is a general interest in building upon this work; and thereby generate targeted recommendations for any future actions by those stakeholders wishing to build on CTA’s legacy.Item CTA Rapport de fin de projet: Farmers' hub(Report, 2020-05-31) Fautrel, Vincent; Ba, AichetouAu Sénégal et au Mali, le maraîchage joue un rôle important pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire et mener la lutte contre la malnutrition. Le Sénégal, grâce à sa position stratégique et son accès à la mer mais aussi ses ressources en terre, jouit d’une situation favorable pour l’exportation de production horticole sur les marchés régionaux et internationaux. En 2014, le volume total des exportations tous produits confondus s’élevait à 79.662 tonnes. Les importations constituées principalement d’oignons, pommes de terre, carottes et bananes impactent négativement l’équilibre de la balance commerciale du Sénégal. En effet, le volume total d’importation pour ces quatre produits s’élevait à 222.395 tonnes en 2014 (Rapport de la Direction de l’Horticulture, 2016). Quant au Mali, les chiffres de la production de fruits et légumes en 2015 sont bien en deçà des prévisions et souligne le potentiel de développement considérable pour la production horticole destinée aux marchés locaux sénégalais et maliens. En outre, le maraîchage constitue une opportunité pour l’emploi des jeunes et l’autonomisation des femmes. Mais l’essor de ce sous-secteur reste surtout freiné par le faible niveau d’équipement et de formation des producteurs et les difficultés d’écoulement des produits de qualité à prix différencié. Ainsi pour parer à ces problèmes et booster ce sous-secteur au grand potentiel, la Fondation Syngenta pour une Agriculture Durable (FSAD) a développé le modèle des Farmers’Hub (FH) maraicher, PME agricoles spécialisées dans la production de pépinières, la location de machines et le conseil agricole, tout en incluant l’utilisation d’outils numériques. Ce modèle de « guichet unique », qui a démontré ses performances en Asie notamment au Bangladesh et en Indonésie1, a dû être adapté au contexte du Mali et du Sénégal afin de mieux répondre aux spécificités locales. Dans ce sens, le partenariat entre la FSAD et le CTA en 2019-2020 a permis une accélération du processus de calibration et de diffusion du modèle, afin de permettre à un nombre croissant de jeunes, notamment de femmes, de s’établir en tant qu’agripreneur.Item CTA Rapport de fin de projet: RONGEAD(Report, 2020-05-30) Fautrel, Vincent; Ba, AichetouEn Afrique de l'Ouest, les céréales font partie du régime de base des populations et constituent une importante source de revenu pour de nombreux petits producteurs. Le commerce des céréales représente une part significative du commerce intra régional et présente un potentiel important pour l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et des moyens de subsistance. Toutefois, le développement de ce commerce est actuellement entravé par de nombreux obstacles : l'absence d'un réel système d'information sur les céréales qui réponde aux besoins spécifiques du secteur privé, l'absence de normes de qualité harmonisées au niveau régional et de systèmes de garanties appropriés, ainsi que l'absence d'un cadre règlementaire et politique adapté. Pour contribuer à surmonter ces obstacles, le ROAC (Réseau Ouest Africain des Céréaliers) et le RONGEAD ont reçu du CTA un appui financier pour mettre en œuvre le Projet « Intelligence Économique pour la gestion du risque prix dans les marchés céréaliers ouest-africains ». Il convient de noter que ce projet s'inscrit dans la continuité de : (i) l'étude de faisabilité cofinancée par le CTA et l'Agence Française de Développement (AFD) sur le développement d'un système régional d'informations relatives aux céréales (2014) et (ii) la participation des membres exécutifs du ROAC aux deux éditions du Sommet africain sur le commerce des céréales, organisées par le Conseil des céréales d'Afrique de l'Est – EAGC (à Mombasa en 2013 et à Kigali en 2015). Ainsi, l’étude de faisabilité a montré qu’il était nécessaire et essentiel de fournir aux opérateurs céréaliers privés un accès à une information et à une expertise indépendante adaptée à leurs besoins, et orientée vers la gestion des risques prix. Ce projet a donc visé l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire sous régionale par un meilleur fonctionnement des marchés céréaliers et notamment la création de conditions de marché facilitant l’investissement dans la production, le stockage et la distribution des céréales. Il a permis la production d’informations et d’analyses économiques de qualité, condition nécessaire à l’établissement d’un marché structuré des céréales en Afrique de l’Ouest. Le présent projet a été exécuté dans huit pays (Togo, Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger et Sénégal). Signalons aussi qu’un neuvième pays (Guinée) s’est ajouté entre temps aux 8 autres pays. Le présent rapport rend compte des activités menées par le projet de 2016 à 2019.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Brussels Briefings(Report, 2020-04-18) Ajong, Félix; Chavez-Tafur, JorgeOrganised by CTA, the European Commission (EC), the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and Concord, the Brussels Development Policy Briefings have been a flagship initiative providing an inclusive policy dialogue forum for 13 years, focusing on the most critical issues facing agriculture and rural development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific countries. The Briefings offered a structured mechanism for the exchange of information and experience among representatives of the development community in Brussels. This was meant to help all these experts communicate with each other, and help increase the collaboration and partnership options. Many of the world’s leading experts were involved in 60 high-level policy dialogue meetings since the Brussels Development Policy Briefings were launched in 2007. Supporting a network of Brussels-based policy-makers and development practitioners, especially those focusing on rural development issues, the meetings provided the basis for new partnerships and helped many initiatives to scale up. As recognised by Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit at the EC, Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, the Brussels Briefings were popular and influential “in providing the cutting-edge latest information on topical issues, the policy debates [were] embedded in the highest echelons of the ACP constituency and [went] well beyond the event.”Item CTA Project Completion Report: ICT integration in business cluster development in Ethiopia(Report, 2020-08-08) Visser, PietThis CTA project works with an existing business cluster, around the Tsehay Union establishing an operational management system with maximising the use of ICT for: • The strengthening of the capacity of the union and their eventual business partners to manage the ICT supported operational management system. • Establishment of a demand-driven operational management system in 1 cluster/union consisting of: o farmer record-keeping (profiling) as traceability/quality assurance tool; o operational/inventory management tool for PC/unions, both inputs and outputs; and o sales projections and working capital needs. o The strengthening of the relationships and planning within the business cluster around Tsehay Union. It was agreed that the project had to pilot the platform with the union, with one cooperative and 500 farmers, much fewer than the foreseen operationalisation of 10,000 farmers and 10 cooperatives and even fewer than the foreseen piloting with 1,000 farmers and staff from 10 cooperatives and staff from the union, but the delays and the inaccessibility forced the project to reduce the number but spend the additional time of training union and cooperatives staff, partly distanced to be prepared for full operationalisation.Item CTA Project Completion Report: ADOPEM(Report, 2020-05-24) Visser, Piet; Robert ReidThis was a cost-sharing project supported the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). The project’s primary objectives are to: (1) strengthen the capacity of 2,000 small-scale farmers and rural women to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices; and 2) improve their access to financial products that support productive investments. By meeting these objectives, the project would improve the living condition of these farmers and rural women. It follows an earlier project, “Promoting competiveness of agricultural value chains in the Dominican Republic” involving Banco de Ahorro y Credito ADOPEM, CTA, CODESPA and REDDOM foundations and ADOPEN NGO from 2015 to 2017. The latter was implemented in parallel with a programme entitled “Rural and environmental finance” (FRA), which was implemented in 2016 by Banco de Ahorro y Credito ADOPEM, in collaboration with the Dominican Network of Micro-Finance Institutions (REDOMIF). Outputs of FRA were two financial products, namely Eco-Credito and “Agro Mujer ADOPEM”. The former product was targeted at small-scale farmers to assist them in investing in processes and technologies that would improve their environmental conditions and improve their ability to adapt to the impact of climate change. The latter product was to increase the access of rural women to finance for the development of economic activities. The viability of these two products was evaluated through a pilot project. Further assessments revealed that, apart from access to finance for productive activities, small-scale farmers and rural women also needed access to market information and improved skills and abilities to support innovation, entrepreneurship and their adaptation to climate change. Encouraged by the evaluation results, ADOPEM subsequently took the strategic decision to extend the FRA programme to other provinces within the Dominican Republic.Item CTA Project Completion Report: Grain Hub (G-Hub) Project(Report, 2020-06-15) Eastern Africa Grain CouncilSmallholder farmers are responsible for up to 90% of grain production in East Africa, but most of them face many challenges and are unable to reach the market and make a profit. They depend on their farms for income, but they often lack the skills and the knowledge to trade effectively and secure an income. The inputs they require (such as improved seeds and fertilisers) are expensive and are not always available. There are not enough facilities to store their produce; as such, most farmers are unable to wait for a better market price for their crops. In addition, traders and processors are not able to purchase grain from individual farmers as the volumes they produce are relatively small (showing limited possibilities for economies of scale). In partnership with the Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC), CTA conceptualised the grain trade business hub (G-Hub) model and provided a grant of €400,000 to EAGC to implement a project in Kenya and Tanzania. The G-Hub was designed as a service delivery model aimed at solving some of the challenges that most smallholder farmers in the region face in terms of input and output markets and the need to reduce post-harvest losses. The G-Hub model offered several services, including digital registration and profiling of farmers, consolidation and collective purchase of inputs, leasing or hiring of equipment and machinery, grain aggregation and warehousing, provision of technical advisory services, and a strong link to financial services for credit and output markets.