The Catalysing Sustainable Investments and Trade in Food Systems programme seeks to catalyse inclusive investments and trade in food systems in Southern Africa as one of FAO’s major flagship programmes to increase the contribution of agriculture to inclusive economic growth and reduced rural poverty in the SADC region. The programme seeks to take strong measures to address the perennial and systemic constraints of under-investment and limited intra-African agricultural trade in the sub-region through undertaking activities to address constraints such as ineffective policy processes, limited use of different combinations of specific policy implementation instruments, weak targeting of interventions, weak institutions and limited capacities in both the public and private sector for delivery. Ultimately, the Programme seeks to enhance the capacities of SFS countries to seize expanded market opportunities provided by the AfCFTA. DevPact consultants participated in country level engagements and engagements with AUDA/NEPAD to develop the regional programme for the FAO. 

Partners:FAO  

https://www.fao.org/africa/en

A large mining house in South Africa has engaged Technoserve to develop a local economic development diagnostic project that will be delivered by Technoserve in and around the mine to improve economic outcomes for individuals in the zone of influence and target communities. As part of a diagnostic exercise to define the overall program design Technoserve retained DevPact to conduct a supply side analysis across agriculture, mining, and tourism sectors in Blouberg and Musina municipalities in Limpopo province, South Africa. Specifically, the supply-side analysis sought to inform the decision on which value chains should be prioritized before proceeding to define the value chain development strategy and specific interventions for each of the value chains. The analysis therefore required engagement with local smallholder farmers, MSMEs and investment agencies in Limpopo to collect and collate the necessary data.

Partner: Technoserve, 

https://www.technoserve.org

Implemented by CARE International, USAID is funding a Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Zimbabwe which seeks to impact more than 301,636 people in two districts. The program seeks to increase on-farm and off-farm incomes, improve nutrition, and work with women, men, girls, and boys to build resilience to shocks and stressors. The program has cross-cutting components of gender equality, youth empowerment, local governance, and accountability. As part of the program’s Refine and Implement period (Year 1), DevPact is conducting detailed value chain analysis across various crop and livestock value chains to identify focus value chains for the program as well as recommending suitable systemic interventions within those value chains. DevPact deployed a team of value chain experts to lead data collection, key informant interviews and focus group discussion across four districts in two provinces in the country. Data was then analysed using Atlas Ti software to understand the dynamics prevailing in the various market systems as a basis for crafting market led interventions with the best chances of sustainability beyond USAID funding.

Partner: CARE International,  https://www.care.org/

Link to report click here

USAID Zimbabwe designed an NTFP activity which sought to improve the resilience of vulnerable and marginalized communities (particularly women and youth) through increased incomes and strengthened environmental stewardship from the commercialization of non-timber forest products in Zimbabwe. The target population for this activity are vulnerable communities inhabiting Natural Regions IV and V, which make up about 60% of the total land area of Zimbabwe. In these regions annual rainfall is less than 650 mm, there are high levels of food insecurity, low levels of household nutrition, and limited incomes. DevPact was commissioned by TechnoServe to conduct an NTFP sector analyses with the aim of selecting, prioritizing and conduct a detailed value chain analysis for NTFP crops in Natural Regions IV and V in Zimbabwe. The commodities selected for the study were identified on the basis of stakeholder consultation, including with target communities. The study assessed the status, constraints, and economic potential of the selected commodities. The study also reviewed community-level productivity of selected commodities, input and output markets for commodities in question, land tenure, community organizations/cooperatives, access to finance by agribusinesses and extension. The ultimate objective was to identify the most competitive NTFP value chains for commercialization within the target geographies. The value chains identified included baobab, marula, ilala palm, mopani worms and apiculture.

Partner: Techno Serve

https://www.technoserve.org/

USAID Tanzania Kilimo Tija (TZ Hort) project, seeks to increase economic opportunities in horticulture market systems, especially for youth by strengthening the organization of horticulture market systems to increase enterprise and employment opportunities; increasing access to commercially provided and productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies; and strengthening the enabling environment for market systems development. The project’s Zone of Influence (ZOI) are the regions of Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe, and Zanzibara and also targets market sheds outside of the ZOI including Dar es Salaam, Songwe, and Arusha. The project uses a market systems approach (MSD) with a heavy emphasis on changing behaviors to promote greater transparency, perceptions of fairness, and trust. DevPact was commissioned by DAI to prioritize and conduct detailed analyses of five horticulture and spice value chains in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Morogoro with the objective of understanding the structure, scale, and dynamics of the value chains in order to design market-based interventions to improve the commercialization, inclusiveness, and competitiveness of those value chains. In addition to delivering the analyses, DevPact developed a case study per value chain recommending how the project could potentially engage with specific stakeholders/market system actors in the ZOIs to increase economic opportunities in horticulture market systems, especially for youth.

Partner: DAI

https://www.dai.com/

The purpose of the five-year Feed the Future Mozambique Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura (RESINA) Activity, is to increase the resilience of smallholder farmers and rural households in target districts in the Zambezia and Nampula provinces of Mozambique. To achieve this, the activity is implementing a local food systems approach that integrates climate change adaptation capacities focusing on innovation, affordable water solutions, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture. The team co-creates solutions with market actors that build their absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. Efforts will also involve shifting how market actors work with communities to anticipate and respond to shocks. DevPact was retained to provide targeted support to FTF RESINA’s technical team to co-create intervention solutions with local market actors and to develop program descriptions (partnership proposals) for approval by USAID and subsequent implementation. In addition, DevPact provided rapid market systems development (MSD) training to the technical team in Nampula, Mozambique. As part of this work, DevPact worked with the FTF RESINA team to prioritise 16 concept notes that were then developed into comprehensive project documents through co-creation sessions with public and private sector partners in Mocuba, Mogovolas, Ribaue, Malema, Murrupula and Alto Molocue.

Partner: 

https://www.acdivoca.org/