Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty Agricultural Marketing Systems Development Programme (AMSDP) Linking local learners for improved market linkages First Mile Project implementation

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty AMSDP 7 year programme for a total of US$48.9 million with an IFAD loan of US$16.3 million Goal is to increase rural poor people’s food security and incomes by improving the structure, conduct and performance of the country’s crop marketing systems

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty First Mile Project People –small farmers –traders –processors Building capacity to form collaborative partnerships along market chains

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty The challenges Access by rural poor people to: –Information and knowledge –ICTs such as mobile phones, the Internet and –other key people in the market chain, including traders, processors and even consumers

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty What does the First Mile do Facilitates local learning Generates good practices in building market chains Empowers smallholder farmers to gain access to ICTs Links producers and buyers

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty How does it do it Ownership Appropriation Development of local content Networking Build on what exists Realistic cost and skill requirements

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty Three phases of activities Phase 1: Exploration and training Facilitation of local learning Phase 2: Training for on-line learning support On-line mentoring Phase 3: Identify commodities Assessment

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty First Mile Linking Local Learners programme Step 1 Download First Mile Questions file from Internet Step 2 Print out questions form on village computer Step 3 Local group discuss and respond to first mile questions Step 4 Input responses updating FMQ file First Mile Team Step 5 Upload First Mile Questions file to Internet

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty The role of information broker

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty Progress to date Direct market linkages achieved between producers and traders/processors Key partners identified to eliminate middlemen Farmer network created Information is being exchanged between district core teams Better use of “Linking Local Learner” network

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty Moving forward: immediate challenges to be addressed Building trust Poor Internet access Limited funds for field work

Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty Questions What are the conditions that need to be in place for farmers, traders and processors to see the benefits of sharing information, ideas and working collaboratively to build fairer and more efficient market relations? What are the benefits for rural poor people of blending old and new technology? What is the potential impact for increasing the effectiveness and reach of market chains? How can local appropriation of ICTs make market chains more efficient? How can ICTs help rural poor people generate and share their local knowledge, particularly in relation to market chains? What is the role of publicly funded agencies in fostering collaboration among rural entrepreneurs along a marketing chain?