Project profile — Innovation for Rural Prosperity

iDE’s (International Development Enterprises Association Inc.) project aims to improve income and food security for 21,000 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Ghana and Cambodia. The project is designed to achieve this through targeted investments in training and developing smallholder-oriented private sector product and service providers. By working with local entrepreneurs and private sector service providers to introduce supply chain innovations and by opening up higher-value market opportunities for farmers, iDE creates the opportunity for a significant and growing number of smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and increase their prices, thus more fully leveraging their land, water and labour.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) increased sustainable agriculture production for poor rural households especially women; (ii) improved effectiveness of supply chains to serve poor rural households with income-generating-solutions such as market information, inputs such as quality seed, pest control, fertilization solutions, financing and micro irrigation equipment; and (iii) increased incomes for poor rural households, especially women, from selling agriculture production.

Results achieved as of the end of the project in October 2017: (1) the project met its targets serving over 21,000 smallholders as clients of agricultural service providers and achieved an increase in annual smallholder income of over $675 averaged across Ethiopia ($1,110), Ghana ($280) and Cambodia ($485); (2) the project saw smallholders expand their irrigated area and improve their productivity for several key crops; (3) 18,690 farmers (15% female) attended information sessions in Ethiopia, 10,985 (49% female) in Ghana and 17,685 (57% female) in Cambodia; (4) 947 trainings were held in Ethiopia, Ghana and Cambodia on farming as a business, agronomic and production management of these, 7,034 farmers (15% female) were trained in Ethiopia, 7,812 farmers were trained in Ghana (58 % female) and 9,956 farmers were trained in Cambodia (58% female). These results contributed to sustained improvement in food security for poor rural households.