Increasing Farmer Linkages to LOCAL, REGIONAL, GLOBAL Markets
RELATED NEWS
Summary
ACDI/VOCA was awarded the Cooperative Development Program from 2004-2010. Following a successful six years, USAID awarded an eight-year follow-on program. The renewed program (2010-2018) has been implemented in Paraguay and East Africa, however, in its final two years (2016-2018) CDP is only being implemented in Ethiopia and Liberia. CDP aims to improve the governance, management and productive capacity of business-oriented, professionally managed, farmer-owned and operated organizations to better meet the needs of their male and female members through targeted technical assistance and capacity building activities.
Objectives
- Increase food security and financial stability of smallholder farmers
- Expand trade and investment opportunities
- Improve performance of cooperatives to meet the needs of their members
Activities and Approaches
- Conduct participatory assessments to develop a baseline against which cooperatives can measure their own improvements in performance
- Provide institutional capacity building and commodity-specific technical assistance through trainings
- Establish in-country Cooperative Learning and Information Centers (CLIC) where stakeholders can access learning tools to improve the operations and performance of their respective organizations
- Conduct assessments to inform enabling environment interventions
- Assist male and female cooperative members in building awareness and developing strategies and policies that encourage and facilitate women’s participation and leadership
- Build capacity of female members in areas such as women’s empowerment and leadership training
Achieved Project Results
- Provided 46 agricultural cooperatives and five unions with technical assistance and trainings in leadership, group dynamics, and Farming as a Family Business that led to improvements in recordkeeping, strategic planning, financial planning, and quality control in three countries (Paraguay, Ethiopia, and Kenya)
- In partnership with local entities, supported the establishment of seven CLICs in three countries (Paraguay, Ethiopia, and Kenya)
- Developed a Business Case for Women’s Participation in Agricultural Cooperatives
Funder: USAID
