Year: October 2015 – February 2018
Country/Area: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda
Client: Food Trade East and Southern Africa
Funded by DFID/ UKAid
Description:
Designed to facilitate structured trade of 30,000 MT/year of dry beans produced by 10,000 -15,000 smallholder farmers and at least double the incomes of 10,000 commercially-oriented smallholder farmers (SHFs) in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda through: a) Establishment of 10 to 15 commercially viable and sustainable business clusters/consortia/ linkages to specific end-markets of beans, b) Increase the supply, efficiency and cost- effectiveness of business support services to different actors along the bean value chain, c) Market-driven increase in quantity, aggregation and quality of beans produced.
Achievements:
- Over 20,000 MT volumes of produce traded i.e.19,883 MT of beans, Sorghum – 550 MT Cow peas –80 MT, Soy beans – 15 MT and Groundnuts – 7 MT.
- Over USD 70,000 worth of loans was accessed directly by the farmers.
- 13 consortia were formed integrating 11,299 farmers, 12 off-takers, 14 seed companies, 7 Commercial Banks, 10 extension service providers and 9 Local government offices.
- Over 11,000 farmers (5,383 males and 5,916 females) and 135 Farmer Business Organizations, 13 lead firms and 14 seed companies accessed improved market information.
- Over 1,600 MT of improved inputs accessed by farmers i.e. 488 MT Seeds of seed, 115 MT of fertilizer, 741 MT of manure and 284 MT of soil lime. These were accessed by 8,097 SHFs (4,216 males and 3,881 females).
- Over 300 in-depth farmer specific soil analysis reports produced and disseminated to SHFs i.e. 64 in Kenya, 52 in Rwanda, 148 in Tanzania and 79 in Uganda.
- Over 8,000 farmers (3,881 females and 4,216 males) received BEST-EAC supported training on Farmer Business School, Good Agricultural Practices, Post-Harvest Handling, Integrated Soil fertility management and Integrated Pest Management.
