Innovations for Agricultural Productivity – Arsi (IFAP-Arsi)

The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched in 2014 the global initiative „One World no Hunger“. The global program „Innovation centres for agriculture and food sector” forms part of the global initiative and aims at improving income of smallholder farmers, creation of employment opportunities and improving food supply through supporting innovations in the agriculture and food sector. Under this framework the country module “Innovations for Agricultural Productivity in Arsi” (IFAP – Arsi) has been developed being subject of this tender.

The IFAP- Arsi project shall add significantly to achieve the objective of the global program and its contribution will be measured with the following indicators:

• Increased net income of smallholder farmers from sales of products of the supported value chains.

• Increased average productivity of land, labor and/or capital of smallholder farmers and increased average productivity of labor and/or capital in up- and downstream agribusinesses.

• Increased employment along the promoted value chains and in the up- and downstream agribusinesses; whereby women and youth account for 35% and 20% respectively of increased employment.

• Increased participation of agricultural smallholdings and up- and downstream agribusinesses in training courses, extension and/or in vocational education programs; participation of women and youth in these programs account for 30% and 20% respectively.

• Improved framework conditions for sustainable structural changes within the selected chains, through interest groups of value chain actors.

• Developed active partnerships for the promotion of innovations in selected value chains at national, regional and/or global level.  

The IFAP-Arsi project contributes to the enhancement of productivity in the agricultural sector through promotion of the value chains Wheat and Faba beans  by up-scaling of innovations and best practices within five innovation clusters: (1) Good agricultural practice; (2) Agricultural inputs; (3) Mechanization and technology; (4) Limited and targeted investments in value chains; (5) Farmers’ / value chain actors’ organizations.

The support strategy of the country module comprises the following major intervention areas:

• Up-scaling of technical, organizational and economic innovations with broad scale, positive impact on income and productivity of smallholder farmers, being the core of the project’s support strategy which enables smallholder farmers to realize innovations in the Wheat and Faba beans value chains.
• Strengthening service provision for smallholder farmers (e.g. through strengthening extension services; training institutions; up- and downstream agribusinesses).
• Strengthening organizations of value chain actors and promoting their lobbyism at political level.   

The project will support existing structures and three different innovation agents towards the planned objectives: (1) Government (namely extension services); (2) Farmers’ organizations; (3) Private sector.

The regions for implementation of the country module IFAP – Arsi are 5 woredas in the wheat belt of the Arsi zone.

Close coordination of interventions with the ongoing program of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) “Supporting sustainable agricultural productivity in Ethiopia (SSAP) and the planed BMZ program “Agricultural Mechanization and Technology for Smallholder Productivity (AMTP)”.