In Zambia, income for rural small scale farmers is often limited by obstacles such as low productivity, paucity of skills, gender inequality, weak value chain links, capital and policy constraints, and the threat of HIV/AIDS. Faced by such challenges, the farmers often are more concerned with meeting their day-to-day needs than maximizing the value of their output.
The Production, Finance, and Technology (PROFIT) program is increasing industry growth while alleviating household poverty. This is accomplished through enhanced value-added production and service technologies and increased access to financial and business development services. Program are developed around objectives to improve the capacity and competitiveness of high potential industries in which large numbers of micro and small agricultural and natural product based enterprises , including producers and processors, contribute and benefit in order to effectively compete in the near, medium, and long term.
Stronger Industries to Boost Rural Incomes
In Zambia, income for rural small scale farmers is often limited due to obstacles such as low productivity, paucity of skills, gender inequality, weak value chain links, capital and policy constraints, and the threat of HIV/AIDS. Faced by such challenges they often are more concerned with meeting their day to day needs than maximizing the value from their output.
The Production, Finance and Technology (PROFIT) program is increasing industry growth while alleviating household poverty. This is accomplished through enhanced value added production and service technologies and increased access to financial and business development services. Program objectives work to improve the capacity and competitiveness of high potential industries in which large numbers of micro and small agricultural and natural product enterprises (MSEs), including producers and processors, contribute and benefit in order to effectively compete in the near, medium, and long term.
PROFIT enhances competitiveness by providing:
- Better access to markets;
- Improved production technologies;
- Broader finance and Business Development Services (BDS);
- Initiatives to improve the enabling environment; and
- Reduced barriers to trade and investment.
The program emphasizes that benefits must accrue to small producers. PROFIT’s approach highlights concurrent attention to all elements of the value chain, from inputs and services to production, processing and marketing, while monitoring environmental and socio-cultural impacts of activities. PROFIT’s interrelated principles are participation, learning, and networking.
Program impact:
As of June 2009
- Smallholder demand is becoming recognized as a viable market for the agricultural retail industry – seed and chemical sales into the smallholder market increased by 140% from the same quarter last year.
- Over 1,700 in-community service providers have been engaged by commercial retail firms.
- Farmers are adopting new and more productive practices and technologies, such as early land preparation, critical to improved yields, as evidenced by the sale of over 1,200 Magoye Rippers in the first quarter of 2009.
- Improvements to the trading system extending to smallholder commodity marketing sector.
- Development of Commercial Dairy processors, who began engaging smallholder farmers yielding over a million liters, an increase of 134% over the same period last year.
- Over 150,000 individuals reached with community HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
