Pakistan

The Agribusiness Project

Overview:

The five-year, $90 million Pakistan Agribusiness Project (TAP), funded by USAID-Pakistan, strengthened local capacity within key value chains to increase sales in domestic and foreign markets. The program bolstered economic growth, created employment opportunities and amplified the competitiveness of horticulture and livestock value chains. TAP also increased the effectiveness of smallholder enterprises, enhanced agriculture productivity, and was the first USAID economic growth program led by a Pakistani organization – the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF).

As ASF’s stateside partner, CNFA’s role on TAP was to assist ASF in strengthening grant management, accounting, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, environmental, and information management systems and procedures, as well as to provide technical assistance for development of horticulture and livestock value chains.

Program Approach:

  • Provide technical assistance and capacity building training to farmers, associations and agribusiness enterprises across the target value chains;
  • Offer customized cost-sharing grant products across the key value chains;
  • Provide international support for agricultural marketing and brand development to identify and capitalize on high-price market opportunities and develop market linkages;
  • Establish several Value Chain Platforms to promote the development of specific subsectors and create linkages between the stakeholders involved in the value chains.

Monitoring and Evaluation and Data Collection: CNFA offered technical support to the project regarding USAID regulations, baseline studies, participatory rapid horticulture and livestock appraisal assessments, gender analysis, data collection tools, development of indicators, and training project staff in development evaluation to comply with ASF’s Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). This included designing the activity reporting formats, developing the data entry, analysis, and reporting software, and defining the data in-and-outflow mechanism. This assistance also included efforts to build the capacity of TAP regional teams in the operation of the M&E systems.

Environmental Compliance: CNFA worked with ASF to ensure that the project and its associated grant activities are in compliance with USAID environmental regulations. This cooperative effort drew on CNFA’s experience in knowledge management, compliance, M&E studies, and reporting on matters relating to monitoring and mitigating any adverse environmental impact of project interventions.

CNFA spearheaded the Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Agribusiness Project, which involved identifying potentially significant environmental and social issues that could develop as a result of project activities throughout the life of the project.

As a result of CNFA’s technical assistance to the EA, USAID approval was obtained, clearing the way for large grants. CNFA also helped ASF by training regional M&E staff and develop an environmental compliance system that incorporates USAID’s approval for grant activities.

Geographical Information System (GIS) and Management Information System (MIS): The CNFA GIS team provided technical support to The Agribusiness Project in program implementation by developing GIS maps reflecting project regions, value chains, activity sites, and beneficiaries. In addition to developing more than 300 maps, the CNFA team used Google Earth to create animated video tours for the targeted value chains. The GIS support in the design, implementation, and monitoring of the project accomplished the following:

  • Mapped project interventions and beneficiaries across the targeted value chains and regions;
  • Provided environmental screening on project activities;
  • Tracked project progress on activities and performance indicators;
  • Identified value chain clusters with respect to regions, and value chain actors including producers, processor, market agents and service providers; and
  • Located exact location and other relevant particulars of project beneficiaries and grantees.

In conjunction with the GIS maps, the CNFA team initiated the development of a Geographical Information based Decision Support System. This system is available on and offline for project data management to provide centralized information and make it readily available to all relevant stakeholders.

CNFA also supported the Agribusiness Project in its development, maintenance, and transfer of M&E and IT systems related to impact assessment and reporting to a web-based, integrated management information system (IMIS). This system automated the functions of HR, finance, procurement, grants management, M&E, and GIS to increase the efficiency of internal communication and improve decision-making capacity of management.

Capacity Building: CNFA provided technical assistance and capacity building for both TAP staff and beneficiaries. The CNFA Capacity Building Advisor assisted TAP in various project components, including short-listing business development service providers for a more comprehensive TAP capacity building grant. CNFA’s team supported needs assessments, drafting of scopes of work, and the development of implementation plans for a capacity development program for Farm Service Centers (FSCs) in FATA, a market linkages program between National Food Limited and progressive red chili farmers, and a capacity development program for representatives of the horticulture and livestock value chains in the AJK region. Additionally, CNFA assisted ASF in organizing exposure visits for representatives of the FSCs from FATA.

Expected Impact:

  • 62,500 farmers receiving technical assistance and training;
  • 2,500 Agribusiness stakeholders receiving technical assistance and training;
  • 1,300,000 jobs created that will substantially raise farm incomes;
  • $310,000,000 leveraged from the private sector through the provision of cost-sharing grants to 45,450 farmers, associations, cooperatives, and agribusinesses.