Sustainable Agricultural Productivity and Market linkage Project (SAPMP) is a project Funded by the Republic Of South Korea, through Korean International Development Agency (KOICA) to be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), under its implanting Agency, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), specifically by Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) for World Bank and KOICA Funded Projects. 

The Project Development Objective (PDO) is: “To strengthen the sustainable agricultural productivity and market linkages through increased agricultural productivity of farmers and improved marketability of agricultural products within the project targeted areas of intervention”.  SAPMP has 2 main components (i) Increment of agricultural productivities through development of irrigation and flood protection system at Nyiramageni marshland, and (ii) Improvement of sustainability of project achievements in 7 Rural Community Support Project (RCSP), sites through supporting the cooperatives, post-harvest handling, access to finance, and access to market. 

Expected Project outcomes

Outcome 1. The agricultural productivity of farmers at project sites has increased

In order to develop the Nyiramageni marshland area, the project outcome was developed in reference to the KOICA and World Bank supported Projects’, such as Rural Community Support Project (RCSP), Land Husbandry Water Harvesting and Hillside Irrigation (LWH) Project, and Rural Sector Support Project (RSSP) program activities and its components and in consultation with the Government Of Rwanda. 

This outcome has the following outputs:
 
    Output 1.1: Farm land created and expanded
    Output 1.2: Increased farming capacity and technologies
    Output 1.3: Strengthened farmer’s organizations

Output 1: Farm land created or expanded

The objectives of output 1 are to: (i) expand irrigated farming area in marshlands through development of irrigation and flood protection system; (ii) to improve sustainable land management practices on hillside to protect against soil erosion, and enhance sustained crop productivity and ecosystem conservation on associated hillsides; and (iii) construction of economic infrastructure in support of value chain development. 

The output has three activities described as follows:

-    Activity 1: Marshland rehabilitation and development (600 ha)
-    Activity 2: Sustainable Land Management on Hillsides (500 ha)
-    Activity 3: Rural Investments for Economic Infrastructures (dry grounds and storages) 

Output 2: Increased farming capacity and technologies

The objective of output1-2 is to provide multi-level capacity needed to maximize beneficiary gains (production and farmers’ income) from the infrastructure investments and to ensure the sustainability of project objectives beyond the life of the Project. 
In addition, Project outcome 2 is to support the commercialization of smallholder agriculture in targeted marshland and hillside areas by diversifying and intensifying production, promoting agricultural value chain, and expanding access to markets. This will use a commodity chain approach, supporting rural entrepreneurs and assisting cooperatives and farmer groups to adopt sound business practices. 

Output 2 has three activities described as follows:
 
-    Activity 1: Capacity for improving production technologies
-    Activity 2: Invitational training to Korea
-    Activity 3: SAPMP Prize

Output 3: Strengthened farmer’s organizations

Irrigation development policies now place far more emphasis on the need for greater involvement by farmers in the development process, as there is clear evidence that farmer participation will help to significantly improve the levels of performance in terms of efficiency, equity, cost recovery and sustainability. The Project will therefore take a full advantage of benefits, which can accrue when farmers are participating as stakeholders in their scheme and so help to reduce dependency on limited government resources.

The output 3 has the following activities: 

-    Activity 1: Strengthen registration and formalization of farmer organisations
-    Activity 2: Provision of Micro-credit to farmer organizations
-    Activity 3: Governance and financial management training and coaching programme
-    Activity 4: Sustainable business plans development, with integrated capitalization plan
-    Activity 5: Digitization of cooperative activities

Outcome 2. The marketability of agriculture products from project sites has improved

The project will build capacity of farmers through training in marketing and value addition for better market linkages and improved profit margin. The project outcome 2 will link farmers produce to markets through various fora including via WFP programs. In addition, the project will increase farmer's accessibility to financial resources. The agricultural sector has specific financing needs, which are different from most of available commercial banking products that target urban real estate markets and the formal sector.

This outcome has the following outputs: 

    Output 2.1: Improved post-harvest management capacity
    Output 2.2: Broaden access to market and financial services

Output 2.1: Improved post-harvest management capacity

The objective of output 2-1 is to increase the capacity of post-harvest handling of farmer’s organizations in the project sites. By properly managing and processing agriculture products after harvest, it is expected to bring more surplus to farmers and positioning them in a better place when they negotiate with international buyers. This would also contribute to strengthen agriculture value chains. In addition to this, WFP will also support farmers to cope with negative climate impacts by guiding them a safe way of storing food in the post-harvest stage. 

Two following main activities will be implemented for this output.
-    Activity 1: Small Holder Farmer’s (SHF) Post Harvest Handling and Storage (PHHS) capacity building (training)
-    Activity 2: Expand access to safe home food storage support

Output 2.2: Broaden access to market and financial services

The objective of Output 2.2 is to broaden the access to financial services for farmers in the project sites. The agricultural sector has specific financing needs, which are different from most of available commercial banking products that target urban real estate markets and the formal sector. 

In order to meet the needs of farmers, following four activities will be implemented. 

-    Activity 1: Facilitation of contract between farmers and formal buyers
-    Activity 2: Seasonal aggregation and marketing support
-    Activity 3: Promote savings via solidarity group model
-    Activity 4: Connect Farmer organisations to formal financial institutions

SAPMP will be implemented based upon tripartite cooperation: KOICA, MINAGRI-RAB, and WFP. The project activities implemented by the three parties are geographically separated. The main project site is the Nyiramageni site, located in Gisagara and Nyanza District in the Southern Province, Rwanda where Project Management Consulting (PMC) which is an implementing agency selected by KOICA and RAB SPIU will jointly implement the project activities to mainly contribute to Output 1.1 (Farmland created or expanded), Output 1.2 (Increased farming capacity and technologies), Output 1.3 (Strengthened farmer’s organizations), and Output 2.1 (Improved post-harvest capacity). In addition, WFP will implement its activities to improve the sustainability of impact of a completed KOICA project called Rural Community Support Project (RCSP) in close consultations with PMC and MINAGRI SPIU/RAB. WFP’s project intervention areas are 7 project sites of RCSP: Ruterana, Gakenke, Bwanya, Kanyonyomba U, Rwinkwavu, Ruzigambogo, and Kajevuba in Three (3) Provinces, and Kigali City. Its interventions are mainly to contribute to Output 1.3 (Strengthened farmer’s organizations), Output 2.1 (Improved post-harvest capacity), and Output 2.2 (Broaden access to market and financial services). The project effectiveness is September 2020 and is expected to be implemented up to December 2024 for a period of 51 months. 

SAPMP target group will consist of smallholders in the respective project areas who are producing or interested in producing of the food crops, horticulture (fruits, vegetables) and other crops. It will be largely made up of low-income households cultivating up to 0.2-0.3 ha in marshland and 0.3-0.5 ha in hillside, who depend predominantly on agriculture to sustain their livelihood. Poorer households will also benefit from project support. The project will give specific support packages and to monitor the extent to which they access project benefits. Furthermore, it will develop special measures to target women farmers, especially women heads of households, and resource-poor farmers with little land for cultivation to ensure their inclusion.

The number of direct beneficiaries is estimated at 13,019 households and approximately 56,000 people. The beneficiary groups of the project are:

    All the farmers related to the marshland and hillside development.
    Users and operators of farming machineries, processing equipment and facilities; Agro dealers all along the value chain activities; and labours for construction.
    Other beneficiaries: Farmers in the value chains supported by SAPMP that do not belong to the main target group will also benefit from improvements deriving from SAPMP-supported activities, including: increased capacities of public extension services, of cooperative unions and of financial institutions; dissemination of research outcomes and implementation through extension programmes; and development of new business models in the grain processing, and horticulture sectors for further up scaling throughout the country.

SAPMP will promote the integration of poorer smallholders in the selected value chains. To this effect, building on the Ubudehe participatory social mapping approach, to: (i) identify various categories of farmers within the selected target groups; (ii) provide support adapted to the most vulnerable categories of beneficiaries; and (iii) monitor project effects on that category. In all the value chains, capacity building provided to cooperatives will have a strong focus on governance and transparency, which will not only ensure that leaders are responsive to members requirements do participate in governance structures, but will also benefit cooperative profitability altogether. Additionally, the project will offer priority to landless and agricultural labourers, which will derive from the highly labor-intensive in the project activities. They will include promoting access to financial services which will help in promoting savings and access to credit. 

SAPMP will promote women’s participation in value chain development on an equal foot as men, assisting them to move out of low input-low output activities to gain equal access to agricultural support and financial services, and to play an active role in cooperatives and cooperative-owned structures. 

Specific measures will include: (i) establishing minimum participant quotas 30 percent for women in capacity building activities; (ii) developing the capacities of extensionists to include women, and where appropriate, organizing special sessions for women; (iv) ensuring that both male and female family members have access to FFS and other technical training, with a target of 30 percent of women to increase the number of women members included in leadership position; and (v) to ensure that they have equal access to cooperative services.

Since land availability is an absolute constraint and there are no opportunities for accessing new land in the project, young people will be targeted by: (i) providing cultivation options suitable for small land plots; (ii) ensuring that the poorer young households have access to labour generated by the project; and (iii) prioritize young people for training related to the rice and horticulture crops cultivation skills, sericulture technologies including mulberry tree planting and cocoon raising, and capacities in off-farm income generation.

The estimated total cost for SAPMP is USD 12.5 million. KOICA will provide USD10 million while the GoR will provide US$ 2.0 million as counterpart funding mainly for the payment of resettlement costs. The WFP will contribute USD 0.5 million for the implementation of Project Component II.