Programme profile
Propcom Mai-karfi
Project description / objective
To implement innovative interventions to stimulate inclusive market growth that improves the resilience of 440,000 women and men, with income increases for 352,000 of them by 2021.
Market system focus
Agricultural inputs
Facilitating sustainable commercial access to quality and affordable inputs. These include fertilisers, seeds and crop-protection products, along with extension information for farmers to utilise inputs appropriately.
Mechanisation & technology
Unlocking financing for mechanisation and leveraging technology to expand access to smallholder farmers and optimise the tractor service model. This results in cost savings and increased yield for farmers and higher revenues for tractor owners and operators.
Aggregation / offtake services
Focusing on five commodities working with women’s groups: rice, hibiscus, shea, sesame & millet, groundnuts. Promotion of responsible sourcing amongst corporate buyers by facilitating the integration of smallholder farmers into their supply chains. This market linkage activity creates shared value for the smallholders (access to premium markets) and the corporate buyers (supply chain strengthening and integrity).
Poultry & livestock
Facilitation of the production and marketing of the indigenous variety of chickens grown by rural women, whilst expanding rural veterinary access through the community vaccinators’ and community-based animal health workers’ network.
Environmental initiatives/Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)
Adoption of a two-pronged approach to reduce bio-degradation and the effect of climate change on the environment.
- Facilitating access to clean/renewable energy products
Promotion of renewable energy products: fuel-efficient cookstoves to different market segments to reduce energy needs and associated firewood needs; establishment of solar-drying service points to reduce post-harvest losses; solar-powered fridges for vaccine storage. - Promoting climate smart agriculture
Promotion of CSA: agro-forestry, water resource management (irrigation), pasture and manure management, weather forecasting, and crop and soil-specific inputs.
Access to finance (cross-cutting)
Working with financial institutions to design tailored financial products for smallholder farm and micro-enterprises, especially women-led enterprises in the north-east. Working capital is a critical necessity for most market actors - the programme supports partners within the value chain to address their value-chain financing needs by working with financial institutions
Programme interventions
Agricultural inputs & Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)
Access to fertiliser
To increase availability, affordability and proper use of the right fertiliser.
Certified seeds
Promotion and distribution of certified seeds and increase awareness and availability of climate-adapted seeds variety.
Crop protection
Spray service provision (SSP) model; creating micro-entrepreneurs for the safe use of crop protection products.
Mechanisation & technology
The goal is to improve the livelihood of rural poor farmers through the application of appropriate technology in the agricultural sector.
Tractors & mechanisation services
Working with banks, vendors and associations to create awareness of tractor services among farmers and promoting mechanisation services as a profitable business among the interested investors.
ICT4Agric (e.g. e-extension services)
Provide education and good agronomic practices to farmers in hard to reach and conflict-affected areas of northern Nigeria through the use of USSD text messages, voice messages and radio.
Provision of platforms for farmers to generate demand for mechanisation services, recruit booking and hiring agents, deploy tractors and manage tractor fleets, among other services.
Aggregation/offtake
The goal is to facilitate linkages to premium markets for smallholders through the aggregation of their smallholdings into economic quantities attractive enough for corporate buyers.
Grain supply chain development (rice, millet, sesame and hibiscus)
Working with multinational and national traders of grains as well as processors to implement responsible sourcing models, integrate smallholders into their supply chains in a way that allows for efficient aggregation of economic volumes of grains from the farmers while creating benefits for farmer such as:
- access to good agronomic practice (GAP) information leveraging technology
- group strengthening and coordination resulting in economies of scale and cost savings from bulking input orders and produce supplies
- input financing resulting from the guaranteed market
- increased yield and premium prices
Grain storage / Electronic Warehouse Receipting
The grain storage and E-WRS programme increases access to storage facilities, alternate market, agricultural inputs and finance. Propcom partners with the African Exchange (AFEX) and other warehouse operators to provide storage facilities and an avenue for trading grains for inputs during the farming season and access to markets for their grains at competitive prices.
Poultry & livestock
Community-based animal health workers
Working with the Veterinary Council of Nigeria and the State’s departments of veterinary services to establish community-based animal health workers as a channel for delivering veterinary pharmaceuticals (drugs and vaccines) to rural livestock farmers.
Milk quality
Working with ARLA Food Inc. and other interested milk processors to improve the quality of milk from settled Fulani herdsmen. Secondary aim of reducing the farmer-herder clashes associated with their nomadic lifestyle – leading to improved productivity.
Poultry production & marketing
Working with processors to promote local chickens in the formal market by strengthening aggregation and improved production practice amongst rural women producers.
Climate-smart agriculture & environmental markets
Renewable energy products
Promotion of renewable energy products including efficient cookstoves, solar drying services, solar & wind pumps and solar-powered fridges.
Climate-smart agriculture
Focusing on pasture & manure management, soil & water management, weather forecasting, crop and soil-specific inputs and agroforestry (combining economic trees such as gum arabic, shea, dates with shrubs and other cover crops).
Irrigation
Improving irrigation driven by SMEs with the incentive to continue to make their products and services (solar pumps, wind pumps etc.) available and affordable.
Access to finance (cross-cutting)
Working with financial institutions to design tailored financial products for smallholder farm and micro-enterprises, especially women-led enterprises in the north-east. Working capital is a critical need for most market actors - Propcom supports partners within the value chain to address their value chain financing needs, working with financial institutions.
Microfinance/value chain financing
Financing for rural, women-run enterprises and smallholder farmers, as well as working capital for market actors.
Stimulating guarantees for agricultural lending
Facilitating loan guarantees for mechanisation and other inputs.
INGO partnerships
Facilitating linkages between the programme’s private sector partners; working with interested INGOs to replicate intervention approaches in post-conflict regions via the piloting and sharing of key lessons to aid adoption
Notable results (systemic change, poverty impact)
Cumulative results to date:
| Indicator | Results |
| # of SHFs benefitted | 1,294,244 |
| # of female SHFs benefitted | 447,609 |
| % of female beneficiaries | 35% |
| # of SHFs reached | 1,792,260 |
| # of female SHFs reached | 565,736 |
| % of female reach | 32% |
| Income increase (GBP) | £85,487,312 |
| Female income increase (GBP) | £22,171,797 |
| Investment leveraged (GBP) | £85,013,545 |
| # of partners worked with | 133 |
| # of organisations influenced | 107 |
| # of govt. actions/policies influenced | 21 |
[updated May 2021]