Programme profile
MDF: Market Development Facility (Phase 2)
Project description / objective
Market Development Facility (MDF) is an Australian Government funded multi-country initiative which promotes sustainable economic development, through higher incomes for women and men in our partner countries.
We connect individuals, businesses, governments and NGOs with each other and with markets at home and abroad. This enhances investment and coordination and allows partnerships to flourish, strengthening inclusive economic growth.
Market system focus
Fiji
Tourism
Niche destination travel, nautical tourism, Fijian products & experiences.
High-value agriculture
Quality agriculture inputs, premium branded Fijian products.
Urban industries
Outsourced services, MSME business development services.
Sri Lanka
Tourism
Tourism labour, tourism data, tourism promotion, product development, tourism sector coordination.
Agribusiness
Blue swimmer crabs, giant freshwater prawns, specialty coffee, and organic spices and herbs.
Timor Leste
Agriculture
Vegetable inputs, aquaculture, konjac, pigs, cattle, cocoa, coffee, coconut.
Tourism
Marketing, tour products, services.
Manufacturing
Start-up of new manufacturing enterprises.
Pakistan
Livestock
Low-cost nutritious fodder, access to finance for livestock and quality inputs, access to other inputs and aggregation services.
Horticulture
Access to inputs and information, off-take of horticulture produce.
Leather
Access to inputs and markets, inclusive work spaces.
Programme interventions
Fiji
Tourism
- Supporting Tourism Fiji to promote off-season events held in niche destinations such as Savusavu and Taveuni
- Supporting Fiji Airways to produce marketing material aimed at promoting niche destination holiday packages
- Supported a public-private partnership between Fiji Navy and Kenua Fiji to update hydrographic maps for new cruise-ship destinations
High-value agriculture
- Supporting KK’s Hardware with seed imports and exposure to potential suppliers
- Supported Fiji Sugar Corporation to re-brand Sugar of Fiji products for export and introduce internationally recognised quality assurance accreditation
Urban industries
- Supporting the sales and marketing initiatives of Greymouse Fiji Limited and Packleader Pacific Limited, as well as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Council, to promote Fiji as an Outsourced Services (OS) destination
- Supporting BPO Council to proactively market services to Australia and promote Fiji as an outsourcing destination
Papua New Guinea
Agribusiness
- Developing value-chains for the export of high-grade and sustainable coffee
- Developing value-chains for the export of value-added cocoa, vanilla and honey
- Developing the capacity of agri-enterprises to source and market high-quality fresh produce
Sri Lanka
Tourism
- Supporting the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance to establish itself as a collective, unified voice for the industry and improve private sector coordination
- Working with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to improve its capacity in tourism data collection and analysis
Seafood
- Working with government and semi-government actors to improve the sustainability of crab catch in the Northern Province
- Assessing reservoir productivity and working with the National Aquaculture Development Authority to improve productivity
Coffee and organic spice
- Improving the dissemination of extension information to smallholder farmers, using multiple platforms
- Increasing processing capacity of spices and coffee
Timor-Leste
Agriculture
- Increasing production and processing of konjac using outgrowers, seed nurseries and private extension services
- Improving the availability of commercial pig feed and promoting more productive pig rearing practices
- Increasing the quality and quantity of speciality coffee
- Increasing and improving virgin coconut oil production for export
- Increasing the availability and use of agricultural inputs
- Improving knowledge on aquaculture practices
- Increasing the availability and use of commercial fish feed and fish fingerlings
Tourism
- Improving the marketing of Timor-Leste as an attractive tourist destination
- Developing and improving tour products and services
- Improving policy discussions and coordination between the private and public sectors in the tourism industry
Manufacturing
- Supporting the start-up of new manufacturing enterprises
Pakistan
Livestock (Dairy & meat)
- Improving access to low-cost nutritious fodder (silage) for livestock farmers
- Improving access to aggregation services and information for farmers raising milk and meat animals
- Improving access to formal finance for livestock farmers
Horticulture
- Improving farmers’ access to agricultural inputs, services and information
- Supporting investments and innovations in value-added processing of fruits and vegetables sourced from smallholder farmers
Leather
- Improving the footwear industry’s access to locally produced ancillary inputs
- Supporting leather manufacturers in setting up women-inclusive workplaces to create skills development opportunities for women
Notable results (systemic change, poverty impact)
Fiji
- As of end-2019, MDF interventions had benefitted 18,210 people, including outreach from employment of 486
- MDF interventions generated USD $26,775,000 in additional income for beneficiaries
- In the Urban Industries sector, MDF’s support resulted in 190 jobs created, of which 75 per cent were for women
- In Business Development Services, MSMEs (66 per cent of which were female-owned or female-led) reported an average 27 per cent increase in revenue after graduating from the MDF-supported ‘Fiji Enterprise Engine’ programme by FCEF
- MDF’s work on rebranding ‘Sugars of Fiji’ with Fiji Sugar Corporation was launched in November 2019, with the first sales entering New Zealand and the UK later that year
Papua New Guinea
- As of end-2019, MDF interventions had benefitted 790 people, including outreach from employment of 70
- MDF interventions in agribusiness generated USD $470,000 in net additional income
- MDF’s work in the coffee sector is expected to benefit 5,000 coffee farmers over the next three years. The interventions will connect smallholder coffee growers in remote regions with high-grade coffee markets seeking good-quality, sustainable coffee. This will also benefit women and rural communities living in remote areas of PNG.
Sri Lanka
- As of end-2019, MDF interventions had benefitted 28,960 people, including outreach from employment of 392
- MDF interventions generated USD $4,924,000 in net additional income for beneficiaries
- In the Northern Province seafood sector, MDF support resulted in 245 jobs created for women, primarily in seafood processing
- MDF’s work in Northern Sri Lanka with Blue Swimming Crabs shows signs of emerging systemic change: in collaboration with other Australian-funded programmes, MDF’s support to crab processors created viable employment opportunities for 282 people
- The Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance has been a unique private sector initiative providing a collective space for market actors across the tourism sector
Timor Leste
- As of end-2019, MDF interventions had benefitted 8,800 people, generating USD $2,470,000 in net additional income for beneficiaries
- In Timor-Leste, women make up 54 per cent of beneficiaries (51 per cent in agriculture, 52 per cent in manufacturing and 69 per cent in tourism)
- MDF’s collaboration with a meat processing company allowed the business to more than double its capacity. Over 200 farmers saw an increase in income, and the import of frozen beef declined from 330 tonnes in 2017 to 85 tonnes in 2018.
Pakistan
- As of end-2019, MDF interventions had benefitted 185,430 people, including 4,042 outreach from employment
- MDF’s support generated USD $67 million in net additional income for beneficiaries
- MDF interventions benefitted 88,602 women and created 405 jobs for women
- MDF interventions have had a significant impact on farmers: silage support helped 48,030 livestock farmers, while Telenor’s weather and crop advisory services in remote regions benefitted 73,250 horticulture farmers
[updated July 2020]