MUSIKA: Making Agricultural Markets Work for Zambia

Project description / objective

MUSIKA stimulates private investment in the agricultural market. It focuses on the smallholder and emerging farmer sectors.

It seeks to reduce poverty, and increase incomes, by establishing functioning market systems which are accessible and accommodating for Small and Medium Enterprises and smallholder farmers at large.

Market system focus

1. Agricultural inputs market

MUSIKA supports the development of a dynamic ‘last mile’ distribution network for seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals and farm equipment that reaches smallholder communities. It offers the necessary agricultural inputs and technical information to encourage the adoption, and maximise the benefits, of productivity-enhancing technologies.

2. Business and financial services

Challenges include:

• the functionality of the agricultural supply chain
• access to affordable and appropriate financial services

3. Agricultural technology

To test and integrate agricultural technologies into smallholder agriculture practices.

4. Agricultural diverstification

Development of an environment that:

• encourages farmers to adopt more diverse types of production
• drives the retail industry to provide relevant inputs, technologies and associated information

5. Green energy markets

To develop the rural poor's access to a broad range of opportunities, technologies and services in 'clean' energy and natural resource use to improve income and livelihoods.

Programme interventions

1. Agricultural inputs market

Logistics support
Logistical support for the companies’ extension and market development staff.

Distribution
Cost sharing of infrastructure to test new distribution models in areas where no such channels exist. This includes containers, collapsible storage and distribution facilities or models.

Community agro dealers
Cost sharing the training of intermediaries in the distribution chain such as stockists, agents and sales representatives.

New technologies
Cost sharing the entry and demonstration of beneficial new technologies (shelling equipment, boom sprayers) into the smallholder market.

2. Business and financial services

Small business capacity development
Increasing the focus on upgrading the small rural enterprise sector by delivering (and/or facilitating the delivery of) commercially-focused business development services.

Facilitating access to finance
Integrating financial services into commercial relationships between agribusinesses and small holder farmers.

Promoting digital solutions
Providing dedicated technical resources to understanding the ‘pain points’ in the agricultural supply chain. Identifying possible digital solutions to improve efficiencies and commercial relationships at all levels of the supply chain.

Developing inclusive structured markets
Supporting private investments initiatives which can improve the entire market structure that actors operate in.

3. Agricultural technology

Mechanisation
Using previous industry experience to drive smallholder mechanisation by supporting commercial mechanisation players to test new models of distribution for on-farm machinery.

Irrigation
Community level implementation of both individual farm-based irrigation opportunities and, where applicable, larger, market-driven block irrigation units.

Post-harvest solutions
Testing, applicability and marketability of various on-farm staple crop post-harvest technologies.

4. Agricultural diversification

Livestock
Development of improved livestock and livestock product marketing opportunities.  Focus on diversifying the range of opportunities and increasing access to vet services for smallholder farmers.

Aquaculture
Increasing production and productivity of the small-scale fish farming sector. Building the capacity of commercial actors along the aquaculture supply chain to deliver sustainable and profitable pro-poor market services to the sector.

Irrigated crops
Improving marketing opportunities for high value irrigated horticultural crops. Working with input suppliers and service providers to offer appropriate inputs, seedlings, and irrigation equipment to the farmers operating within these market structures.

Legumes and drought-tolerant crops
Expansion of the value to smallholder farmers of these improved markets. Working with the inputs market to increase access to seed and other inputs for these crop sectors.

Tree crops and agroforestry
Investments across the spectrum of commercial opportunities, including:

• trees and other perennial species for uses in timber, fruit, biomass, biofuel and fodder
• species for use in agroforestry systems that enhance arable and livestock production

5. Green energy markets

Productive use of clean energy
Productive use of clean energy to drive rural economic development particularly in the agriculture.

Production of clean energy
Supporting business models that provide:

• economic opportunities in energy production
• opportunities for rural households and communities to access new sources of energy

Sustainable natural resource utilisation
Support innovative commercial opportunities that directly deliver financial reward for rural communities for environmental protection practices.

Notable results (systemic change, poverty impact)

Overall results

• Over 460,000 rural smallholder farmers now benefiting from improved markets across the country.
• Over 270,000 rural farmers are accessing improved markets across the 'new' thematic areas of environment, business and finance, agricultural diversification and agricultural technology.
• 88 private sector partners doing better business with smallholders and rural Zambians as their suppliers, customers and clients.
• Over 1,000 new points of market access established in 2017 delivering improved market services to smallholder communities across the country.
• $10m leveraged in private capital in 2018 through investment in distribution and aggregation networks in the smallholder market.
• All districts in Zambia now show evidence of direct investment in the smallholder market by agribusiness.
• 51 per cent of farmers across all the thematic areas have observed an increase in the number of buyers and suppliers of agricultural products and services in their communities.
• 74 per cent of farmers claim they feel encouraged to invest more in their own production as a result of improved supply chain relationships with agribusiness.
• 39 per cen of farmers who participated in improved marketing channels indicate that they had seen increases in productivity and production as a result of this participation.
• 67 per cent of farmers felt that their engagement in ‘improved markets’ had led to improvements in their incomes.

Agricultural inputs market

• Over 400,000 farmers now accessing inputs from reputable, identifiable sources that bundle high quality inputs and technical advisory services.
• 450 field training sessions for farmers were conducted.
• 1,620 stockists trained.
• Over 500 crop demonstrations and field days were held in 10 provinces and attended by over 13,300 smallholder farmers (10,400 males, 2,900 females).

Business and financial services

241 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been engaged and have accessed business development services to improve their market performance. These SMEs supply products and services to over 200,000 rural farmers.

Agricultural technology

Agricultural technology demonstration sites have been set up across the country which has pushed up agriculture technology sales .

• 80 access points offering irrigation technologies
• 34 access points offering mechanisation services
• 25 access points offering post-harvest technologies

All with an average outreach of 150,000 smallholder farmers

Agricultural diversification

286 new agricultural access points were opened in 2018.

• Crops: 202 access points
• Livestock market: 61 access points

Outreach to nearly 72,000 smallholder farmers.

MUSIKA facilitated the development of a robust private sector veterinary product distribution and service provision market impacting over 62,800 smallholders (16 per cent women) around the country. 14 companies were partnered with to provide this service

Green energy markets

• 943 environmental market access points offering solar and irrigation products in rural communities established countrywide.
• 60,000 farmers benefit from these access points countrywide.

[uploaded: April 2019]