The report assesses the experience, interventions, impact, and lessons learned of the Promoting Pro-Poor Opportunities in Commodity and Service Markets (PrOpCom) programme funded by DFID and implemented by Chemonics International in Nigeria from 2002 through 2011. This document elaborates on the programme's intervention activities, design, and achievements.
Main lessons:
- The Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach is a viable approach in Nigeria
- A varied portfolio of interventions mitigated the total risk of failure of the programme
- Quality of staff was critical to achieving M4P success
- The programme needed to balance the tradeoffs between working with larger stakeholder groups vs. working with large corporate entities
- Investing in a rigorous results management system paid off.
Results of this specific programme include:
- Significant investment (£4 million) from the private sector in agricultural markets such as fertilizer and mechanization
- By programme end, ProOpCom achieved over £40 million in incremental income for its 1,264,180 direct and indirect beneficiaries
- 17,633 new jobs created
- Programme provided £2 in net income for every £1 spent on the programme, which is estimated to increase to £5 in income for every £1 spent by December 2013.
Intervention description
The project utilizes five key interventions including (i) access to agricultural machinery, (ii) reform in agricultural policy (iii) access to fertiliser for smallholders, (iv) mobile banking to increase access to financial services, (v) rice parboilers to increase quality of rice in order to facilitate growth and alleviate poverty in Nigeria by improving performance of agricultural market systems.
Evidence methodology
The ProOpCom programme relied on a combination of frameworks including the DFID logical framework, the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) strategic framework, and the DCED standard. These methodologies allowed the project to monitor and evaluate the success of interventions in achieving an improvement of pro-poor growth in non-oil sectors, specifically agriculture, in Nigeria. The results of this project were deduced from a survey of tractor service providers and farmers, which included a control group, as well as some interviews and internal monitoring data from other reports.
Useful for:
Anyone interested in the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach, specifically within the Nigerian agricultural sector. This might include potential investors and partners, as well as development practitioners and researchers.