Upper Egypt Rural Development Project (UERDP): Private Sector Development (Component 1)

Marketing and SME development: Establishing Farmers’ Marketing Associations (FMAs) and Handicraft Marketing Associations (HMAs)

Description

The Upper Egypt Rural Development Project (UERDP) was the first of a series of projects foreseen under IFAD’s new strategic framework for assistance to Egypt – as outlined in the 2006 country strategic opportunities paper (COSOP) – to help reduce rural poverty and unemployment. Given the strong links between agricultural growth, the rural economy and poverty reduction, the President’s report argued that there was a good rationale for promoting microfinance and micro enterprises development, marketing and partnerships with the private sector, and more efficient irrigation systems.

The target area included selected priority areas of the Governorates of Assiut and Qena located in Southern Upper Egypt. These Governorates had among the highest concentrations of poor in Egypt and a high potential for producing high-value crops and livestock products.

UERDP’s overall objective was to contribute to poverty reduction and improved livelihoods of the target population. The intermediate objectives were to empower the target group to create sustained employment and increase income through

  • small and medium enterprise (SME) development and microfinance;
  • and farming system research and extension to help small farmers achieve higher returns per unit of land and water.

The project had three components:

  • private sector development;
  • agricultural competitiveness enhancement;
  • and project coordination and management.

Private Sector Component: Marketing and SME development

Marketing and SME development. The project intended to provide technical assistance and support to the rural communities to promote and assist in the establishment of commodity specific farmers’ marketing associations (FMAs) and handicraft marketing associations (HMAs). This was to be achieved with the assistance of service providers and community development associations. The marketing associations would provide the necessary economy of scale for establishing business relationships with larger processors, exporters, and suppliers to the domestic market to better market their products and access training, advisory services and research. The Small Enterprise Development Organization (SEDO), a Social Fund for Development (SFD) subsidiary, would be strengthened to develop methodologies for establishing FMAs/HMAs, value chain analyses, mapping recruitment of companies interested in establishing linkage with FMAs/HMAs and developing market information systems and training service providers.

The objective of this specific component of the project is to contribute to the poverty reduction and improve living conditions of the target groups in the project areas.

The target groups are:

  • Smallholders with less than one feddan.
  • Non holders farmers (agricultural labor)
  • Unemployed youth
  • Female headed households

Services

  • Select districts, and mother villages, to be included in the project in Qena and Assuit governorates
  • Select suitable local NGOs to participate in the project and designing a capacity building programme for them.
  • Prepare a proposal and design a procedural manual for establishing civil society organizations (FMAs and HMAs) in the project target areas.
  • Identify the technical and organizational needs of the SFD regional offices staff and designing a capacity building programme for them.

Methodology

  • Districts, Villages and NGOs Selection
  • Survey of the Selected Areas
  • Design NGOs Evaluation Tools
  • Field work
  • Individual interviews
  • Establishing Specialized Civil Society Organizations

Mission Outputs

  • Inception report
  • A monthly presentation to the National Project Coordination Unit on the current situation of the mission and its progress.
  • Final report (in Arabic and English)