IFAD - Post-Harvest and Agribusiness Support Project (PASP)

Increase incomes, enhance food security and reduce vulnerability for smallholder farmers, particularly women and young people.

Hub capacity development programme and business coaching: The Post-Harvest and Agribusiness Support Project (PASP) will focus on strengthening business hubs, which are the first key point where agricultural produce is assembled and processed. It will link these hubs with specialist support agencies for post-harvest activities, which will enable them to provide climate risk management services to their smallholder clients. The project will also demonstrate practices, technologies and innovations that respond to environmental and climatic challenges, such as promoting crop varieties with maturity periods better suited to changing growing seasons,, and piloting the use of solar power supplies and biogas as cost-effective approaches for drying grain. The PASP will help to establish an agricultural meteorology function within the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). It will work with the Rwanda Meteorological Service and the Rwanda Environment Management Authority to expand their information services to ensure that relevant and timely climate information is shared with smallholders. This will mitigate the impacts of climate variability on harvesting and drying. The Rwanda Development Board, through its focal point for the UN Climate Change Convention, will facilitate access by MINAGRI to the national climate forum and other climate-related initiatives within the Ministry of Environment. Post-harvest climate-resilient agribusiness investment support: Based on a bottom-up demand analysis by the hubs, this component will facilitate business investments, in improved, climate-resilient and low-carbon post-harvest procedures. These are expected to reduce postharvest losses and increase the incomes of smallholders and rural laborers. Project management and coordination: This component will ensure that the project is efficiently and effectively managed to achieve the expected results. Considerations about gender equality and women's empowerment, the involvement of young people, environmental impact, knowledge management and communication will be integrated in all aspects of project management, and activities of the implementing partners. A climate adaptation specialist position will be established within the SPIU. The PASP will increase the climate resilience and food security of at least 155,000 poor smallholders. It will support 25,000 smallholder households that are engaged with participating hubs to access additional harvest and post-harvest technology options to help them reduce climate risk. Expected Impacts: The project will also achieve the following impacts through its components: Participating hubs have the skills and technologies, as well as access to specialized service providers, to create and operate viable businesses capable of delivering larger volumes of improved produce to the market and manage climate risks in post-production processes: –– 80 per cent of participating hubs will develop the capacity to implement climate risk management strategies with their clients. All hub business plans will incorporate climate change adaptation and food security measures – these will include capacity-building on climate resilient processing, handling and storage techniques. Hub investments in climate-resilient and low carbon technologies reduce post-harvest losses and increase smallholder incomes: –– 80 per cent of participating farmers will adopt best practices for post-harvest, crop drying/milk cooling and storage processes. These will include access to climate information services for timely harvest and drying, low carbon energy sources for drying and cooling, improved storage methods such as hermetically sealed bags, and enough pallets to keep produce off the floor and ventilated. Best practices also include codes and standards to ensure that infrastructure withstands high winds and intense rainfall events. -80 per cent of participating hubs will introduce water-harvesting and management technologies and/or show significantly reduced water usage. Francisco Pichón Country Programme Manager (Rwanda & United Republic of Tanzania) IFAD Rwanda Country Office c/o FAO, P.O. Box 1502 Blvd. of the Umuganda Kigali, Rwanda Tel: 255 7588 10100 f.pichon@ifad.org Stephen Twomlow Climate and Environmental Specialist Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (ESA) IFAD c/o UNON UN Avenue, Gigiri P.O. Box 67578 00200 Nairobi Kenya Tel: 254 7286 04550 s.twomlow@ifad.org