Agribusiness Development Program

ADP works to ensure that women farmers are poised to capitalize on expanding markets as East Africa adopts more market-based approaches to agriculture. We start with agriculture because it is a way of life in Eastern Africa, and promote the cooperative model of enterprise because it is a natural extension of the informal, traditional African social systems of reciprocity, sharing, and reliance that have helped rural communities survive for generations. Furthermore, cooperatives offer opportunities that smallholder farmers could not achieve individually: as a cooperative, they can pool resources (money, labor, and knowledge) to create economies of scale; thus, reducing risks to individual members, and instead placing them on the enterprise itself.

Our agriculture programs are designed to strengthen the capacity of women-led agricultural cooperatives, enabling them to improve their business management skills, and cooperative governance, expand their networks and increase productivity. Working with the cooperatives we help them identify the strengths and gaps in their operations and develop a plan that trains them on improved production techniques, post-harvest storage, and food processing; adoption of improved agricultural inputs and technologies; and how to access markets directly. ADP is working to build strong, vibrant, well-managed, and profitable cooperative enterprises that serve as an anchor in the local economies. To achieve this, ADP delivers programs that:

• Strengthen cooperative governance and management – Training is the foundation of effective cooperative governance, and we, therefore, provide training in all aspects of running a cooperative to ensure sustainability. Members are best served when cooperative leaders understand the principles of running a cooperative, i.e. their roles and responsibilities and those of members and the importance of strategic planning, and operational and financial management.

• Build technical skills – To gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, ADP provides personalized technical assistance to women farmers and entrepreneurs to provide high-quality products. Through hands-on technical training, we address subjects such as soil fertility, water resource management, climate adaptation, and weed and pest management to increase yield and reduce post-harvest losses.

• Provide farm inputs and infrastructure support – ADP identifies locally appropriate modern smart farming tools from greenhouses, machinery, and irrigation systems to improved seed and fertilizer—all to help cooperatives increase production efficiency. This leads to increased profit margins from product sales and cuts down on labor-intensive activities that would normally be performed manually.

• Build local and regional networks – ADP works alongside cooperatives and in partnership with government agencies, businesses, and other NGOs to build their networks. This allows them to share market information, demand and distribution channels, and storage facilities and also links them to financial institutions and other forms of financing. As these partnerships grow, they begin to operate interdependently creating a sustainable environment where all parties can thrive.