The client is a leading social enterprise focused on supporting smallholder farmers in East Africa. They provide financing and training support to help smallholder farmers earn higher incomes.
OBJECTIVE
The client identified that farmers are unable to negotiate higher prices, and increased yields do not always result in increased income due to various challenges, and wanted a real-time market view on pathways to increase maize farmers’ incomes.
OUR APPROACH
We conducted a market assessment to guide the client’s Uganda team in the development of a strategy for market facilitation and agricultural produce aggregation.
Additionally, we conducted a value chain and landscape analysis of the Ugandan maize market and buyers. This included desk research, discovery calls with the client, interviews, and surveys with different stakeholders.
PROJECT DELIVERABLES
We created a comprehensive landscape report based on field observations to guide the strategy for market facilitation, and a strategic recommendations report for better market linkages for farmers.
IMPACT
The client was presented with low, medium, and high-touch actionable pathways to identify the potential role they can play in enabling farmers to access higher incomes and better markets, and if any appropriate partnerships could be leveraged.
Being fully informed of the existing ecosystem players, challenges faced by multiple stakeholders, and the conditions to be met to make equitable small-scale aggregation partnerships possible, the client aimed to expand their operations in Uganda and develop a market facilitation strategy.
