Genesis advises Swiss on Mozambique agri projects
Genesis has been retained by the Swiss Development Corporation since 2014 to sit on a strategic advisory committee (SAC) that advises the corporation on private-sector-led systemic approaches to agricultural development in Mozambique.
In this role, Genesis oversees the design, implementation and evaluation of two market-systems development programmes in the horticulture, soya, pigeon peas and seed sub-sectors.
As a member of SAC, Genesis supports SDC decision making in intervention justification, resource allocation for specific programme activities, staffing strictures of market systems programmes in order to provide value for money to the SDC, and the review of programme logframes.
Through this engagement Genesis has mapped the agricultural programming landscape in northern Mozambique to ensure that donors coordinate their activities and avoid duplication of initiatives in an area of Mozambique that has seen significant donor investment over the past two decades.
The SDC-funded InovAgro programme, a private sector-led agricultural development programme in Northern Mozambique, focuses on three interrelated components:
- Facilitating investment by private sector agribusinesses by lowering their risk of investing in new and innovative areas through co-investment.
- Supporting and strengthening apex bodies like APROSE, farmer associations, commodity groups and agribusiness associations to better engage with private sector market actors.
- Enhancing the capacity of agribusinesses, agribusiness service providers and relevant government departments to deliver demand-driven extension and technical assistance so as to increase farm and firm level efficiency.
As part of our work, Genesis evaluated two flagship M4P programmes on behalf of the SDC and implemented by Swisscontact; GFA; COWI and DAI. We have been instrumental in the design and approval of project theories of change, work plans, project staffing decisions, donor coordination and recommending remedial actions.
We made two key recommendations that have now been implemented by the SDC, which will have far reaching effects in the donor world in terms of market systems programming, evidence and learning:
- Both programmes need to have a stand-alone knowledge and learning partner. They represent the longest M4P programmes implemented by any funder globally, but SDC has not been able to capture in any detail the lessons coming out of effectively a combined 20 years of project implementation. This has since been implemented and one of the projects was represented at the premier market systems symposium in Cape Town (South Africa).
- Collapse the two programmes post 2020 into one flagship market systems programme - based on the past 10 years’ experience and the thinness of the private sector in Northern Mozambique. This has since been approved by the SDC and Genesis is part of the team now designing a 10-year, USD20-million programme (2021-2031).