Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Enterprises
ACDI/VOCA implements the five-year Farmer-to-Farmer program in the Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia regions (F2F-ECCA). The project’s core countries include Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. ACDI/VOCA has placed expert volunteers in more than 130 developing countries and emerging democracies. With the volunteers’ expertise, ACDI/VOCA works to improve the quality and viability of agricultural support and financial institutions that provide much-needed resources to the agricultural sector.
Objectives
- Raise the incomes of farmers, their organizations, and associated agribusinesses by increasing the productivity and profitability of relevant market systems
- Improve productivity and profitability of the agricultural sector and create opportunities for smallholder farmers to improve incomes while meeting the demand of end markets through rural enterprise and producer organization development
Activities and Approaches
- Address the constraints or bottlenecks that limit the ability of agribusinesses to increase their growth and long-term sustainability
- Strengthen existing and emerging producer organizations so that they are reliable suppliers to end markets and providers of quality services to their members
Anticipated/Achieved Project Results
- Complete 38 assignments in Armenia over the life of the five-year project
- Increased agricultural sector productivity and profitability: F2F activities support regional trade of fruits and vegetables; encourage import substitution with food processors; and enhance input supply channels to increase productivity that allows profitable access to known domestic and regional markets.
- Expanded agricultural sector access to financial services: Volunteers support innovation of products and services that are responsive to market demand, contribute to agricultural modernization, and empower agribusiness clients and rural citizens to invest and manage their risks more effectively. As a result, agribusinesses will be better able to invest in upgrades critical for growth, and financial institutions will reduce borrower risk and expand their client base.
- Strengthened agricultural sector institutions: F2F ECCA volunteer experts build capacity of agricultural education and advisory services through improvement of private-sector-led extension services linked to input providers and end-buyers. We will build capacity of service providers to drive technology transfer innovations. This increases rural farmers’ productivity while maximizing the spread and effect of F2F technical assistance.
Funder: USAID
Updated: 9/15
