The U.N. Development Program has launched the first in a series of collaborative initiatives to boost food production and create opportunities for small-holder farmers across Africa.
The first of these Project Facilitation Platforms covers East Africa and was launched June 12 by the African Facility for Inclusive Markets — UNDP’s regional private sector program — in partnership with the East African Community. PFPs for western and southern African countries are expected to be rolled out sometime in the future.
The PFPs are innovative workshops that will bring together private and public stakeholders in Africa’s agribusiness to discuss ways to fast-track project development and implementation. Through the initiative, AFIM aims to produce a results framework that will guide project implementation and serve as a compact among stakeholders to support specific interventions or projects.
This collaborative initiative is in line with AFIM’s goal to serve as a platform that brokers strategic partnerships to promote inclusive market development across Africa. It facilitates knowledge sharing and access to finance as well as the sharing of best practices in inclusive market development, focusing on low-income and marginalized populations.
The launch of the PFP is just one activity on AFIM’s busy schedule for 2012. Among other things, the agency plans to shape the policy dialogue by publishing a report that will feature 25 inclusive business and market case studies, co-organize the AgriBusiness Forum 2012, and launch a catalytic funding program that will provide technical assistance and grants to regional and cross-border value chain projects in the agribusiness sector.
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About the author
Ivy Mungcal
As former senior staff writer, Ivy Mungcal contributed to several Devex publications. Her focus is on breaking news, and in particular on global aid reform and trends in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Before joining Devex in 2009, Ivy produced specialized content for U.S. and U.K.-based business websites.
