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Background

The aim of the Mashonaland Livelihoods Restoration Project (MLRP) is to restore the

livelihoods of rural people in the Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe.

This is a pilot project, intended to demonstrate the efficacy, sustainability and potential for

impact at scale of this approach.

Objective: To increase income and employment of 2,032 rural smallholder farmers in Guruve

district by June 2011 by facilitating improvements in agricultural production and improved

relations between market actors.

The problems:

• Despite agriculture being the major livelihood activity in the area, limited supply

of agricultural inputs such as improved seed varieties, fertilizers and agro-

chemicals, adversely affected agricultural productivity.

• The introduction of the multiple currencies in 2009 resulted in improvements in

supply of agricultural commodities but smallholder farmers in the communal areas

still faced the challenge of accessing critical agricultural inputs.

• Because agricultural inputs were not easily available in local ward shops,

smallholder farmers in Guruve resorted to travelling large distances to access

inputs at Guruve Centre.

Key points

Donor: USAID/Africare

Dates: Dec 2009 – May 2011

Sector: Agriculture

Location: Mashonaland Central

Province, Zimbabwe

Successes: 25,338 smallholder

farmers benefitted through

greater access to inputs. Finance

and advice services transformed.

Impact Awards winner 2011

Agro-Dealership Voucher Scheme -

Zimbabwe

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• Whilst the larger commercial seed suppliers were busy concentrating on their

distribution centres around Harare, the local agro-dealers were constrained by a

lack of cash and credit to ensure the availability of seed.

What we did:

Agro-dealership voucher scheme

The project used an agro-dealership voucher scheme between 2009 and 2011 to resuscitate

working relationships between commercial agricultural input suppliers, wholesalers, local

agro-dealers and the small-scale producers to increase access to inputs.

As a result, commercial agricultural input suppliers are now subcontracting wholesalers and

some of the local agro-dealers to continue supplying inputs to smallholder farmers in Guruve

District even beyond the project cycle.

Though the agro-dealership voucher scheme benefited only 2,032 smallholder farmers,

23,306 smallholder farmers are now benefiting indirectly through access to a wide range of

locally available agricultural inputs. This has also benefited the commercial agro-input

suppliers reach out to more farmers.

Financing and training

The agro-dealership voucher scheme also provided the local agro-dealer network with start-up

capital to restock their shops with agricultural inputs. Local agro-dealers received

commissions ranging from 5% to 8% by the commercial agricultural input suppliers and 70%

of the local agro-dealers have restocked their shops with various grocery items and

agricultural inputs to sell locally.

The commercial input suppliers also delivered training to the agro-dealers on fertilizer, seed

storage and voucher redemption.

Micro-Financing

Access to finance at the lower levels was critical to ensure long term sustainability.

Established Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs), affected like everyone by the economic crises,

were undercapitalized and thus had no funds that could support the smallholder farmers with

whom the project was working. Practical Action partnered with an established MFI, Zambuko

Trust, to train smallholders on establishing saving and lending schemes from their own

resources. As a result farmer groups are now able to save money from the previous crop sales

for use next season and are venturing into a number of interventions.

Collaboration with Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)

Practical Action partnered with private sector companies and government line agencies such

as Department of Agricultural Extension (Agritex) to provide agricultural advice and support to

smallholder farmers on issues of utilization of inputs, field preparation, planting and crop

management. First the private companies trained Agritex officers in Guruve, and these then

trained lead farmers who in turn trained all the other farmers in the targeted wards. Each

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Agritex officer covered more than 500 smallholder farmers, so through these lead farmers,

new skills and knowledge have the potential to reach thousands of beneficiaries.

Lessons Learnt

Timeliness and transparency

• Timely and transparent selection of agro-dealers was critical. This needed to be

done six months before the actual inputs are distributed.

• Timely and transparent registration of targeted smallholder farmers was also

necessary.

• Timely access of appropriate agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers in Guruve

before the onset of the agricultural season (August to September 2010) is critical.

Voucher scheme and sustainability

• Vouchers are not intended to be sustainable; they are a tool that pro-poor market

facilitators like us can use to build healthy, trusted and sustainable business

relationships between the smallholder farmers and the commercial agricultural

input markets.

• If voucher schemes are not designed and used properly they can undermine

sustainability. Guaranteeing demand to agro-dealers without a proper exit strategy

can present problems as the demand may not be maintained without external

assistance.

• In this context, where farmers are struggling with hyperinflation and thus

extremely low investment capacity, voucher schemes proved to be an appropriate

solution for smallholder farmers and local input providers.

Cost efficiency

• Vouchers can be a relationship and linkage builder. The approach also reduces

transaction costs for the implementing organization when compared to direct

distribution and it allows the private sector to play their role in making markets

work better for marginalized producers.

• This approach also fosters agricultural productivity in general as it reduces

dependence on the donor.