Ethiopia | Agricultural Transformation through Stronger Vocational Education (ATTSVE)

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Most Agriculture Technical and Vocational Training Colleges (ATVETs) in Ethiopia are located in rural areas and focus largely on competency-based curriculum approaches and outcomes. ATVETs and their students are increasingly interested in practical programming that emphasizes rural economic growth through agriculture and development of the private sector.

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Ghana | Farmers' Economic Advancement Through Seedlings – FEATS

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Ghana’s tree crops subsector accounts for a substantial 16% of GDP (US$4 billion) and sustains over 1.6 million families. Cocoa alone contributes 11.5% to GDP and nearly one-third of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. (All 2013 data - latest available)

Nicaragua | Techno-Links+

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Background

Due to a difficult history of war, political unrest, economic crises, and natural disasters, Nicaragua is overcoming many challenges as it strives toward economic growth.

Despite recent strides in reducing poverty, Nicaragua remains the least developed economy in Central America. Rural farmers in particular struggle to connect to markets and or prosper in an unstable agricultural economy. Agriculture plays a significant role in Nicaraguan life, especially for women, but productivity and growth rates trail far behind the rest of the region. Meanwhile, climate change is creating challenges for smallholder farmers’ livelihoods.

Since many farmers have little access to technology or technical know-how, they struggle with low productivity. Modern tools and equipment are hard to access as they are expensive, complicated to operate and require training.

The ENGINE project will increase private sector investment leading to inclusive, broad-based economic growth in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). MEDA will be responsible to facilitate the growth and capacity building of a sustainable market for business development service (BDS) providers, resulting in at least 60 BDS providers becoming sustainable. MEDA will support the breadth of BDS services through the development of an eVoucher platform. ENGINE will also employ smart incentives to encourage BDS providers to work with women and youth-owned small-medium entrepreneurs (SMEs). Finally, MEDA will leverage the expertise of 24 North American-based business experts as volunteers in Tanzania.

Ukraine | Ukraine Horticulture Business Development Project (UHBDP)

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Ukraine’s agriculture sector is the country’s third largest economic sector and provides 20% of the country’s employment. In spite of excellent growing conditions, Ukrainian agriculture is hindered by comparatively low yields and productivity. The bulk of production comes from the small and medium farms which cultivate 65% of agricultural land.

Ethiopia | Value Chains for Economic Growth in Ethiopia (VCEGE) / Ethiopians Motivating Enterprises to Rise in Trade and Agri-business (EMERTA)

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Despite rapid economic growth during the past decade (averaging 10.8% growth/year) 87% of Ethiopians live on less than USD $2 per day. More than 80% of the population live in rural areas where most households are engaged in small scale, frequently subsistence, agriculture. In 2015 the government of Ethiopia released its second Growth and Transformation Plan which lays out ambitious plans designed to move the country to middle income status by 2025. Agriculture and mining are two sectors of the economy that the government will focus on to drive growth. In order for this growth to have broad, inclusive impact, small-scale producers, particularly women, must have greater opportunity to participate in the economy.

Kenya | Equitable Prosperity Through Private Sector Development (EPTPSD) / Maendeleo Sawa (M-Sawa)

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While Kenya is generally one of the more developed countries on the Africa content, high levels of inequality and poverty persist, especially in rural areas. Unemployment rates in Kenya are very high at 11%¹, with unemployment among youth particularly high at 22.1%². While many job opportunities exist in Nairobi, limited opportunities exist outside of the capital.

Cassava is a vital crop for millions of smallholder farmers in Tanzania. Cassava has shifted in status from a survival crop to a staple crop and now to a commercial crop generating an economically sustainable livelihood for farmers which is increasingly crucial to the agricultural transformation in Tanzania. Today, cassava farmers experience low productivity due to the use of low yielding varieties, poor agriculture practices and outbreaks of viral diseases which invest and destroy cassava plantings over large areas.

Tanzania | Strengthening Small Business Value Chains (SSBVC) / Kuza Biashara Sawia

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SSBVC - Strengthening Small Value Business Chains from MEDA on Vimeo.

The project aims to contribute to Tanzania’s economic growth and increase job creation by sustainably improving the business performance of small, growing businesses (SGBs) and small entrepreneurs (SEs). MEDA will work with local partners to provide business development services and support market development. MEDA will also help financial institutions improve access to financial services in the extractives, agri-food, logistics, construction, and manufacturing sectors.