CONCEPT NOTE

ON
TH
DA 8 TRANCHE PROJECT PROPOSAL: CAPACITY–BUILDING ON AGRI-BUSINESS FOR
WOMEN TO ENHANCE FOOD SECURITY IN EASTERN AFRICA

TOTAL BUDGET : USD 520,000

I. Background

Despite the progress made by many African countries towards meeting the MDGs, including
the target of reducing hunger by half by 2015 (MDG1), an increased number of the poor in
Eastern Africa, especially women still suffer from hunger, malnutrition and food shortages.
This situation is made worse by the recent food crisis and the drought that hit several
countries in the subregion the past two years, which increased the number of vulnerable
people. The FAO estimates that around 20 million people currently depend on food
assistance in the sub-region.

Despite being responsible for producing almost 80 per cent of the food in the sub-region, women
remain the most vulnerable and worst affected by food insecurity. Gender inequality with respect to
land and property rights has been entrenched by existing laws in many African countries, which
confer land titles and inheritance rights upon male family members only, with females being
dependants. Women are also discriminated against in predominantly patriarchal systems in terms of
education as well as access to credit to boost agricultural production and productivity. This situation
has often been exacerbated by poor health status and impacts of HIV/AIDS on women.

With a view to addressing these gaps and improving the food security situation in the subregion, a
joint programme has been developed by the main RECs and IGOs in Eastern Africa, namely ICGLR,
IGAD, EAC, COMESA and CEPGL. The programme is initially targeted at six countries (Burundi, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) and aims to improve
sustainable agriculture development and natural resources management as a way of enhancing food
security for vulnerable populations. Key components of the programme include market and trade,
research and development, sustainable natural resources management and promotion of safety nets
Activities related to women’s empowerment have also been identified such as improving women’s
rights to land through the implementation of the Africa Land Policy Framework and Guidelines
(ALPFG). The programme will provide a unique platform for fostering empowerment of female
farmer entrepreneurs through training activities as well as commodity fairs allowing them to put into
practice their newly acquired knowledge and build on a strengthened network of potential buyers for
their produce.

In addition, there is a strong need for women farmers and female members of pastoralist and
fishermen communities to better grasp the concepts of agri-business and value chains as well as
those related to farming innovations with a view to internalizing them, becoming their implementers
at local level and benefiting from their impacts.

Skills development is key to agriculture, livestock and fisheries development through fostered female
entrepreneurship. Skill development can include targeted education and extension programmes to
promote effective yield-enhancing practices but also financial management and marketing
programmes to run cooperatives. Tailor-made training modules for women need to be devised to
address their specific needs with a view to helping them in becoming self-reliant and contributing to
boosting local economies. It is against this background that this project proposal has been conceived.

The implementation of the project will draw on ECA’s work in promoting agricultural development
through the commodity value chain approach, which takes into account the stages of the commodity
value chain, from inputs markets and production to processing and marketing, in order to provide a
wide array of diverse opportunities for income generation and long-term sustainability.

The project will be implemented over a two-year period within the framework of the Joint
Programme on Food Security for Eastern Africa and in close collaboration with the ECA
Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD), the Africa Centre for Gender
and Social Development (ACGS) as well as FAO, IFAD and WFP. SRO-EA will lead the
implementation of the project in consultation with ICGLR, IGAD, EAC, COMESA and
CEPGL and the targeted pilot countries of the programme. A steering committee comprising
of representatives from SRO-EA, FSSD, ACGD, involved RECs and IGOs and interested
partners as well as identified women groups in the six pilot countries will be constituted and
chaired by SRO-EA. The Steering Committee will track progress toward planned results and
make relevant decisions on project implementation. Reports of the steering committee,
updates and progress reports will be posted on relevant websites for information sharing.

II. Objective

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity and skills of women and women
groups in agri-business to increase agricultural productivity and enhance food security in Eastern
Africa.
III. Expected accomplishments

The project is expected to result in the following accomplishments:

o Better understanding and application of gender and agri-business related concepts as well as
techniques linked to agriculture, agro-forestry, agro-pastoralism, aquaculture and marine
fishing;
o More active involvement of women farmers and female members of pastoralist and fishermen
communities as key players of the civil society and private sector in relevant decision-making
processes at all levels; and
o Enhanced livelihoods for women entrepreneurs and food security in rural and urban areas for
these women and their families and communities.

Furthermore, the project activities have a strong potential for replication and upscaling at continental
level. It is expected that training material and curricula developed within this project be used for
further training in other sub-regions of Africa through existing ICT platforms.

IV. Indicators of Achievement

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 A. Gender-sensitive training material including toolkits and modules on agri-business, marketing
and financial management
B. Number of women trained
C. Number of women setting up businesses
D. Cross-border study tours of women groups
E. Strengthened and/or new forums at national and sub-regional levels
F. One success story in terms of increased income and enhanced food security based on the
improved and sustainable production/processing/marketing/trade of a specific crop/produce
and/or mixed-non –mixed production system used as reference.

V. Main activities:

 MA1: Development of gender-sensitive training materials, including a set of capacity

building and training modules on agri-business and marketing. The modules will be
developed based on approved international standards and UN Business Processs Analysis
Tools.

 MA2 : Organize subregional training workshops for women and network of women
groups/associations as well as potential trainers to sustain capacity building activities.

 MA3: Establish and strengthen existing subregional forums of women entrepreneurs to

share experiences and best practices on agri-business and value chain approaches for
agricultural development and enhancing food security in Eastern Africa.

 MA4: Establishment of a Steering Committee to oversee implementation of the project.

VI. Relationship to the Strategic Framework for the period 2012-2013, the
Internationally Development Goals (IADGs), the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), and major UN conferences and summits

This project is linked to the ECA Strategic Framework for the period 2012-2013 under subprogramme
2, Food security and sustainable development (expected accomplishment a). The project is also
closely linked to an existing project of the ECA subregional office in Eastern Africa (SRO-EA) on
women’s involvement in cross-border trade in the sub-region in the context of the UN Development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in Rwanda.

The project is directly related to two MDGs and contribute to their attainment, namely:

 Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, in its two aspects, particularly the target to
halve, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015; and

 Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women, particularly the aspect on women’s
empowerment.

VII. Budget Narrative

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The project budget is estimated at $ 520,000, broken down as follows:

 Workshops and Expert meetings (OC 621): A provision of USD 235,000 to cover 3
training workshops (USD 110,000), a sub-regional workshop on information sharing
& networking (USD 70,000) and 3 steering committee meetings (USD 55,000);
 Study tours (OC 621): A provision of USS 50,000 to cover cross-border study tours;
 Consultants – Personal Service Fees ( OC 604): A provision of USD 185,000 to cover
consultancies related to the Development of gender-sensitive training material on
agri-business and marketing, (USD 80,000), the training of women individuals and
groups as well as potential trainers (USD 50,000), and up-scaling at sub-regional level
(USD 55,000);
 Operating expenses (OC 616) : A provision of USD 30,000 to cover the translation and
printing of training material; and
 Travel of Staff (OC 608): A provision of USD 20,000 for staff participation in two sub-
regional workshops and steering committee meetings.