Market Systems Development (MSD)

Summary of 2021 Outcomes:

-NGN 10.75 billion/USD 25.21 million in investments leveraged from the public and private sectors to implement good agricultural practices, technological innovations, and business upgrading solutions in the six (6) sectors of PIND's market system development work

-67,213 farmers reached with information about best practices, quality input, and new technology

-NGN 16.42 billion/USD 40 million in increased incomes earned by 45,333 farmers and enterprises

-10,471 new jobs facilitated

PIND's Market Systems Development (MSD) project works through a network of trained and incentivized market system actors (service providers, agro-dealers, input companies, fabricators, equipment dealers, financial institutions, etc.) to support farmers and small businesses in the Niger Delta region to improve their productivity, increase their incomes and create new jobs.

This project contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) 1, 2, and 8: “no poverty”, “zero hunger”, and “decent work and economic growth” through improved food security, and enhanced aquaculture, cassava, cocoa, palm oil, and poultry agricultural sectors.

Through our MSD project, we implement interventions that address the root causes of market failure and ensure that farmers and related businesses have the essential elements for their success. These elements include quality inputs, best farming & business practices, efficient technologies, new markets, and funding. In 2021, NGN 10.75 billion/USD 25.21 million was invested in our MSD value chains by public and private sector actors. Furthermore, 10,471 new jobs were facilitated across five agricultural value chains and an enterprise development project in which the MSD project intervenes.

In 2021, we undertook a livelihood assessment to identify the most viable economic opportunities for poor individuals in coastal communities and how to best improve their capacity to address the opportunities to enhance their well-being. Additionally, we continued to work with our network of service providers and other critical support market actors to improve beneficiary farmers' and related businesses' performance.

We also engaged with new partners seeking to invest in the different sectors and onboarded more service providers. This increased the number of farmers and

enterprises benefiting from our projects. As a result, our farm service providers delivered services to 67,213 farmers and related businesses. Of these, 45,433 earned an additional income of NGN 16.42 billion/USD 40 million by adopting the best practices and investing in quality and improved inputs and technologies.

Please continue reading to learn more about our specific impacts in aquaculture, cassava, cocoa, palm oil, and poultry sectors and in access to finance and enterprises' development.

What is the Secret Behind It?

Ugo Micheal Okam, farm service provider (FSP), (Cross River State, Nigeria)

As a service provider to farmers, I have been able to train up to 2,000 farmers in more than 10 communities in Cross River State, and from those communities, I have been able to pick 20 youth – of which 12 are males and eight are female and trained them in seed multiplication. Now, they are doing fine as far as the seed multiplication business is concerned. In our encounter, there are a lot of differences. The training and practices have touched and actually changed a lot of things in their lives. If initially, they were at 20%, now they should be at 40%. We have demonstration farms to prove that we actually mean business. These demo farms are doing well, and we can see the dividends of their training. There are a lot of people that are feeling reluctant to join us in adopting good practices. But when they come and see these demonstration farms, they ask, 'What is the secret behind it?' And we tell them, 'This is as a result of the [project] of good agronomic practice that has ushered us into this.' Then, those farmers become ready to key in.