The initiative –Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness (MIRA) – will identify, prioritize and reform specific agricultural policies and regulations that currently deter or limit private investment in small- and medium-sized agribusinesses operating in smallholder agricultural value chains.
Over
a period of five years, AGRA aims to motivate at least 25 significant
policy or regulatory reforms in selected countries, leading to
measurable increases in private sector investment in local
agribusinesses.
The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates
foundation, is expected to increase the number of smallholder farmers
accessing improved technologies supplied by agribusinesses operating in
local staple food value chains. It will also help them access stable,
predictable income-generating market opportunities.
This enhanced access
to input and output markets is in turn expected to lead to increased
smallholder productivity and incomes, and reduced poverty for
smallholder farm-dependent families.
“We
are very excited about this new initiative,” says AGRA President Ms.
Jane Karuku. “It will help African Governments unlock agricultural
potential in their countries by supporting their efforts to develop
progressive agricultural policies that will attract increased private
investment in smallholder agricultural value chains.
The initiative aims
reform retrogressive agricultural regulations that deter rather than
encourage such investment”.
“The
MIRA project will provide African Governments with access to high
quality local and international technical assistance for identifying,
prioritizing and reforming specific agricultural regulations,” says Dr.
Steven
Were Omamo, AGRA’s Director of Policy and Advocacy. “Current
regulations often discourage private investment in small- and
medium-sized agribusinesses that serve the needs of smallholder farmers.
The project will help build the capacity of African Government leaders
and analysts to make better-informed, economically-robust assessments
and decisions about which regulations need to be reformed in order to
facilitate increased private investment in smallholder value chains.
The MIRA project has four key objectives:
•
To strengthen African Governments' demand for regulatory reforms, by
supporting efforts to identify and assess regulations that
unintentionally limit private sector investment in smallholder value
chains;
•
To support African Governments’ efforts to reform regulations that
limit private sector investment in smallholder value chains;
•
To promote reformed regulations to local and international private
sector investors, in order to raise awareness about improved
agribusiness-enabling environments in Africa; and
•
To enhance the capacity and commitment of African Governments to
continuously review, assess and reform regulations that limit private
sector investment in smallholder value chains.
By the end of the project, three major outcomes are expected:
•
Reformed agricultural policies and regulations creating more conducive
environments for private sector investment in local agribusinesses
operating smallholder value chains in five countries;
•
Increased private sector investment in the “throughput capacity” of
existing and new local agribusinesses – those supplying inputs to
smallholders and/or purchasing farm outputs from them; and
•
At least 25 significant policy or regulatory reforms that induce
measurable increases in private sector investment in local
agribusinesses operating in smallholder agrifood value chains.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
For more information, please contact:
Sylvia Mwichuli
Director, Communications and Public Affairs
Tel: +254203675000
Mobile: +254736880620
SOURCE
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
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