The Government of New Zealand has committed NZD 6.8 million (over Rwf4.8 billion) to support smallholder farmers across Africa, with NZD 4.2 million (about Rwf3 billion) committed to Rwanda from 2020-2023. According to a press release issued by the World Food Programme (WFP) on January 27, the contribution provided through the UN agency is intended to facilitate market linkages for smallholder farmers in Rwanda, and across the continent. The financial support is expected to enable WFP to scale up its support over the next 3 years targeting 200,000 smallholder farmers in rural areas across Rwanda while working to sustainably transform agricultural markets to become more efficient, resilient and profitable. The project dubbed FtMA, which was launched in 2015, supports smallholder farmers to shift from subsistence farming to market-oriented agriculture with focus on marketing farm produce including maize and beans. The project beneficiary countries include Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. FtMA is a unique alliance of six organizations with the mission to develop a sustainable and profitable agricultural sector in Africa by supporting smallholder farmers to transition to commercial agriculture. The organisations include the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Bayer, Rabobank, Syngenta Crop Protection, Yara and WFP. Through the initiative, the farmers supply produce such as maize to major buyers such as under contract farming – a practice where the quantity of crop production is determined by an agreement between the buyer and farmers. “New Zealand is proud to partner with the Farm to Market Alliance. This partnership will support lifting smallholder farmers in Rwanda out of poverty while also transforming regional food systems for longer-term sustainability and food security,” said Olivia Owen, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of New Zealand to Rwanda. Through FtMA Rwanda, smallholder farmers are supported with a range of services to promote farming as a business, use of improved inputs and enhancing crop post-harvest management. Smallholder farmers and their cooperatives are then linked to formal financial services that allows them to scale-up and enhance their production. Once crops are harvested, cooperatives are linked directly to public and private sector formal off-takers to sell their quality harvests at premium market prices. “With the support of FtMA, WFP has already been able to support more than 85,000 smallholder farmers in Rwanda since 2016. This multi-year contribution will allow us to continue with this critical work and scale-up to reach additional farmers,” noted Edith Heines, WFP Rwanda Representative and Country Director. The announcement of new funding to the Farm to Market Alliance comes at a time when access to food is deteriorating for millions of people as the world continues to grapple with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adrian van der Knaap, FtMA Managing Director welcomed New Zealand as a new partner to the initiative to address the urgent issues facing smallholder farmers and food systems in Rwanda and beyond.
