Strengthening resilient and sustainable value chains in West Africa

Project description

Title: Market-Oriented Value Chains for Jobs & Growth in the ECOWAS Region (MOVE)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Co-funded by: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, European Union Delegation to Ghana
Country:  Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire​​​​​​​
Lead executing agency: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); REACH: Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
Overall term: 2022 to 2024

A cashew apple seed.

Context

With global and regional demand constantly rising, cashew and rice production and processing offer important potential for training, employment, and wealth creation. This can be achieved through private sector development, can help to mitigate climate change, and bring economic empowerment to women and youth.

Rice is one of the most important staple foods in Africa. 90 per cent of locally grown rice is produced on small fields of less than one hectare, while most of the rural population in the rice-growing areas live at or below the poverty line.

The African cashew sector accounts for 56 per cent of the world’s cashew harvest, thus offering high economic development prospects for producing countries. 90 per cent of the crop is exported annually to Asia for further processing, while more local processing would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Objective

Improved income and employment prospects have been created in the ECOWAS region along market-oriented and resilient value chains (rice and cashew).

gizIMAGE-de-Mann-steht-im-Feld
gizIMAGE-de-vorbereitung-der-Cashew-Pflanzen

Approach

With the merger of the Competitive Cashew Initiative (ComCashew), Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) and Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH), the project puts multi-stakeholder partnerships at the heart of its implementation. The aim is to ensure long-term, sustainable results and competitiveness in five West African countries.

The project aims to support inclusive development throughthe following activities:

  • Improving the economic and environmental sustainability of agricultural systems using good agricultural practices (GAP) for climate-resilient, resource-conserving agriculture and carbon sequestration
  • Youth and gender inclusion: developing and sharing good examples of inclusive business models by integrating gender transformative approaches (GTA) and information technology (IT) capabilities
  • Policy advice: consolidating public-private cooperation in policymaking to reduce regional trade barriers and to support social transformation.

Last update: May 2022

Additional information