OVERVIEW
The Agriculture Value Chain Facility (EU-VACE) NG is a comprehensive initiative designed to support the development of climate-smart agriculture, aquaculture, and the sustainable transformation of agricultural Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Agri-SMEs) within selected value chains (cocoa, dairy, tomatoes, and ginger) in Nigeria.
The project focuses on creating decent job opportunities for young people while addressing the root causes of irregular migration. It seeks to empower stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), women, and youth, to fully engage in the transformation, modernisation, and digitalisation of the agricultural sector.
Implementing Agency:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Implementation Period:
2024 – 2028
Total Budget:
€18.3 million
(European Commission contribution: €12.7 million; BMZ contribution: €5.6 million)
Geographical Region:
Plateau, Oyo, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Ondo, and Cross River State.
KEY ACTIVITIES
- Develop joint strategies with private sector actors, such as processors, traders, cooperatives, and associations, to integrate SMEs into agricultural value chains.
- Organise training sessions and enhance the capacity of partner training institutions.
- Develop and implement technical packages to improve and expand production volumes in selected value chains, tailored to business modalities (e.g., for tubers like potato and sweet potato, horticulture, high-margin agricultural products, seeds).
- Provide technical support to private sector partners during the implementation phase.
- Support the development of climate-smart strategies for various agricultural value chains and agro-ecological zones in Nigeria.
- Monitor progress at the beneficiary level and assess the impact on food security at both micro and macro levels.
- Support identified partners with business and investment plans, including capacity building, document preparation, and investment readiness support.
- Facilitate matchmaking between innovative financiers, financial institutions, and identified partners in newly supported value chains.
- Provide organisational, technical, and financial support to promote the selected new value chains.
- Establish contacts with key stakeholders in the targeted value chains to foster collaboration.
- Conduct analyses to identify weaknesses and development potential within the selected value chains.
- Support the establishment and operation of multi-stakeholder platforms by providing content, organisational guidance, and capacity development.
- Assist in strategy development for the expansion and scaling of value chains.
- Promote innovative and inclusive business ideas along the value chains.
- Support selected events within the value chains to encourage participation and awareness.
- Facilitate training on VALUE LINKS or similar methodologies to strengthen value chain management.
- Identify climate-smart concepts to promote sustainable agriculture and investments.
- Conduct or support feasibility studies for sustainable and climate-smart food supply systems.
- Organise and support public-private dialogue events focusing on climate-smart concepts in selected value chains.
- Identify and promote local disaster risk reduction strategies for adoption by local entities.
- Establish and organise high-level public-private sector platforms to promote collaboration.
- Strengthen MSME investment readiness on the demand side through targeted preparation and capacity building, while simultaneously developing and promoting tailored financial products on the supply side that effectively meet financiers’ risk and profitability criteria.
- Facilitate MSMEs’ access to diverse funding by mobilising innovative sources such as impact investments and crowdfunding, alongside connecting them to traditional sources including commercial banks, microfinance institutions, and grants.
- Provide key support through investment facilitation, business model analysis and product development, pipeline identification, de-risking, and investment readiness assistance to enable MSMEs to attract and secure financing successfully.
- Analyse investment opportunities in existing and new value chains to identify growth potential and collaboration opportunities for promoting sustainability and climate resilience (e.g., resilient seeds, sweet potato).
EXPECTED RESULTS
Emergence of sustainable and inclusive agri-businesses
New sustainable and inclusive agri-businesses are developed, and existing ones are expanded along the supported value chains.
Enhanced coordination in agricultural value chains
Coordination and collaboration within agricultural value chains are strengthened, emphasising inclusive business approaches to promote stakeholder engagement.
Development of sustainable and inclusive investment opportunities
Sustainable and inclusive investment opportunities are created and supported during implementation, offering potential for employment growth, business expansion, and adaptation to climate change.
Promotion of climate-smart and sustainable agricultural measures
Climate-smart agricultural practices and sustainable measures are advanced, reducing climate change vulnerabilities, enhancing food security, and fostering socially responsible investments.
Access to finance
Agribusinesses and value chain actors achieve enhanced access to finance through improved investment facilitation, stronger product pipeline identification and development, and increased investment readiness support.
Improving business, production, and processing capacities
Enterprises and producers demonstrate improved business performance, higher productivity, and more sustainable operations as a result of strengthened entrepreneurship skills, better production and processing practices, and more effective market linkages.
Enabling policy and coordination across value chains
Value chains benefit from a more enabling environment through successful advocacy for reforms, active multi-stakeholder platforms that foster collaboration and coordination, and the adoption of inclusive policies that support equitable and sustainable participation.
