Project: Building Markets for Prosperity (BM4P)
Beneficiary: Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE)
Duration: 2020 - 2024
Amount: 1.500.000 euros
ACE operates as a trade facilitator bringing together sellers, warehouse managers, banks and buyers to create structure and order in the agricultural market, which is predominantly in the informal economy. A context in which small-scale farmers are easily exploited.
The project builds on the previous project "Strengthening Farmer Organisations and Rural Structured Trade Mechanisms in Malawi" carried out by ACE and WFP (2014). It focuses on cooperatives and farmers' organisations in Malawi with little or no access to formal agricultural markets.
Through this project, ACE is deploying:
- The creation of sustainable networks between farmers' organisations.
- Promoting participation in trading systems and the use of financial services by small farmers.
- the inclusion of agricultural cooperatives for women and young farmers by encouraging representation on the management committees of these groups.
In its cooperation with Malawi, Flanders focuses entirely on the agricultural sector. The majority of the population consists of small-scale farmers, who are enormously vulnerable to climate change. By providing better information about techniques and crops, these farmers are better equipped to meet this challenge. Flanders chooses to contribute to an effective agricultural policy and the right to food security in Malawi. Extra attention is paid to ensuring equal opportunities for women and young people and supporting good governance within the agricultural sector.