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Strengthening National Capacity in Agriculture Extension Services to Increase Production and Income of Farmers in Outer Atolls of Maldives - TCP/MDV/3802

Year of publication 2024

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 9

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Synopsis (short abstract) Agriculture has played a crucial role in the Maldives for generations. Although its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) is low, there is a significant number of farmers working in the country. Despite its importance, the agriculture sector is affected by several issues. The first is that land holding sizes decrease as the number of farmers increases. In addition, farmers are often unable to sell their products at competitive prices due to the absence of proper market structures and transportation difficulties, so they are forced to look for intermediaries to access markets, and ultimately have to sell their products at a lower-than-competitive price. Finally, a lack of trained field officers prevents the MoAAW from gathering vital data from farms to subsequently generate useful agricultural information and best practices for farmers. To support the rectification of these issues, this project aimed to: (i) train institutional field officers from different atolls to provide agricultural advice; (ii) create a mobile-compatible web application that enables interaction and information exchange between farmers and officers; (iii) improve the socioeconomic status of farmers; and (iv) generate employment opportunities through capacity-building programmes.

Language English

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