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Evaluation of the project “Increasing smallholder productivity and profitability”

Project code: GCP/KEN/082/USA

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 92 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 978-92-5-135615-9

Series title Project Evaluation Series

Series number jan/22

Synopsis (short abstract) FAO’s “Increasing smallholder productivity and profitability” (ISPP) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by FAO in Kenya had the objective to improve livelihoods through enhanced productivity, market linkages and better nutrition. The evaluation assessed the relevance of the project and the achievement and sustainability of results. The evaluation found increased technical capacity among farmers, but significant limitations to apply the knowledge. Increased access to diverse types of fruits and vegetables at household level was reported. Anecdotal evidence shows change of dietary habits. Farmers were trained on contract farming, negotiation skills, marketing strategies, financial access and agro-entrepreneurship, but access to markets remained a challenge across all value chains promoted, and equitability of support services could not be established. For future, similar projects, the recommendations include i) the establishment of a community-based collaboration platform to foster long-term sustainability; ii) framework and guidelines for gender mainstreaming; iii) enhancing operational transparency and adaptive management; iv) exit strategy with sustainability action plan; v) comprehensive support for access to markets; and vi) focus on monitoring, learning and evaluability when designing and implementing reporting mechanisms.

Annex 1. Terms of reference

Annex 2. Data analysis tables

Annex 3. Significant change story

Annex 4. Evaluation matrix

Annex 5. Data collection tools inventory

Management response

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2022. Evaluation of the project “Increasing smallholder productivity and profitability”. Project Evaluation Series, 01/2022. Rome. 




Language English

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    The United Republic of Tanzania is a low-income rural economy, with most citizens participating in agriculture for household income generation. Agriculture represents about 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 30 percent of export earnings, and employs 66.9 percent of the working population. In 2000/01 agriculture accounted for 31 percent of GDP but has since fallen to 23 percent despite an annual GDP growth rate of 5-6 percent. The poor performance of the sector is caused by several factors, including poor extension services, financial illiteracy and inadequate access to financial services by smallholder farmers. In collaboration with MoA, the project aimed to address these challenges by improving the competitiveness and enhancing the post-harvest management capacity of VC (smallholder farmers and processors), building the management capacity of producers’ organizations, creating sustainable linkages with other agricultural VC actors, and improving post-harvest practices to enhance farmers’ competitiveness. The project also built linkages between farmer organizations (FOs) and other service providers, encouraging the development of a long-term market strategy and contributing to the national objective to increase agricultural productivity and reduce rural poverty. The project was further expected to increase and stabilize the incomes of smallholder farmers producing paddy in Iringa district, building capacity in post-harvest handling and strengthening the commercial relationships between FOs and other rice VC actors. Market linkages between producer and other value chain actors such as traders and processors were established by the project, with 15 new linkages being forged.
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    The arid and semi-arid areas (ASALs) of Kenya cover nearly 84 percent of the national land and thus present an enormous potential contribution to national agricultural production as well as basic food and income for farmers residing in these areas. About three in every ten Kenyan children aged below two years are stunted. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey conducted in 2014, Kitui county and West Pokot county had the highest stunting rates nationally at almost 46 percent. This is against a national average stunting rate of 26 percent. There have been multiple past projects in Kitui county that aimed at improving food security and nutrition, including through the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, growth monitoring, immunization, complementary feeding and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Increasing Smallholder Productivity and Profitability (ISPP) project, implemented between September 2016 and March 2020, was designed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to combine nutrition education with rural livelihood support. This approach aimed at strengthening the capacity of smallholder farmers in agricultural production, water management, and farming as a business. Furthermore, it aimed at improving nutrition outcomes of targeted household members in the semi-arid counties of Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Taita-Taveta, and Tharaka-Nithi. The project had a specific component on Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs), aimed at improving infant and young child feeding practices.
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