VACPA Date Supply Chain Development - Tunis

completed

The project will support an investment client to develop its smallholder farmer date supply chain through: 1- Improve practices in date growing, harvesting and postharvest handling to reduce the infection rate by 10% from 25% currently to 15% and increase quantity of premium quantity by 20%. 2 - Increase water use efficiency by promoting and implementing drip irrigation to reduce consumption of water by 30% per/hectare form current flood irrigation consumption rates. 3 - Improve farmers’ organizations business and financial management skills to better serve their members on access to input and agri-equipment for irrigation and mechanization. 4 – Pilot a digital platform for sourcing, knowledge sharing, and technical support. The project will be implemented through the following three components: - Component One: Climate-smart water management and sustainable agricultural practices: This component will introduce and expand utilization of best dates agricultural practices and promote climate-smart water technology to help date farmers increase the share volume of premium quality dates produced that quality for the export market and reduce infection and therefore rejection rates. - Component Two: Improve management skills of farmer and farmer organizations: The project will build the business and technical capacity of farmer organizations - Component Three: Pilot Digitalized Platform for Knowledge, Sourcing, and technical support: The project will introduce and pilot a digital platform (yet to be selected) to help VACPA communicate with its farmers for Knowledge sharing, sourcing, and technical support which would strengthen its relationships with local farmers, assist farmers in managing their farm, provide traceability, improve efficiency in onsite data collection including yields forecasting, and reduce challenges of communication and mobility.