The Value Chain Support Fund (VCSF) finances village producer groups, valley associations, and entrepreneurs for value addition and market linkages.
The range of agricultural activities that are required to bring a product or service from form to market is agricultural value chain. ETI is providing assistance in value chain development with a focus on two value chains (apricot and potatoes) and other potential value chains subsequently. The target areas under value chain development component are all ten districts in GB. The economic benefits are expected to be generated as a result of the project efforts to promote a more optimal use of input, better practices, value addition and alternative (joint) ways of marketing and acquisition of inputs. Benefits that will be generated from this component include increased productivity, reduced losses and increased prices
The component revolves around a commercial and market-oriented production and value addition through organized groups of farmers- Village Agriculture Cooperatives- and other value chain players. This component consists of four sub-components including.
2.1Value Chain Support Fund with an objective to meet the financing needs of value chain actors including farmers, farmers' organizations, traders, processors, packagers, and exporters on matching grant basis.
2.2Social Mobilization (Farmers Organization and Institution Building) to organize farmers into groups, associations to address challenges of scattered production, aggregation, quality control and to address extension and research links to smallholders.
2.3Agriculture Extension Department to provide demand driven extension services to organized farmers,
2.4Agriculture Research mainly to address the current paucity of quality of potato seed in the region through farmers and contract cantered seed production programs.
2.5Land Titling to secure land titles for the beneficiary of irrigation and land development interventions and strengthening the capacities of the concerned department.
Over 40,900 farmers have been organized under 162 formally registered legal entities called the Village Agriculture Cooperative (VAC). Business plans that assured the incremental income of rural farmers have been developed for all VACs and activities have been completed during agriculture campaign 2022. ETI-GB invested over Rs. 1.4 billion to support farmers around 20 agriculture commodities to address pre and post-harvest loses, quality improvement, collective marketing and linkage development. These commodities include apricot, cherry, apple, nuts, open field and controlled vertical farming interventions of vegetable production such as cucumber, tomato, capsicum and many others. The programme also provided a grant to all VACs as office management support. Encouraging results are being witnessed in the form increased production, quality improvement, value addition, collective marketing, and networking of cooperatives with promoters resulting into increased income of farmers.
Over 40,900 farmers have been organized under 162 formally registered legal entities called the Village Agriculture Cooperative (VAC). Business plans that assured the incremental income of rural farmers have been developed for all VACs and activities have been completed during agriculture campaign 2022. ETI-GB invested over Rs. 1.4 billion to support farmers around 20 agriculture commodities to address pre- and post-harvest loses, quality improvement, collective marketing, and linkage development. These commodities include apricot, cherry, apples, nuts, open field and controlled vertical farming interventions of vegetable production such as cucumber, tomato, capsicum and many others. The programme also provided a grant to all VACs as office management support. Encouraging results are being witnessed in the form increased production, quality improvement, value addition, collective marketing, and networking of cooperatives with promoters resulting in increased income of farmers.