SNV INCREASE Climate Smart Agriculture and Biogas

Overall results achieved Over the past 4.5 years, INCREASE has reached 25,364 smallholder farmers in total; 12,380 received direct trainings on climate smart practices (compared to the target of 12,000), and 12,984 were influenced through outreach activities like field days and demo sites (compared to the target of 15,000). SO1: Climate-smart practices significantly reduced the cost of production and energy for households for those who adopted. The biogas was used for clean cooking and the bio slurry (waste product from the biogas production) was used as an organic fertilizer to improve the soil fertility. The biogas was also used for heating in some small livestock breeding programs, to keep chicks and young goats warm. SO2: The project showed progress towards achieving targets for increased annual sales but fell short of targets for access to financial services and clean energy solutions due to the high costs incurred for this. The projects climate-smart service delivery model was mainly through farmer service centres that comprised of the lead farmers and farmer organisations. The project also found that market access requires partnerships at various value chain nodes, which INCREASE did not incorporate very well in its initially plan. These lessons learned are valuable to take with to future projects and especially into the new YEE AET project where private sector collaboration plays a significant role. SO3: The project collaborated with civil society, donors, and through multi-stakeholder platforms to strengthen advocacy and engagement for inclusive and supportive policies and government budget allocations. The project also coordinated government, private sector, research and civil society actors for more efficient actions. INCREASE provided support for the formulation of three youth-related policies in Zambia: the National Youth Policy, the National Gender Policy, and the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. INCREASE also made contributions to the 8th National Development Plan with a focus to reduce development inequalities, particularly in the areas of youth entrepreneurship and vocational skills training. Specific results achieved Overall Achievements: Direct Reach: The project successfully reached 25,364 smallholder farmers, surpassing the target of 12,000. Of these, 12,380 received direct training on climate-smart practices, and 12,984 were influenced through outreach activities. Indirect Influence: The project influenced 12,984 farmers through outreach activities, slightly below the target of 15,000. Strategic Outcome 1 (SO1): Increased Agricultural Productivity Climate-Smart Practices: The adoption of climate-smart practices significantly reduced production and energy costs for households. The use of biogas for clean cooking and heating, and bio slurry as organic fertilizer, improved soil fertility and supported small livestock breeding programs. Intercropping: Practices like intercropping horticulture or cotton with fruit trees or leucena trees improved soil nutrients and texture. Strategic Outcome 2 (SO2): Increased Business/Value Chain Performance Annual Sales: Progress was made towards increasing annual sales, although targets for access to financial services and clean energy solutions were not fully met due to high costs. Service Delivery Model: The climate-smart service delivery model through farmer service centres was effective, but market access required better partnerships at various value chain nodes. This lesson is valuable for future projects, such as the YEE AET project. Strategic Outcome 3 (SO3): Improved Enabling Environment Policy Advocacy: The project collaborated with civil society, donors, and multi-stakeholder platforms to advocate for inclusive policies and government budget allocations. Youth-Related Policies: INCREASE supported the formulation of the National Youth Policy, National Gender Policy, and National Financial Inclusion Strategy, and contributed to the 8th National Development Plan, focusing on reducing development inequalities. Challenges and Lessons Learned: Initial Slow Progress: The project's performance was slower during the initial years but improved significantly after 2022, as confirmed by the midterm evaluation report. Complexity and Scope: Some targets were not met due to the project's complexity and the broad range of sectors it aimed to address. Future projects should consider more focused and integrated approaches. Farmer Feedback: Discussions with farmers during field visits between 2020 and 2024 revealed additional reasons for the low adoption of the INCREASE model. These included the low rate of benefits from using trees to fertilize soils, the labor-intensive nature of cutting tree branches, and the interference of trees with the growth of certain crops like soybeans. These views validated the midterm review's findings on the project's inability to incorporate indigenous knowledge when promoting climate-smart agriculture practices. In conclusion, the INCREASE project achieved most of its objectives, demonstrating significant progress in building climate resilience in Zambia's agricultural and energy systems. The lessons learned will be invaluable for future initiatives such as the YEE AET Zambia project supported by Sida 2024-2028.

SNV has implemented the Increasing Climate Resilience in Energy and Agricultural Systems and Entrepreneurship (INCREASE) project between 1 January 2020 and 14 September 2024, with a total grant of 82,7 MSEK over the 4.5 years period (81.5 MSEK as grant, and 1.2 MSEK for the evaluation). INCREASE, a climate resilience building initiative, targeted smallholder farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), private sector companies, public institutions and the Zambian government, through an array of climate smart and renewable energy interventions. The project was implemented in the Southern, Central, Copperbelt, Northwestern and Eastern provinces of Zambia. The overall goal of INCREASE was Increased social, economic and environmental resilience and equity in agricultural and energy systems. The project targeted to reach a total of 12,000 smallholder farmer, out of which 11,300 should be from the dairy and cotton value chains, and 700 from the horticulture value chain. The project anticipated that an additional 15,000 farmers would be indirectly influenced by the project from within its operational areas. INCREASE implemented its activities under three strategic outcomes (SOs): SO 1 - Increased Agricultural Productivity for smallholder farmers SO 2 - Increased business/value chain performance through climate smart investments in agriculture, irrigation and renewable energy. SO 3 - The performance of the enabling environment for identifying, developing and scaling markets for climate smart agriculture, water and renewable energy technology (including opportunities for youth employment).