SAFE - Mercy Corps/ADRA Sudan

According progress reporting from the implementing partner Mercy Corps, some of the main results for the fifth year (i.e. October 2023 to September 2024) of the Strengthening Agricultural Markets and Food Security (SAFE) program include: Outcome 1: Inclusive, efficient and productive markets Output 1.1: Access to agricultural inputs & information: Promoting inclusive, efficient, and productive markets in Sudan, achieving notable successes in its first cycle. Key highlights include the provision of subsidized certified seeds to 7,120 smallholder farmers, exceeding the target of 7,000 farmers, and resulting in expected improved crop yields and quality. Additionally, 6,161 farmers under cooperatives have improved access to tarpaulins for improving post-harvest handling, reducing the risk of contamination and post-harvest losses. The program also hosted three successful agricultural fairs in Gedaref, bringing together 2,750 people, including farmers, agribusiness companies, and government officials, to promote business linkages and access to modern machinery and inputs. Furthermore, the program strengthened the capacity of 116 rural seed retailers through comprehensive 3-day training programs and start-up grants, enabling them to provide critical agricultural inputs and services to target groups. Overall, these interventions are expected to improve agricultural productivity, increase incomes, and enhance food security for rural farmers in Sudan. Output 1.2: Access to Financial Services: The program made significant strides in enhancing access to financial services for smallholder farmers in Sudan. Key achievements include the establishment of a partnership with a digital financial services software company to digitize manual processes for Ebdaa Microfinance Institution, improving efficiency and expanding reach to remote areas. Additionally, 74 savings groups were strengthened through training on digital record-keeping using the DreamSave App, promoting transparency and accountability. A partnership with Ebdaa Microfinance Institution led to the formation of 40 new savings groups, comprising 1,113 smallholder farmers, of whom 79% were female, promoting financial inclusion and economic growth. These interventions are expected to improve financial literacy, increase access to formal financial services, and enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers in Sudan. Output 1.3: Access to Buyers: The program made significant strides in enhancing access to buyers for smallholder farmers in Sudan. Key achievements include building the capacity of existing farmer groups into 10 effective cooperatives to improve access to input and output markets. This included trainings for targeted members, followed by mentorship and coaching. Cooperatives were supported through aggregated approaches to capitalize on new market opportunities and improve their competitiveness. Through 50 Farmer Markets Schools farmers in fragile areas were empowered with knowledge, skills and expertise to thrive in a changed market. Outcome 2: Healthy and Fertile Ecosystems Output 2.1: Resilient Agriculture: The program made significant progress in promoting healthy and fertile ecosystems in Sudan. Key achievements include the training of 100 Community Extension Trainers (CETs) who in turn trained 1,696 smallholder farmers (SHFs) in South Kordofan and 5,209 SHFs in Gedaref on resilient agriculture practices. Additionally, 20 village tree nurseries were supported, including 7 existing nurseries that received refresher training and essential materials, and 12 new nurseries that were established in Gedaref. The program also promoted agroforestry practices among 3,000 farmers in South Kordofan, Gedaref, and Blue Nile states, providing subsidized seedlings and sensitization sessions. These interventions are expected to improve soil fertility, increase crop yields, enhance biodiversity, and promote environmental protection and climate change mitigation. Outcome 3: Gender equitable communities and markets: The program made significant strides in promoting gender-equitable communities and markets in Sudan. Key achievements include the training of 523 women farmers in agricultural production, marketing, and entrepreneurship, and the provision of financial services and credit facilities to 436 women farmers. Additionally, 20 women-led agricultural cooperatives received support to improve their productivity, marketing, and income. The program also promoted women's engagement in the market by providing training and support to 20 women group leaders and established 15 advocacy committees to promote women's access to productive resources. Overall, the program empowered women to take control of their economic futures, resulting in increased confidence, skills, and income. These results have been achieved despite the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023 and has had catastrophic consequences for the population, severely exacerbating food insecurity and disrupting agricultural systems. The conflict has disrupted supply chains, damaged value chains, and led to soaring food prices, making essentials unaffordable for most households. The crisis has also severely impacted Sudan's farming systems, reducing agricultural productivity and exacerbating food insecurity and malnutrition. Prior to the conflict, the four-year SAFE program in Sudan had made significant progress in improving its agricultural sector, achieving notable successes in increasing crop yields, improving market and financial services access, and enhancing the resilience of farming communities. However, the ongoing conflict has severely undermined these gains, causing unimaginable displacement, destroying infrastructure, private and public sector services, and causing widespread losses of livestock, crops and productive resources among others. Implementation was a challenge not least in the South Kordofan State, where not all activities were possible to implement as planned and a number of the program targets were missed. Despite these challenging conditions, the Strengthening Agricultural Markets and Food Security (SAFE) programs implementing partners were nevertheless able to implement most of the planned activities with the resulting outcome as accounted for above.

The main goal of the Strengthening Agriculture Market and Food Security SAFE project is to improve the food security for 31 000 male and female smallholder farmer households across South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, through enhanced gender equitable market access and agricultural production resilience. The project is guided by a Market Systems Development (MSD) and resilience approaches, to sustain food security gains despite the complex risk environment in which smallholder farmers are exposed to. The project is centred around five key objectives: Objective 1: Increased yields for vulnerable male and female smallholder farmers. Objective 2: Increased sustainable natural resource management practices. Objective 3: Male and female smallholder farmers have improved market linkages (access to finance and agricultural inputs). Objective 4: Increased gender equity between men, women, boys and girls and increased empowerment of women and girls in smallholder agricultural market systems. Objective 5: Increased preparedness and ability to respond to disasters. In August 2023 the final Evaluation Data Analysis of the SAFE programme was produced (scheduled at the end of the original implementation period). The study was solid and lessons/recommendations from this work are referred to in parts below and in connection with the results from implementation year four (4) 2022-2023.