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Accelerating Vegetable Productivity Improvement (AVPI)
Funded by the Walmart Foundation
Annual Report
(Due by 1 February 2017)
Submitted to the
Walmart Foundation
by
IFDC
P.O. Box 2040
Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35662, USA
www.ifdc.org
30 January, 2017
i
Table of Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... ii
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1
Project Goal and Objective ......................................................................................................... 2
Project Location .......................................................................................................................... 3
Project Start - Up ........................................................................................................................ 3
Reporting..........................................................................................................................................5
Activities ..........................................................................................................................................5
Objective 1: Consolidate and enhance the benefits of the 2013-15 IFDC-Walmart Foundation
intervention by expanding the use of fertilizer deep placement (FDP) and related good
agricultural practices (GAP) ....................................................................................................... 6
Objective 2: Introduce and pilot a second improved vegetable production technology – the use
of polynet houses with trickle irrigation – with participating women vegetable farmers. ......... 9
Objective 3: Improve the market knowledge of, and market information access for, women
vegetable farmers. ....................................................................................................................... 9
Other Information ..................................................................................................................... 10
List of Tables
Table 1. List of Donor Reports through January 2017 ................................................................... 5
Table 2. Activities Conducted through January 2017 ..................................................................... 5
List of Appendices
Appendix 1. Number Farmer Trainings by Sub-District through January 2017 .......................... 12
Appendix 2. Number of Motivational Meetings with Previously Trained Farmers by Sub-District
through January 2017 .................................................................................................................... 13
Appendix 3. Number of Motivational Workshops and Operational Trainings of BMOs by Sub-
District through January 2017 ....................................................................................................... 14
List of Figures
Figure 1. AVPI Districts ................................................................................................................ 4
ii
Acronyms and Abbreviations
AAPI Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement
AVPI Accelerating Vegetable Productivity Improvement
BMOs Briquette Machine Owners
DAE Department of Agricultural Extension
DD Deputy Director
FC Field Coordinator
FDP Fertilizer Deep Placement
FMO Field Monitoring Officer
GAP Good Agricultural Practices
GOB Government of Bangladesh
ha Hectare
IFDC International Fertilizer Development Center
Kg Kilogram
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MOA Ministry of Agriculture
mt Metric ton
NPK Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium
SAAOs Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers
UDP Urea Deep Placement
USAID United States Agency for International Development
1
Accelerating Vegetable Productivity Improvement (AVPI)
Annual Report (February 2016)
IFDC Project No. 22-05-61-055-11, Contract No. 03184/16
Introduction
On August 23, 2016, the Walmart Foundation signed a contract with the International Fertilizer
Development Center (IFDC) for the implementation of the “Accelerating Vegetable Productivity
Improvement” (AVPI) project. This project began in November 2016 and is planned for a two
year implementation period. Due to an issue in the dates listed on the agreement, the project
agreement period was unintentionally listed as shorter than two years: this has been discussed
between IFDC and the Walmart Foundation, and it has been agreed that a no cost extension will
be requested and granted late in project Year 1 to determine the final end date of the project.
This report constitutes the project’s first annual report, which as per the grant agreement must be
submitted by 1 February of each year; however, as the project only began in November 2016, the
effective reporting period for this first annual report is November 2016 – January 2017.
Drawing upon the lessons learned from implementation of the IFDC-Walmart Foundation
partnership between 2013 and 2015 (the Walmart Foundation Component of the United States
Agency for International Development [USAID]-funded Accelerating Agriculture Productivity
Improvement [AAPI] project), and opportunities for further progress, the Walmart Foundation
and IFDC have designed the AVPI project to address poverty and food insecurity by
empowering low-income women horticulture farmers with enhanced agricultural production
technologies and improved market knowledge. While consolidating and expanding the results of
the 2013-5 Walmart Foundation-IFDC partnership in terms of the use of fertilizer deep
placement (FDP) in horticultural production in the broader context of good agricultural practices
(GAP), the project also enhances marketing knowledge and introduces a second innovative
production technology to farmers (polynet houses with trickle irrigation for seedling production).
The project will benefit an estimated 52,000 women farmers and their household members. Care
2
will be taken to ensure local ownership so that project activities are seen as spurring local
technology adoption and improved practices that will ultimately be sustained by local actors.
The AVPI project partners with private sector input dealers/ retailers and women horticulture
farmers to consolidate, deepen and expand the results of the 2013-15 partnership between the
Walmart Foundation and IFDC. The project also collaborates with the Government of
Bangladesh (GOB)’s Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), although no Walmart
Foundation funds will flow to any public sector entity.
Project Goal and Objective
The Goal of the AVPI is to enhance rural women's empowerment, and the food security status of
their families, by increasing their capacity to produce and market horticultural crops.
Achieving this goal will result from carrying out a set of integrated activities to develop the
demand and supply sides of technology provision and use through technology transfer and training,
but not through the subsidized distribution of inputs or assets. The project emphasizes the
provision of expertise, the creation of demand and willingness to pay, and the facilitation of a more
robust supply chain, using a market development and knowledge transfer approach that
discourages heavy project subsidies or inputs. Furthermore, rather than placing the highest priority
on the number of farmers adopting new technologies, the project seeks both to increase the number
of farmers adopting technologies and to increase the size of farmland covered by these
technologies so as to achieve a greater income and empowerment dividend.
The objectives of AVPI are to:
3
1. Consolidate and enhance the benefits of the 2013-15 IFDC-Walmart Foundation
intervention by expanding the use of fertilizer deep placement (FDP)1 and related good
agricultural practices.
2. Introduce and pilot a second improved vegetable production technology – the use of
polynet houses with trickle irrigation – with participating women vegetable farmers.
3. Improve the market knowledge of, and market information access for, women vegetable
farmers.
Project Location
The project targets 24 upazilas (sub-districts) growing horticultural crops in 10 districts of
southwestern Bangladesh and the southern coastal belt. Within these sub-districts, AVPI targets
47 village clusters containing a total of 239 villages. These target villages were identified under
the 2013-5 Walmart Foundation-IFDC partnership. AVPI target geographies are presented in
Figure 1.
Project Start - Up
IFDC’s established presence and relationships in Bangladesh, and ongoing FDP activities
elsewhere, allowed for a fast start-up. A total of 18 staff members were appointed for AVPI.
Policies and regulations to ensure the efficiency of operations, the quality of activities, and
compliance with donor and legal requirements were completed. For example, during the
project’s first three months: (a) staffing was completed for all planned administrative, technical
and field positions; (b) all field staff were posted to their duty stations; (c) offices were
established/ furnished/ equipped; (d) financial and operational policies were documented; (e)
bank accounts were opened; (f) arrangements for local travel and transportation were made; and,
1 FDP and urea deep placement (UDP) refer to the same basic technology. FDP involves point placement of a large
fertilizer pellet (up to 3.4 grams by weight) near the root zone of the plant. This reduces fertilizer nitrogen losses,
increases crop uptake efficiency of the fertilizer, and is an environmentally friendly technology.
4
(g) Government of Bangladesh counterparts were consulted, with a particular emphasis on the
DAE.
Figure 1. AVPI Districts
5
Reporting
The project prepares weekly reports (for internal purposes) as well as monthly and annual reports
for the Walmart Foundation.
Table 1. List of Donor Reports through January 2017
Item Target Actual
Monthly Progress Reports with Highlights 2 2
Annual Report 1 1
Activities
Project activities were initiated in all districts during the reporting period. Project activities are
reported in Table 2, below, against those listed in Table 2 of the Year 1 Annual Work Plan
prepared for internal project planning purposes. Progress under each activity area is described in
greater detail below.
Table 2. Activities Conducted through January 2017
6
Activities Unit
AVPI Progress
Through January 2017
Remarks
Target Actual %
Objective 1: Fertilizer Deep Placement (FDP)/ Good Agricultural Practices
(GAP)
Training Manuals Number 2 2 100%
Drafting of Demonstration Plot Protocols for
Summer Crops Number 3 3 100%
Farmers Training on GAP and FDP Number N/A 20 Activity
began early
Motivational Meetings with Beneficiaries
Trained under the 2013-5 Walmart Foundation-
IFDC Partnership
Number 20 20 100%
Motivational Workshops and Operational
Training for Agro-Input Retailers/ Briquette
Machine Operators (BMOs)
Number 2 2 100%
Design and develop technical leaflets, flyers,
posters, signboards, flags, promotional bags and
caps
Number 1 1 Nearing
completion
Objective 2: Piloting Polynet Houses With Trickle Irrigation
Conduct Informal Market Studies on Seedling
Markets for Fruits and Vegetables Number
Initiated
during the
reporting
period;
ongoing
Objective 3: Improving Farmer Market Knowledge/ Access To Market
Information
Conduct a Vegetable Market Information Study Number 1 1 Nearing
completion
Conduct a Survey to Understand the Current
Sources of Market Information for Women
Vegetable and Fruit Farmers
Number 1 1
Nearing
completion
Conduct Vegetable Marketing Seminars Number 1 Planning
Underway
Objective 1: Consolidate and enhance the benefits of the 2013-15 IFDC-Walmart
Foundation intervention by expanding the use of fertilizer deep placement (FDP)
and related good agricultural practices (GAP)
Training Manuals: AVPI completed the preparation of two training manuals during the
reporting period. One manual was prepared for farmer training on GAP, including FDP
technologies, for use in training new women farmers on vegetable and fruit crop production. This
manual will be used in training an additional 16,000 women famers in 400 batches throughout
the life of the project. The second manual was prepared for use in a workshop and training
7
program for fertilizer briquetting machine owners (BMOs)2. During the life of the project, an
estimated 500 BMOs will be trained in 10 events on: (a) the maintenance of briquetting
machines; and, (b) improving market linkages through developing retailer networks.
Preparation of Demonstration Plot Protocols: During the reporting period, AVPI prepared
protocols for three vegetable crops – bitter gourd, cucumber and taro. These protocols will be
used to establish demonstration plots for the summer 2017 season in the project area.
Farmers Training on FDP and GAP: As per the project’s Year 1 work plan, there was no
target for conducting farmer trainings for summer vegetable and fruit production during the
reporting period. However, because of temperatures rising higher than normal in January 2017,
some farmers have begun planting summer
vegetables early (as of late January 2017),
requiring AVPI to conduct 20 trainings on
summer vegetable and fruit production. A
total of 800 women farmers participated in
these training programs. Details are
provided in Appendix 1 by district and sub-
district. Each training was provided over a
two-day period, with half-day training
programs on each day, which makes it
easier for women farmers to attend the trainings and still meet other obligations. Day 1 focused
on the theoretical aspects of vegetable and fruit production, while Day 2 focused on practical
demonstrations of FDP and GAP application. Training topics included: (1) human nutrition from
vegetables and fruits; (2) soil fertility, balanced fertilizer use, and the benefits of FDP
technology; (3) fertilizer briquette rates and application methods for selected vegetable and fruit
crops; (4) integrated pest management (IPM) for selected fruit and vegetable crops; (5) land
preparation, plant spacing and planting/ harvesting times for selected fruit and vegetable crops;
(6) quality seed selection and use for selected fruit and vegetable crops; (7) gender issues as they
2 BMOs briquette granular and prilled fertilizers into the “super-granules” required to deep-place fertilizer.
AVPI Farmer training program at Azampur,
Moheshpur, Jhenaidah.
8
relate to the marketing of vegetables and fruits; (8) practical demonstration on FDP application
in selected vegetables and fruits; and, (9) trainee feedback/ question & answer.
Motivational Meeting with Trained
Beneficiaries: Twenty motivational meetings
were organized with the beneficiaries who were
trained under the 2013-15 Walmart-IFDC
partnership. A total of 1,000 women vegetable
and fruit farmers participated in these meetings.
The purpose of these meeting was to motivate
previously trained beneficiaries to expand GAP
and FDP practices on an increasing percentage of
their farms. Details of these motivational meetings
by district and sub-district are provided in Appendix 2.
Motivational Workshop and Operational Training of BMOs: Two motivational workshops
and operational trainings of BMOs were
organized during the reporting period. A total of
96 participants (BMOs-43, agro-input retailers-9,
women farmers-15, sub-assistant agriculture
officers from the DAE [SAA0]-25 and officials
from Deputy Director (DD)’s office of the DAE-
4) participated in these events. Topics included:
(1) quality fertilizer briquette production and
retailer networking; (2) maintenance of
briquetting machines and linkages with local mechanics for machine maintenance; (3) benefits of
the fertilizer briquette business; and (4) group exercises, team presentations and feedback.
Details of participants by district and sub-district are provided in Appendix 3.
Motivational workshop and operational training
of BMOs at Jessore Sadar, Jessore.
AVPI-FMO conducting a motivational meeting
with trained beneficiaries at Adamkathi,
Nesarabad, Pirojpur.
9
Objective 2: Introduce and pilot a second improved vegetable production
technology – the use of polynet houses with trickle irrigation – with participating
women vegetable farmers.
Vegetable and Fruit Seedling Market Information Survey: AVPI field staff (field monitoring
officers [FMOs] and field coordinators [FCs]) are in the process of interviewing a random
sample of beneficiaries from the 2013-5 Walmart Foundation-IFDC partnership regarding
vegetable and fruit seedling markets. The results of this survey will be used to inform Objective
2 activities, since polynet houses with trickle irrigation are best used for seedling production.
Over the course of this survey, 1,160 farmers - 5 from each village - will be interviewed. During
the reporting period, 1,070 farmers were interviewed.
Objective 3: Improve the market knowledge of, and market information access for,
women vegetable farmers.
Vegetable and Fruit Market Information Study: During the reporting period, AVPI selected
and contracted a consultant with adequate knowledge of local and regional vegetable and fruit
markets to conduct a vegetable and fruit market information study. The primary objective of the
study is to understand current market requirements and preferences as these compare to the
current practices of fruit and vegetable farmers. A secondary objective of the study is to
understand and list current sources of market information. The results of the study will be used to
draft a marketing module to be used in farmer training offered by the project. This study began
during the reporting period, and will be competed in February 2017.
10
Survey of Women Vegetable Farmers to
Ascertain Knowledge and Information Gaps:
AVPI field staff are also in the process of
interviewing the same sample beneficiaries as
indicated above regarding their knowledge of, and
access to information about, horticultural marketing
practices and requirements. As of January 31, 2017,
a total of 1,055 women farmers from 211 villages
have been interviewed. This survey will be
completed by the end of February 2017.
Conduct Vegetable Marketing Seminars: This activity will be undertaken after the Vegetable
and Fruit Market Information study is completed by the external consultant.
Other Information
Trained Farmer Follow-Up: Staff are visiting previous farmer trainees to assess the degree to
which beneficiaries of the 2013-5 Walmart Foundation-IFDC partnership have continued the use
of GAP and FDP technologies/ practices promoted under the first project. These visits are also
assessing the average farm area on which these practices are being applied and determining
whether this area has increased or decreased since 2015. As of January 2017, a total of 2,022
trained women farmers have been interviewed. These interviews will continue through April
2017.
Village Monitoring Survey: AVPI will conduct a village monitoring survey each season to
obtain results for three major project indicators: 1) area under improved technologies; 2) number
of farmers applying new technologies; and, 3) savings of urea. AVPI staff will start collecting
this data once the transplantation of seedlings and fertilizer application has been completed for
the summer 2017 season. During the reporting period, the questionnaire to be used for this
village monitoring survey was finalized.
AVPI-FMO interviewing farmers on market
information knowledge at Ratanpur, Bhola
Sadar, Bhola.
11
Promotional Materials and Visibility: An AVPI project profile, a leaflet for distribution at
farmer trainings, and a booklet on GAP for 20 vegetables and fruits have been prepared for
distribution to different stakeholders. The project profile has been added to the IFDC website
https://ifdc.org/apvi/.
12
Appendix 1. Number Farmer Trainings by Sub-District through January
2017
District Upazila (Sub-
District)
Events Participants
Bhola Char Fasson 1 40
Sub-Total: 1 40
Chuadanga Chuadanga Sadar 5 200
Damurhuda 2 80
Sub-Total: 7 280
Jessore Jessore Sadar 2 80
Jhikargachha 1 40
Sub-Total: 3 120
Jhenaidah Maheshpur 2 80
Sub-Total: 2 80
Meherpur Gangni 1 40
Meherpur Sadar 3 120
Mujibnagar 1 40
Sub-Total: 5 200
Rajbari Baliakandi 1 40
Rajbari Sadar 1 40
Sub-Total: 2 80
Total: 20 800
13
Appendix 2. Number of Motivational Meetings with Previously Trained
Farmers by Sub-District through January 2017
District Sub-District Events Participants
Chuadanga Chuadanga Sadar 4 185
Damurhuda 2 100
Sub-Total: 6 285
Jessore Jessore Sadar 4 215
Sub-Total: 4 215
Jhenaidah Maheshpur 2 100
Sub-Total: 2 100
Khulna Dumuria 1 50
Sub-Total: 1 50
Meherpur Gangni 1 50
Meherpur Sadar 3 150
Sub-Total: 4 200
Pirojpur Nesarabad 1 50
Sub-Total: 1 50
Rajbari Baliakandi 1 50
Rajbari Sadar 1 50
Sub-Total: 2 100
Total: 20 1,000
14
Appendix 3. Number of Motivational Workshops and Operational Trainings of
BMOs by Sub-District through January 2017
District
Sub-District
Event
s
Participants
Women Men Total
Chuadanga Chuadanga Sadar 1 17 32 49
Sub-Total: 1 17 32 49
Jessore Jessore Sadar 1 13 34 47
Sub-Total: 1 13 34 47
Total: 2 30 66 96
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