Project Name: The Maldives Agribusiness Program (Map)

Location: Haa Alif Atoll, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Shaviyani Atoll

Project Duration: 20th August 2020 - 30 September 2025

Source of Funding: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Government of Maldives.

Total Value of the Project: The total programme cost amounts to USD 12.9 million (MVR 195.8 billion).

Target groups are small farmers who are constituted of different segments, including men, women and youth belonging to households of different socio-economic categories. With a considerable socio-economic and socio-cultural divide between rural and urban populations, also with respect to gender and age, small farmers who depend mainly on agriculture for their livelihood are economically one of the most vulnerable groups in the country. Of the farmers targeted, 53% will be women and 20% youth. In line with IFAD11 mainstreaming commitments, the project has been validated as gender transformational and nutrition sensitive.

MAP will directly benefit 6,000 households consisting of 31,800 persons. These consist of 1,720 households benefitting from the full range of investments (training, loans, matching grants, market infrastructure), 4,280 households benefiting from training and market access investments, and 2,460 incremental full time

The agriculture sector is the third sector of the Maldives economy after tourism and fisheries. However, it is lagging behind due to a set of constraints. The country faces complex challenges posed by a fragile ecology and climate change vulnerability. Cultivable land is limited, as is the availability of technology to enhance production and productivity. Logistics and market access are also significant challenges. Farming is mostly practiced in an unorganized manner and on a limited scale. Small farmers in the outer atolls suffer the most in terms of periodic food insecurity and poverty. There is limited public and private investment in the sector; as a result, the country relies heavily on imported agricultural products. In light of the challenges, and in the absence of systematic investment in agriculture, implementation of the national Agricultural Development Master Plan has been limited.

The Maldives Agribusiness Programme (MAP) will help the Government to address these challenges. It will support the Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture (MOFMRA) to refine its evolving vision and implement a structured policy and incentive framework for the agriculture sector. It will provide investment resources to capitalise on the opportunities existing for sectoral growth. It will introduce climate-smart technological solutions suitable for the Maldives, which overcome land/soil constraints and mitigate against climate change, and which are available globally. It will capitalise on the significant market for local crop production, considering that local demand is rising rapidly as incomes increase and consumers become more aware of nutrition and food safety considerations, and that the tourism sector imports substantial volumes of agricultural commodities per year.

This objective will be achieved through reformed policies, strengthened institutions and services, enhanced agricultural technologies, and better access to financing and markets for small farmer households, with an over-arching goal of gender transformation.

The programme's goal is to sustainably increase the incomes, food security and nutrition status of small farmer households. Its development objective is the strengthened enabling environment for sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.

PROJECT COMPONENTS:

The programme has three inter-linked components:

Component 1: ENABLING POLICY, INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES

Component 1 of Enabling Policy, Institutions and Services will directly target 6,000 small farm households, and indirectly target 4,170 small farm households. The total number of beneficiary households will be 10,170. Of the farmers targeted, 53% will be women and 20% youth.

Subcomponent 1.1 Knowledge and Technology

Subcomponent: 1.2: Input Supply

Component 2: CLIMATE-SMART PRODUCTION

This component aims to achieve the expected outcome of improved productivity by the adoption of new and improved existing technologies, good practices and inputs. Further to the training and transfer of knowledge and skills under component 1, farming households will begin to receive finance their micro-businesses in the form of loans or matching grants.

Output for component 2

Component 3: MARKET CONNECTIONS

Component 3 of Market connection will directly target 2,795 small farm households and indirectly target 7,375 small farm households. The total number of beneficiary households will be 10,170. Of the farmers targeted, 53% will be women and 20% youth.