[{"bbox": [97, 153, 1134, 207], "category": "Text", "text": "increase. The Action will capitalise on the on-going joint EU, FAO and AgriNatura initiative supporting Government in transitioning towards more sustainable food system"}, {"bbox": [97, 219, 1134, 459], "category": "Text", "text": "**MSMes** operate in a difficult ecosystem and are concerned with the cost of doing business. There are high transaction costs, with limited attention to aggregation and other value chain services. Companies are dependent on access to land to expand their business, but the land act ring fences acquisition of vast land by investors. They hence need to expand their producer networks, to scale up their business. It is often cited that models do not exist; however, they require **investment and systematic assessment** and upgrade to work optimally and for a greater number of cases. **Geographical targeting** has not been commonly practiced with many interventions focusing on specific value chains without considering the geographic location of the investment and the need to develop the area, services and work with farmers **directly** around it, especially when it comes to perishable agricultural produce."}, {"bbox": [97, 469, 1134, 683], "category": "Text", "text": "**Farmers institutions** also require strengthening to upgrade value chains and ensure inclusiveness and access to markets by small scale farmers. **Women's economic empowerment** may further contribute to these goals. Most of the beneficiary farmers, especially women and youth, tend to appreciate the trainings and cooperate during their sessions. Use of **farmer led approaches** to address the huge farmer/extension ratio can reduce weak human resource gap and capacity gaps among ministries, departments and agencies for initiatives that can be implemented by line ministries. Providing agricultural inputs, or equipment, **free of charge** to farmers without any competitive criteria has the tendency to increase over dependency on government/projects and discourage private sector investment in the agricultural sector."}, {"bbox": [97, 694, 1134, 828], "category": "Text", "text": "Overlap of mandates among key project implementing agencies have the tendency to delay delivery of project activities if not well spelt out from the inception of the project, with partners operating in silos and limited information sharing and coordination. Establishing **standard operational procedures and a lead entity** to coordinate across implementation partners can be a good tool for partnership management to manage expectations and allow the delivery as one approach for projects with multi-sectorial approaches."}, {"bbox": [86, 855, 399, 885], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 3.5 The Intervention Logic"}, {"bbox": [97, 897, 1134, 1030], "category": "Text", "text": "**IF** The value chain actors, relevant government institutions and farmers institutions are supported to (i) develop and disseminate action-oriented, climate-smart research, innovation and technology; (ii) develop skills of farmers (esp. those who are women) to practice climate-smart production; and (iii) link farmers to market either through structured producer networks or local level value addition (enterprises), with the right balance of soft and hard investment;"}, {"bbox": [97, 1042, 1134, 1098], "category": "Text", "text": "**AND IF** Sierra Leoneans are supported to develop skills with relevant and certified skills training towards a green, low-emission economy, targeting women and girls in all their diversity explicitly;"}, {"bbox": [97, 1108, 1134, 1296], "category": "Text", "text": "**AND ASSUMING** (i) political will to address long standing challenges that continue to inhibit the optimal performance of critical value chains across the agricultural sector and to promote pro-poor growth and a more resilient economy; (ii) there is willingness and interest for local processing of complementary foods and other enterprises, and if these enterprises are actually sustainable, by local entrepreneurs; (iii) small holders can benefit from integration into higher value markets, if access to market is facilitated and specific challenges addressed; (iv) geographic targeting of interventions are a model that are at correct territorial scale to facilitate constraints not addressed by the project directly (e.g. roads)."}, {"bbox": [97, 1307, 1134, 1414], "category": "Text", "text": "**THEN** the selected value chains will be more efficient and inclusive, and able to strengthen the ecosystem in which they operate and ensure that the agricultural sector and related private sector contribute to growth and poverty eradication, dependent upon climate-smart local production, with more efficient processing, added value and market orientation of main products and by-products, green jobs will have been created; **AND**"}, {"bbox": [97, 1424, 1134, 1586], "category": "Text", "text": "**Companies and enterprises** will benefit from increased productivity and incomes **because of** structured business models (e.g. out growers as part of structured business models, contract farming etc.); increased processing capacity, new or more varied products, improved food safety and standards compliance, and more environmentally friendly production, with less loss; professionalization of businesses development of business plans; as well as strengthening supplier networks; increased value-chain services on offer relating to aggregation, transport, processing, through upgrade of existing and support to new MSMEs,"}, {"bbox": [1023, 1680, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 20 of 33"}]