Passion Farm Products Limited, upon commissioning a rice processing plant, is implementing the “Rice Initiative for Competitiveness and Economic Empowerment”, in short, RICE Project. Being an emerging enterprise in the rice value chain, and with high growth potential, the business needs to build its competitive advantage and the model must be inclusive of poor smallholder farmers whose capacities are limited by multiple constraints to effectively produce. The enterprise recons that sustainable business growth should be inclusive and mutually beneficial for all actors to achieve greater results. As such, the business will implement the Incentive-Based Contract Farming model as its main supply chain strategy and will also explore the Productive Alliance model as a complementary inclusive business model.
The goal of the project is to facilitate sustainable mechanization and market-driven commercialization of smallholder rice farming in irrigation schemes across Malawi. The overall objective of the project is to increase the productivity, production, and supply of rice through management partnerships with smallholder-owned/managed irrigation schemes. The specific objectives of the project include:
- Improve management of smallholder-owned irrigation schemes to increase economic efficiency and viability.
- Improve access to extension services, certified seeds, and fertilizers for smallholder farmers.
- Facilitate rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure and improve storage capacity in irrigation schemes.
- Facilitate access to mechanization and solar-powered irrigation systems for increased productivity in irrigation schemes.
- Strengthen market linkages with farmers through incentive-based contract farming model
The company identified over 10 irrigation schemes along the lakeshore districts of Salima, Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay with over 6,000 farmers. Currently, the company is working with two schemes covering over 1,000 farmers in the pilot phase. The two schemes signed management partnership agreements with the company and now have access to farm inputs and a market for their rice with the first sells in the 2023/2024 agriculture season. The target is to scale up and reach all the 6,000 farmers in the 10 irrigation schemes within 3 years. The company is establishing a Farmer Support Unit (FSU) which will be responsible for implementing the management partnerships with an integrated contract farming scheme. The GIF funding is mainly targeted to support the company in the operationalization of the FSU which is an addition scope of work beyond the core business. Secondly, the funding is being sought to enable the company to provide labour-saving and productivity enhancing technologies to promote mechanization in the irrigation schemes.