Innovative Business Model

The objective of the Innovative Business Model (IBM) project is to increase food production and income security for 11,250 smallholder farmer households in seven woredas of Amhara and Oromia regions.

SNV in collaboration with a private seed company, microfinance and a learning institution is promoting a business model to transform the traditional subsistence farming into a modern commercial system. The public-private-partnership (PPP) involves 225 producer groups (PGs) in crop rotation, mainly, of potato, linseed, malt barley, teff, beans, wheat, cabbages and onions.

In order to boost agriculture IBM is:

• training and coaching Producer Groups in enterprise development, financial literacy, collective marketing and governance;

• promoting crop rotation of high-value crops and crops that meet household nutritional demands;

• supplying agricultural inputs including quality seeds;

• building the capacity of women to transform into agri-entrepreneurs;

• strengthening informal farmer groups organised around nucleus farms to produce and market improved seeds and crop varieties;

• facilitating linkages with smallholder farmer friendly micro-finance institutions to finance the value chain.