81272544-Strengthening access to finance and investments for farmers' organisations in Tunisia

The Projet Economie Agricole Durable - PEAD, agreed by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries (MARHP) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and executed jointly by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the "Direction Générale des Etudes et du Développement Agricole" (DGEDA) (12/2020 - 11/2023, to be prolonged until 11/2024). The PEAD aims to stabilize and improve employment conditions in small- and medium-sized farms/enterprises and thus promoting the attractiveness of employment in the districts of North-West and Center-West in Tunisia. To achieve this, the incomes of smallholder farmers must be increased, the cooperation in and with farmers' organizations (FO) strengthened, market- and entrepreneurial orientation of farmers and farmers organizations encouraged and the enabling environment such as access to finance improved. Therefore, the project applies a focused approach, with four main fields of intervention (outputs) 1) Promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship through capacity building (FBS, CBS, FFS), 2) Promotion of collaborative and cooperative business models (coaching & matchmaking cycle coopreneur), 3) Strengthening access to finance and investments for farmers" organizations in Tunisia, and 4) Strengthening of enabling support structures. The project targets both, individual farmers and FO, and gives special attention to the integration and promotion of women and youth. The contract awarded concerns Output 3 of the project PEAD "Strengthening access to finance and investments for farmers" organizations in Tunisia". The objective of the mission is to improve the information available to farmers" organizations and SMEs regarding suitable financing products and services. Furthermore, the aim is to strengthen their capacity to identify, apply and manage financial instruments. Public financing and bonus schemes and the private financial sector (commercial banks, microfinance institutes, equity funds) form the entry point and are complemented by funds from international donors to facilitate investments such as prefinance of seasonal requirements for inputs and distribution and marketing costs. A systematic analysis of the dysfunctionalities of the current agricultural finance system aims to increase transparency and to strengthen the exchange and linkages between financial institutions and farmers" organizations and their business partners (SMEs). The network of stakeholders amongst selected value chains and business models is strengthened by promoting and supporting the exchange of specific demands and offers; Possible cooperation on financing is thus concluded and further steps necessary in the organizational development of the farmers organizations and associations (e.g., the establishment of an external controlling/ audit) are supported. The farmers" organizations and collaborative business models are accompanied and coached during their application process. The impact hypotheses are the following: 1. The increased understanding on the financing options of both the banking and public sector allow agricultural SMEs and organizations to efficiently make use of these. 2. The increased exchange and contact between farmers' organizations and financial institutions (FI) facilitate a reduction in information asymmetry and hence encourage the FIs to adjust their offer to this clientele. 3. Through access to finance, productivity and thus profitability of investment increases, the income of farms and the opportunities for collaborative business models and collaboration and commercial exchange along value chains are improved.