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The goal of PROMEL (Programme de promotion de l’entreprenariat local) is to foster local entrepreneurship, placing particular emphasis on empowering women. To this end, Swisscontact is developing a platform that facilitates exchange between agricultural stakeholders.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Its unstable economy is reliant on agriculture and thus vulnerable to climate risks and price fluctuations in the raw materials sector. There is barely any investment, and women and young people, in particular, are living in extreme poverty. With this project, over the next years, Swisscontact will support 2,500 agricultural businesses access better job and business opportunities.
Through a digital information platform, market actors gain simple access to information and markets and will have better opportunities to network with each other. The platform is also accessible via mobile phone without an internet connection. As a knowledge repository, the platform holds information about good agricultural practices that can enhance their resilience against climate change and provides information about current market prices. All the services offered on the platform are available in French and two local languages.
Absatou Nazir has been interested in information technology and programming ever since she was a little girl. Today, the 27-year-old woman has a master’s degree in software engineering and works as an innovation and digitisation assistant. Together with several other women, she is responsible for developing and introducing the platform.
This project is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Swisscontact.
MetKasekor is an extension model to improve Cambodia’s agricultural system – for example to sustainably improve soil quality – and opening up the market for private sector investment in agriculture. In the Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture project, Swisscontact is supporting the development and testing of the model together with various partners in the government, private sector, and research institutes.
An important tool for testing the model is an app that allows for gathering all the data in so-called farmer profiles (name, location of land plot, farming crops, farming practices, machinery used, etc.) that are then presented on a platform. Both the platform and app provide information on the various agricultural businesses going through the various steps of MetKasekor. The mobile app helps these businesses to transition from conventional agricultural techniques toward regenerative agriculture.
At the same time, government advisory offices can follow the progress achieved by farmers and service providers in adopting new agricultural practices. In this way, the Cambodian government will compile an extensive and comprehensive database, which it can use to advise and further support farmers in the future. The data is only used with the consent of the participants involved.
The “Innovations for sustainable agriculture” project is financed by the Happel Foundation, Symphasis, the Leopold Bachmann Foundation, and other donors. It is part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, which is co-financed by the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).