The Integrated Project on Agricultural Growth in the Great Lakes region (PICAGL) aims to increase agricultural productivity and marketing of four value chains (cassava, rice, milk, and fish), and improve regional integration in the agricultural sector. The project is implemented in the provinces of South Kivu and Tanganyika, particularly along the Bukavu-Uvira-Kalemie corridor. Beneficiaries of this project include approximately 200,000 households, farmers’ and civil society organizations, private investors, public agricultural research and extension services, and service providers involved in the four value chains.
The project has four main objectives:
- To develop agricultural value chains of cassava, rice, milk, and fish by increasing production, productivity, and marketing of fresh and processed products.
- To increase private sector investment and to support the development of agro-industrial parks by strengthening policies and improving the business regulatory framework to ensure better access of businesses to information, technology, and finance.
- To create an enabling environment for intra-regional trade and the management of common agricultural resources, as well as the promotion of a regional program for agricultural development research.
- To strengthen capacity of the project management team by providing technical support and advisory services.
To support the beneficiaries in each value chain, a technical partner is assigned: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for cassava, Rikolto International for rice, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium for milk, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for fish.
IFPRI is providing technical support to strengthen policy analysis capacity of stakeholders involved in the development of agricultural value chains at the provincial level through trainings and workshops; and conducting studies on the project value chains to evaluate the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the target areas.
