iDE Scaling up Farm Business Advisers in Zambia iDE privata jordbruksrådgivare i Zambia Agricultural extension is vital for increased productivity and diversification among smallholder farmers. In Zambia, government agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers have remained insufficiently inadeqaute due to several factors which range from political to financial. Therefore, private led extension services are deemed by many development partners as the necessary and possibly more sustainable complement to the government extension system to ensure that the needed services are available to the smallholder farmers. iDE submitted a project proposal which is based on market based approach proposing to use a methodology known as the Farm Business Adviser (FBA). iDE has experience of using the FBA approach through the just ended Rural Prosperity Initiative which recorded some improvement in cash flow of iDE farmer group members  who received extension messages and invested in micro-irrigation technologies. It is therefore anticipated that with additional funding, iDE will succeed in its development work and reach more farmers. 
The challenge on the implementation will be to reorient the existing iDE extension staff from promotion of irrigation technologies to other value chains. The other challenge anticipated is the sustainability of this approach in the project area. It may prove to be difficult to sustain the FBAs to live on commission from sale of commodities to the beneficiaries/ farmers if the farmers think they are exploited. The farmers may opt to buy directly from the suppliers. Therefore, to find a win-win situation amongst the players (suppliers, agents and buyers) may be a challenge. This may lead to collapse of the FBA approach in the event that the project ceases. In order to reduce this risk, the Embassy will monitor the performance of the FBAs and will engage iDE in dialogue to innovate the FBA approach to suit the prevailing local business conditions if necessary and possible. 
Independent assessment of iDE by EMM corporate partners summarized that iDE organizational and financial management systems creates a reasonably moderate risk rating with no high level of fiduciary risk. Considering the risks identified by EMM, the project will be closely supervised in order for it to attain its objectives.
However, despite the identified risks associated with the FBA approach, the Embassy assesses that there are more opportunities than risks that may be of sustained benefit to the smallholder farmers. Therefore, with due consideration of these factors, the Embassy has decided to give a grant to iDE for a period of two years. Thereafter, iDE and the FBA approach will be evaluated before considering long term future collaboration. That Sida shall contribute to the iDE Zambia, Scaling Up Farm Business Advisors project during the period  2014 - 2015  with the following agreed sum per year  SEK  11,000,000  in  2014, SEK 11,000,000 in 2015, 
That  SEK 11,000,000 shall be allocated for this purpose from appropriation account 155022, budget 2014. 
That SEK 11,000,000 shall be allocated for this purpose from future appropriations within the received authorization frame 
That Lena Nordström, Ambassador, shall sign the agreement with the International Development Enterprises (iDE) on behalf of Sida in accordance with the attached draft agreement