Strengthening the institutional capacity and market orientation for producers organizations Since September 2013  the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Rabobank Foundation have engaged in country-level collaborations in Ethiopia  Tanzania and Kenya under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was renewed in 2018. The strategic collaboration is aimed at improving the food  nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers (SHFs) by facilitating their access to finance  marketing and other services through Producer Organizations (POs) and providing sector support through public private partnerships (PPPs) to create more efficient and inclusive agri-food value chains (VCs) to reduce food loss and waste. This Agreement falls under the project “Facilitating access to financial services for smallholders and agricultural SMEs” (MTF/GLO/069/RBK)  which aims to capitalize on the successful work done to date in Ethiopia  through the partnership between FAO  ICCO Cooperation Terrafina Microfinance (ICCO TMF)  Stichting Agriterra and Rabobank Foundation  in order to systematically address the demand and supply side constraints of access to finance and scale up sustainable financial linkages between the microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the POs in the West Arsi Zone in the Oromia Region in Ethiopia  and ultimately in other areas throughout the country. The overall vision of the project is therefore to empower producers and their POs with productive resources  and to equip the participating MFI (Buusaa Gonofaa  MFI in Ethiopia) to deliver sustainable financial services to POs. Stichting Agriterra is an international  non-for-profit  non-governmental agri-agency with Dutch roots. Stichting Agriterra will support the above-mentioned project through this Agreement bringing to the partnership extensive experience in capacitating and professionalizing farmer marketing cooperatives and cooperative unions. Furthermore  it is important to highlight that Stichting Agriterra has been active in Ethiopia since 2012 and is currently working with 24 farmer cooperative unions and 25 primary cooperatives to improve their business performance; enhance their creditworthiness and bankable; and improve their position in their respective VCs The Service Provider will provide Technical Assistance (TA) and capacity building to participating POs andcooperative unions  to achieve the following:a) Institutional capacity and market orientation of selected POs strengthened (i.e. business andmanagement capacities) through at least two training's events on: business plan development andexecution; and purchasing and marketing.Performance indicator: Number of training sessions delivered/conducted (target: 2) and number of business plans developed and endorsed by the participating MFI (Buusaa Gonofaa  MFI in Ethiopia)  and loans approved (target: 6) Means of verification: Training reports and quarterly status reportsb) Linkages established with cooperative unions through the facilitation of market linkages with the cooperative unions  improving collaboration between POs and cooperative unions on issues related to price-setting and negotiations.Performance indicator: # of partnerships/agreements/contracts that formalize relationships between POs and cooperative unions/buyers (i.e. for input distribution and/or marketing) (target: 6) Means of verification: Quarterly status reports capacitate Producer organisations or primary cooperatives by delivering;A. business plan training B. Coaching and follow up with POs on credit administration C. Purchasing and marketing trainingD.strengthening PO organizations by hiring six managers and accountants.