FEED THE FUTURE BURMA AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY (AFDA)
Year 1 Mid-Year Report
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
FEED THE FUTURE BURMA AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY (AFDA)
Year 1 Mid-Year Report
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 – MARCH 31, 2020 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NUMBER: 72048219CA00001 AOR USAID: KHUN THEIN SOE CHIEF OF PARTY: AGNES LUZ
DISCLAIMER This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of ACDI/VOCA and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...... 6
BACKGROUND ...... 6 GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS ...... 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 6 AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Program Implementation Highlights ...... 7
START-UP ANALYSES ...... 8 PHASE I: SECTOR SCREENING AND PRIORITIZATION ...... 8 PHASE 2: INCLUSIVE MARKET SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF TARGET SECTORS ...... 13
AFDA OUTCOMES ...... 14 OUTCOME 1: INCREASED ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE AMONG MARKET ACTORS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS ...... 14 OUTCOME 2: INCREASED ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT SERVICES ...... 15 OUTCOME 3: INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF IMPROVED INPUTS ...... 18 OUTCOME 4: SMALLHOLDER SUPPLY-CHAINS EXPAND DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET ACCESS ...... 21
CROSS-CUTTING ...... 23 GENDER EQUITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT ...... 23 YOUTH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ...... 24 ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ...... 24
MARKET SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT FUND ...... 25
MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING (MEL) ...... 26
COMMUNICATIONS ...... 27
STAFFING AND OPERATIONS ...... 29 ANNEXES ...... I
ANNEX 1. MYANMAR’S 2014-2018 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF AFDA’S COMMODITIES...... I
ANNEX 2. COMMODITY SECTOR PRIORITIZATION...... II
ANNEX 3. SUPPORT SECTOR PRIORITIZATION SCORING ...... IV
ANNEX 4. SYSTEMIC CHANGE IMPACT OF SUPPORT SECTORS...... V
ANNEX 5. NATIONAL FINANCIAL SECTOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT (NFSLA)...... I
ANNEX 6. CROP PROFILE AND MAJOR SOWING CROPS IN KACHIN, NORTHERN SHAN AND EASTERN SHAN STATES...... I
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
ANNEX 7. MSDF ELIGIBILITY AND EVALUATION CRITERIA...... I
ANNEX 8. STAFF, ROLES AND SCHEDULE OF ONBOARDING...... I
ANNEX 9. AFDA ORGANIZATIONAL CHART ...... VII
ANNEX 10. STTA RECRUITMENT STATUS...... IX
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 ACRONYM LIST
AFDA Agriculture and Food Systems Development Activity
AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan
A-WEIA Abbreviated-Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
CFA Call for Applications
CLA Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation
DNH Do No Harm
DoA Department of Agriculture
EMMP Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan
GAP Good Agricultural Practices
ICS Integrated Country Strategy
ICT4AG Internet-Connected Technology for Agriculture
IEC Information, Education, and Communication
INGO International Non-governmental Organization
LOI Letter of Intent
MADB Myanmar Agriculture Development Bank
MAPSA Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity
MEB Myanmar Economic Bank
MEL Monitoring Evaluation and Learning
MFI Microfinance Institution
MMK Myanmar Kyat
MMPEA Myanmar Melon Producers and Exporters Association
MIS Management Information Systems
MoALI Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation
MoC Ministry of Commerce
MoPFI Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MoUG Ministry of Union Government
MSDF Market Systems Development Fund
OPI Organizational Performance Improvement
PEA Political Economy Analysis
PPT Pilot Project Team
Q Quarter
RfP Request for Proposal
SBCC Social Behavior Change Communication
SCALE System-Wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and Environment
SFDA Sesame Farmer Development Association
SOW Scope of Work
STTA Short Term Technical Assistance
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USD US Dollar
VC-RD Value Chains for Rural Development
WSR Whole-System-in-the-Room
Y Year
ZOI Zone of Influence
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
INTRODUCTION ACDI/VOCA, with its partner, FHI 360, is pleased to present the mid-year report for the first year of implementation of the Agriculture and Food Systems Development Activity (AFDA). USAID awarded ACDI/VOCA this activity, cooperative agreement number 74048219CA00001, on September 13, 2019. This five-year cooperative agreement is part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative and contributes to the U.S. Embassy Burma’s Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) Goal 2: Our economic and development partnership expands U.S. and Myanmar prosperity; under Mission Objective 2.1: Promote Myanmar's transition to a more inclusive and open economy, while increasing bilateral trade and investment; and Sub- Objective 2.1.3: Food security as measured by household income, resilience and nutrition in targeted areas is increased. This activity aims to facilitate agriculture and food sector growth as a way to increase household income levels in poor and politically important regions.
Background The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agriculture and Food Systems Development Activity (AFDA) will advance peace1 and reduce interethnic tensions by creating bonds of mutual self-interest and urban-rural linkages along production, services, and agricultural commodity value-chains, with marginalized ethnic groups in conflict areas. In line with the U.S. Government’s Global Food Security Strategy, AFDA will facilitate the transformation of agriculture and food systems by increasing productivity, inclusiveness, and competitiveness of key value chains in the zone of influence (ZOI). It has four intended outcomes: • Outcome 1: Increased economic interdependence among market actors of different ethnic backgrounds • Outcome 2: Increased access to agricultural support services • Outcome 3: Increased availability of improved inputs • Outcome 4: Smallholder supply-chains expand domestic and international market access
GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS AFDA will focus on delivering impact in the following states and regions, considered the ZOI: Shan, Kachin, Mandalay, Sagaing, and Magway. AFDA will follow a business model that leverages the private sector in secondary cities to expand and improve the delivery of services and inputs to, and supply of crop from, rural farmers. AFDA may also work with Yangon- based firms that are looking to expand service/input delivery into or source their supplies from the identified ZOI.
Executive Summary
The Agriculture and Food Systems Development Project (AFDA) began operations on September 13, 2019. This is the first mid-year report of the project, covering the progress related to launch and start-up activities from September 13, 2019 – March 31, 2020. Immediate efforts focused on establishing administrative and financial structures to support project implementation. The Yangon office opened January 16, 2020 and was fully functional, including IT set up, by March 2020. For field offices in Mandalay and Myitkyina, final contracting for locations is underway and offices are expected to be occupied by June/July. In Taunggyi and Magway, offices are expected to be operational by August/September 2020. The hiring process continues at a rapid pace with a core team of essential staff hired under consulting agreements in Q1. The majority of the Yangon-based staff were hired in Q2. Overall, 36 staff were hired during this reporting period. All critical
1 For the purpose of AFDA, peace will be measured through increased social cohesion and market participation of ethnic minority populations with other ethnic groups and the Burmese majority.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 positions were filled and the remaining Yangon-based staff will be hired by May and early June. For the field offices, the Regional Field Manager (Mandalay) and Environmental Compliance and Climate Change Specialist were hired. Simultaneously, procedures and policies related to human resources, operations, procurement of goods and services, and Market Systems Development Fund (MSDF) have been established. The Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP), Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (EMMP) and the Year 1 Activity Work Plan have all been completed in a timely manner and approved by USAID.
AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Program Implementation Highlights AFDA commenced activities with the launch of the Project at the ‘Information sharing and consultation meeting’ in Myitkyina, Kachin State in November 2019. To further introduce AFDA and raise awareness on partnership opportunities within the call for applications (CFAs), the ‘Market System Development Fund (MSDF) Roadshows’ in seven cities (Yangon, Taunggyi, Mandalay, Monywa, Myitkyina, Magway and Lashio) was carried out from February to March 2020. Participation in these events exceeded expectations with 927 attendees. As a result of the awareness raising campaign, a total of 155 applications for partnerships have been received during the first deadline on March 16; 122 have been deemed eligible for evaluation. For the start-up analyses, AFDA completed the desk research for 19 sectors including commodity and support sectors. The sector prioritization exercise identified the top four priority commodity sectors as horticulture, oilseeds, maize and pulses. Outcome 1 • The first phase of the political economic analysis (PEA) and conflict analysis were completed in Q2. • Met with 25 organizations that work in community development, including livelihoods activities in Shan and Kachin, to build partnerships in order to ensure coordination and non-duplication of effort. • In Q2, the team initiated information gathering on subjects including crop profiles, safe and unsafe areas to work, and areas with minority ethnic populations in Shan and Kachin states. Outcome 2 • Outcomes 2 & 3 team met with 82 market actors (27 female and 31 are youth) including nine leading ICT firms, four of which have since submitted applications to the MSDF. • Conducted the National Financial Sector Landscape Assessment (NFSLA) to map the financial products that are available in the market and to identify intervention areas to develop new financial products for the agriculture sector. • Met with 15 leading banks and NBFIs, and four MFIs to explore new business lending models that would benefit market players across agriculture value chains; three banks (MEB/MADB, AYA, and A Bank) expressed interest in piloting warehouse financing and other financial products. Outcome 3 • Met with seven key seed businesses and received nine applications for partnerships to improve access to quality seeds. • Organized meetings between Sesame Farmers Associations Union in Magway Region, key input suppliers and financial institutions that resulted in purchase agreements for a total of 12,000 bags of various types of fertilizers from five input suppliers under terms and conditions that are highly favorable to farmers. • Received seven proposals for partnership to expand access to fertilizers and plant protection chemicals. Outcome 4 • Represented AFDA at events including Kachin State Business Forum 2019 in Myitkyina, Kachin State November 14- 17, 2019, Shan State Investment Forum 2019 in Taunggyi, Southern Shan State in late November 2019, and Sagaing International Trade Fair 2020 held in Sagaing in January 2020.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
• Developed the scope of work for STTA to carry out the International Market Assessment to identify international market opportunities where AFDA can expand competitively. • Released RFP for STTA to improve supply chain and sourcing approaches of end-markets and drafted scope of work for STTA to conduct assessment of the home miller sub-sector. In Q2, AFDA had to defer some of its activities, particularly those involving travel by international STTAs or Home Office staff, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19. The AFDA team shifted operations from physically reporting to the office to working from home starting on March 23. The Team efficiently transitioned to virtual office operation by establishing detailed workplans with clear deliverables and setting up Team Viewer and skype for business in all laptops.
Start-Up Analyses As part of the six-month inception phase, AFDA planned to conduct an initial sector screening and prioritization (Phase I; months 1 -3) followed by a comprehensive inclusive market systems analysis of prioritized sectors (Phase II; months 4-6). The inception phase includes a mix of desk research, stakeholder workshops, and targeted primary research. The objective of the start-up analyses is to inform AFDA’s sector strategies and overall market systems change strategy.
PHASE I: SECTOR SCREENING AND PRIORITIZATION In the first half of Year 1, AFDA technical staff prepared individual sector briefs for horticulture, oilseeds, pulses, spices, coffee, tea, livestock, cotton, maize, agro-tourism, seeds and other inputs, irrigation and mechanization, finance, business development services, agricultural research and extension, transportation, storage and logistics and Internet-Connected Technology for Agriculture (ICT4Ag). These briefs were developed utilizing secondary sources of information through desk research. Concurrently, the activity also conducted a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and Conflict Analysis based on desk research. These reports are informative in providing a high-level overview; however, a PEA and conflict analysis that are location and sector or issue specific will provide more actionable information to program team moving forward. A Gender Analysis based on desk research was not carried out because the Team realized that there was a dearth of context- and sector-specific secondary data related to gender and women’s empowerment necessary to carry out a comprehensive review. The Team instead decided to focus the gender analysis on primary data collection, with a desk review only comprising an initial scan of documents, including to the extent possible, preliminary information and insights available from AFDA- implemented data collection (i.e. the enterprise-level market systems diagnostic survey). The Team believes this course of action for the gender analysis will be more practical and useful for programming rather than a broad and general gender analysis done through desk-research. Hence, in Q3 & Q4, a more in-depth gender analysis that will include field research will be carried out. The timing will depend on the resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sector Prioritization Based on sector briefs from desk research and more recent knowledge of the AFDA field team, sectors were prioritized according to a set of criteria. Constraints in commodity sectors that represent only a small fraction of the agriculture sector cannot be given equal importance with constraints in commodity sectors that represent bulk of the agriculture sector in the ZOI. For prioritization of the commodity sectors, the criteria in Table 1 are used. Respective weights are assigned to each criterion based on importance in influencing the agriculture market systems transformation objectives of AFDA.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Table 1. Commodity sector prioritization criteria.
COMMODITY SECTORS CRITERIA WEIGHTS
Criteria Weight Explanation for the weights
Beneficial if VCs are inter-related as the demand for one VC can be driven by the changes in demand of another related VC; it Degree to which sector’s value chains are contributes to one another's resilience (e.g. Maize and Livestock) if 1 inter-related and its potential for spillover 7 the sector's value chains are inter-related, lowers the risk and to other sectors. enhances opportunity for diversification. Thus, the Team decided on a score of 7.
Relative level of unmet end market Considered as one of the two biggest determinants of potential for 2 demand (Int'l) incentivize collaboration and 10 expansion thus is given the highest weight. This is the main issue that investment within the sector market actors are faced with based.
Relative level of unmet end market Market is the main issue that actors are faced with, thus given a high demand (Domestic) incentivize score, but lower than international market because absorptive 3 8 collaboration and investment within the capacity of the market is a lot lower compared to international sector market.
The relative importance of a sector to the economy provides a 4 Contribution to the Myanmar economy 8 bigger voice in policy reforms and facilitates access to financing thus this parameter is given a high score.
Level of current or potential Considered as one of the two biggest determinants of potential for 5 production base in the ZOI from which 10 expansion; even if there is a market if not suitable for cultivation in the sector can grow quickly ZOI, then the market potential doesn't mean anything.
This parameter is important but can be influenced by the project Degree to which there are market actors through market information and capacity building interventions. It 6 with the incentives and ability to drive 7 can accelerate change if there are already market actors with upgrades to compete incentives and ability, thus given a relatively high score of 7.
Potential for participation among 7 7 women
Potential for participation among Important consideration to support inclusiveness objective of the 8 7 youth project thus given a high score of 7.
Potential for participation among 9 7 ethnic minority populations
Degree to which market actors have the If there are already market actors with the incentives and ability to incentives and ability to drive inclusive 10 7 drive inclusive growth, this can accelerate accomplishment of the growth focused on women, youth, and objective of inclusion, thus given a high score of 7. ethnic minorities
There's some benefit but not very significant; it will depend on the Included as a government priority sector 11 5 ability of the market actors to push for government support thus we or other government initiative decided on a middle weight of 5.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
COMMODITY SECTORS CRITERIA WEIGHTS
Criteria Weight Explanation for the weights
If we can build synergy with other projects it will facilitate efforts to Relative synergies with other USAID 12 5 achieve change in the sector, but the importance is not that big so projects or donor investments we give it a middle weight of 5.
Relative opportunities for US firms to We think that it is important to the USG that AFDA contributes to 13 7 benefit from sector development. growth of US businesses so we give it a weight of 7.
In line with the sustainability objective of the project, consideration of impact to the environment is important. There are crops that are Degree of positive impact to the 14 7 inherently good for the environment such as nitrogen fixing crops Environment like ground nuts and beans and good for soil health. Thus, we give it a weight of 7.
Criteria 2, 3 and 4 are based on trade statistics. Strong export demand is based on the change in exports and value of exports in 2014-2018. Unmet domestic demand is change in imports 2014-2018. Contribution to Myanmar’s economy is based on average annual value of exports in 2014-2018. A score of 1-5 is given based on the Team’s assessment of importance, with 5 as having the highest importance, Annex 1. Table 2 is the result of the commodity sector prioritization exercise where 15 AFDA technical staff participated. For more details, see Annex 2. Table 2. Commodity sector ranking in terms of priority.
Commodity Sectors Score
1 Horticulture (vegetables, fruits, potatoes in processed and fresh forms) 411
2 Oilseeds (Seed, Plant-based Edible Oil) 407
3 Maize 397
4 Pulses 350
5 Coffee 333
6 Spices 295
7 Tea 283
Pulses (dried leguminous vegetables, leguminous vegetables fresh or chilled, milled dried pulses) ranked 4th because the change in exports from 2014-2018 is -19%. However, it contributes 54% of the total value of exports, Table 3. It is the largest contributor to the agriculture exports of Myanmar.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Table 3. Commodity Trade Performance 2014-2018.
Change Change in Average Export in Export Commodity Import Value 2014-2018 Value 2014-18 (USD thousand) 2014-18
Pulses -19% -33% $1,046,587
Maize -33% 194% $292,808
Horticulture 7633% 149% $281,204
Oilseeds 266% 59% $271,329
Spices 16% 196% $40,760
Coffee 26% 68% $ 2,049
Tea 145% -41% $1,695
Coffee, spices and tea demonstrated positive trends in exports. However, the values are relatively small compared to the first four commodities. Spices demonstrates significant potential for import substitution in the domestic market. Meanwhile, tea looks promising for further investigation in the international markets.
Support sectors were prioritized according to the criteria presented in Table 4. Table 4. Support Sectors Prioritization Criteria.
CRITERIA WEIGHT EXPLANATION FOR WEIGHTS
Magnitude of impact for Systemic This is given the highest score since this is the core objective 1 10 Change of the market systems approach.
Degree to which there are market We work with market actors to drive change. Champions 2 actors with the incentives and ability 8 are important in driving systemic change; thus, this parameter to drive upgrades to compete is given a high score of 8.
Potential for participation among 3 7 women Important consideration to achieve the inclusiveness objective of AFDA. They are treated individually to give due Potential for participation among 4 7 importance to inclusion of all these sectors (women, youth youth and ethnic groups) and not just any of them. Since they are treated individually, we decided to give each a score of 7. Potential for participation among 5 7 ethnic minority populations
We feel this parameter is more important in the 6 Degree to which market actors have 5 prioritization of commodity sectors and has already been the incentives and ability to drive given due importance there with a weight of 7.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
CRITERIA WEIGHT EXPLANATION FOR WEIGHTS
inclusive growth focused on women, youth, and ethnic minorities
This could facilitate/accelerate transformation for example Relative synergies with other USAID we can build on the work of LIFT on oil processing in Kachin, 7 5 projects or donor investments or the work of CSP on community mobilization in N and E Shan. Thus ,we give this a weight of 5.
Relative opportunities for US firms to Important but we feel it is not significant thus the weight of 8 5 benefit from sector development 5.
Degree of positive impact to the Important to consider, but we are not very clear on how big 9 5 Environment of a consideration so we give this a weight of 5.
The team thinks there is not much benefit since the Included as a government priority government doesn't seem to have much resources to 10 2 sector or other government initiative contribute to this. Their attention to support sectors is dependent on the commodity sector.
Table 5. Support sector ranking based on Systemic Change Impact scores.
Score vis à vis Systemic Support Sectors commodity change score scores
Agriculture Extension 7428 5
Business Development Support (ICT, Market Information, Training, Research, organization capacity development) 7428 5
Standards & Certification 7428 5
Marketing Services 7428 5
Finance 7428 5
Value-added Processing 7031 5
Seeds(input) 6748 4
Irrigation Services 6517 4
Storage 6517 4
PHH (primary processing) 6395 4
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Score vis à vis Systemic Support Sectors commodity change score scores
Machinery & Equipment (inputs) 4924 3
Plant Protection & Fertilizer (input) 4849 3
Mechanization Services 4055 3
Transport and logistics 3593 2
Individual support sectors are given indexes of 1-3 based on magnitude as a constraint in specific commodity sectors, 3 being the highest magnitude, see Annex 3. The scores vis a vis commodity scores are derived by multiplying the weighted total score of each commodity with the index; details in Annex 4. Systemic change scores for support sectors are assigned based on the scores vis a vis commodity scores. A score 5 signifies highest systemic change impact anticipated if access to this sector is increased.
PHASE 2: INCLUSIVE MARKET SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF TARGET SECTORS In phase 2, AFDA planned to conduct several research streams targeting the prioritized sectors in order to identify key systems-level constraints and formulate systems change objectives, and action plans. In Q2, the Activity launched a Market Systems Diagnostic study (originally called Enterprise Behavioral Survey) . This will be completed in Q3. The study will cover 100 enterprises in the ZOI. The survey will include questions around the determinants of market systems resilience (per recent USAID guidance): i) diversity, ii) connectivity, iii) governance, iv) business norms, and v) competition. Inclusion of gender, youth and marginalized ethnicities were incorporated across these determinants, but was particularly prominent in the diversity component. The PEA and Conflict Analysis during phase 2 was planned to be carried out in Q2. This was not done due to inability of international STTAs to travel to Myanmar because of the Covid-19 pandemic. These analyses will involve primary research within the prioritized sectors. The Team will design several options in Q3 to allow implementation of how to carry this out in Q4 if international and local mobility restrictions continue due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The planned sector stakeholder workshop with prioritized sector stakeholders to identify systems-level constraints and develop strategies and action plans to address them will no longer be carried out. The interaction and consultations of the AFDA team with the market actors in these prioritized sectors already informed the sector prioritization exercise carried out by the Team. Consultation meetings, forums and roundtables will be conducted within prioritized sectors and are included in the plans in Q3 and Q4 of the different AFDA Outcomes, pending resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic. To better understand the available resources to market actors in the agriculture market systems in the ZOI, a market resource inventory study will be carried out in Q3. As of the end of Q2, a firm to carry out the study has already been selected.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 AFDA Outcomes
OUTCOME 1: INCREASED ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE AMONG MARKET ACTORS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS As per the approved Year 1 work plan, the focus of activities under AFDA’s Outcome 1 during the Q1 & Q2 were startup oriented. During the period, the hiring of Outcome 1 Technical Lead, Community Development Specialist, Livelihoods Specialist and Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Specialist was completed. All four team members joined AFDA in early to mid-January 2020. After the initial induction, the team contributed to the preparation of the Market Systems Development Fund (MSDF) and participated in its formal launching in Yangon, Kachin and Shan States. The following summarizes activities performed in Q1 and Q2, highlighting key accomplishments and challenges faced as well as mitigation actions taken. 1.1 Complete Political Economy Analysis and Conflict Analysis Phase 1 + Phase 2 The first phase of the PEA and conflict analysis were completed in Q2. The research methodology utilized for both reports included a review of secondary literature, desk research, and, in the case of the Conflict Analysis report, some limited on-the ground stakeholder interviews were carried out. The conflict analysis report provided an introductory overview of the current conflict landscape in Myanmar to help inform AFDA project design. It maps out the challenges presented by conflict and briefly overlaid potential impacts of those conflicts on the market system. While all states and regions within the ZOI were assessed in the analysis, there was a significant focus on the landscape analysis of Shan and Kachin States, due to their complex histories and current heightened violent conflicts. The Phase I reports were produced based on desk research only and before AFDA priority sectors or geographies had been selected so it was not useful at the time to provide more in-depth information. Therefore, it was recommended that the second phase of the PEA and Conflict Analysis be delayed until after the selection of priority sectors and geographies, which was completed by AFDA in late March. To orient AFDA staff on conflict sensitivity, an initial orientation training on the Do No Harm (DNH) approach was organized. Further training to AFDA field staff and partners’ staff is planned in the upcoming quarters. The Conflict sensitivity and DNH principles will be applied in the design of activities during the co-creation phase of partnerships under MSDF. 1.2 Prepare for and deliver SCALE+ in Kachin State As per the Year 1 work plan, System-Wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and Environment (SCALE+) training to AFDA staff was planned in Q2. Due to Covid-19 and associated travel restrictions for International STTA, the training was delayed. To mitigate challenges faced due to travel restrictions, an initial virtual SCALE + training was organized and completed for the AFDA Outcome 1 team. As per the original plan, SCALE+ training in Shan State was planned but, due to changing AFDA priorities, the first SCALE+ Whole System in the Room (WSR) workshop will be organized in Year 1 in Kachin. Initial preparations are underway for the recruitment of the Social Mobilization Facilitator, who will be the key person to facilitate the SCALE+ in Kachin, and mapping of local stakeholders. 1.3 Engage communities in conflict prone areas This is scheduled for Q4 (refer to USAID-approved workplan for Year 1) and will be carried out accordingly, pending resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 1.4 Design livelihoods activities The AFDA Outcome 1 team met with 25 organizations that are working in community development, including livelihoods activities in Shan and Kachin, to build partnerships in order to ensure coordination and non-duplication of effort. The purpose of the meetings was to understand who is working where and in what sectors. The meetings were instrumental in avoiding duplication, establishing coordination with them, and exploring synergy while implementing field activities. These meetings also identified possible local partners that we may engage while implementing livelihoods/community engagement work, such as Metta Development Foundation, KBC, KMSS and youth serving organizations like Shan State Youth Capacity Building Centre. The initial meeting with the Kachin Livelihoods Working Group and inclusion of AFDA as a member of this working group is useful in ensuring coordination, non-duplication and exploring areas of synergy when AFDA Outcome 1 starts its livelihoods activities in Kachin and Shan. 1.5 Prepare AFDA Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Strategy To initiate the AFDA SBCC Strategy preparation, the SBCC specialist, together with International STTA (subject matter expert), started reviewing available reports such as priority sector reports, value chain reports, and market assessment reports to identify barriers, enablers, practices and behaviors hindering economic interdependence and social cohesion. The draft version of SBCC strategy will be ready by end of Q3. Prepare Geographical Information Package This activity was added to the Outcome 1 work plan with purpose of synthesizing and sharing information with market actors to encourage them to invest in Kachin and Shan States. This information will also inform the SBCC strategy to increase economic interdependence among the market actors of different ethnic backgrounds at some level. In Q2, the team initiated information gathering on subjects including crop profiles, safe and unsafe areas to work, and areas with minority ethnic populations in Shan and Kachin states. An initial draft of maps showing the major crops grown in Kachin and Shan states have been produced and the addition of a layer to identify the safe/unsafe areas and the areas with minority ethnic populations has begun and is ongoing. The draft report will be produced in the upcoming quarters together with the Phase II PEA and Conflict Analysis.
OUTCOME 2: INCREASED ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT SERVICES The AFDA team analyzed and prioritized 14 support market sectors according to the criteria in Table 4 above. Detailed calculations of the sector prioritization can be found in Annex 3. Eleven of the 14 support market sectors are service sectors. Without the input sectors (machinery & equipment, plant protection and fertilizer, and seeds), the service sectors prioritization ranking is as follows: Table 6: Prioritized support service sectors
Support service sectors Score
1 Value-added Processing 295
2 Finance 285
3 Marketing Services 265
4 Agriculture Extension 252
5 BDS (ICT, Market Information, Training, Research, OP) 252
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Support service sectors Score
6 Standards & Certification 226
7 PHH (primary processing) 211
8 Mechanization Services 206
9 Irrigation Services 198
10 Storage 191
11 Transport and logistics 127
The results of the sector prioritization will serve as guide to the AFDA team on what to prioritize when evaluating applications for MSDF award.
2.1 Agriculture mechanization services (both on-farm & post-harvest) During the first half of Year 1, the Outcome 2 technical team considered partnership opportunities to develop agriculture mechanization services (both on-farm & post-harvest) and found that many public and private sector actors are already working on agri-mechanization development (LIFT, YOMA). For example, regarding land preparation, there is a sufficient number of tractors able to meet the demand and smallholder farmers can easily access land preparation services through peer- to-peer tractor rental within their community. This information and market intelligence fed into the sector prioritization analysis. Results show that this is not a significant constraint for the priority commodity sectors in the ZOI. Thus, this activity will be de-emphasized for Q3 & Q4.
2.2 Expanding access to information and agricultural extension services 2.2.1 ICT for agriculture During the first half of Y1, AFDA met with nine leading ICT firms to discuss the development of agri-based ICT services. Four firms have since submitted applications to the MSDF. The request for proposal (RfP) for the Myanmar ICT landscape assessment is in process and will be completed during the second half of Y1. 2.2.2 Soil fertility and crop nutrient test and advisory service
AFDA met with leading market actors of soil fertility and crop nutrient testing and advisory services to discuss their existing input supply chain and identify constraints. MyanmarAwba and Good Brothers Company Limited have submitted MSDF applications related to this service provision. AFDA also learned that the Myanmar Department of Agriculture (DoA) plays an important role in the provision of land/soil testing and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) production advisory services for the AFDA prioritized commodities, especially bean and pulses and oil seed. The DoA remains the major agricultural extension service provider to farmers, especially to GAP-certified producers. In Q3 and Q4, AFDA will explore the potential to collaborate with the DoA and AFDA-targeted producer associations to develop a production agenda together with soil/land testing and advisory services. 2.2.3 Strengthening capacity of producer associations to expand service delivery reach NOTE: This has been transferred and is reported under the Organizational Performance section.
2.3 Increasing access to finance
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Increasing access to agricultural finance plays a vital role for market system development and was identified as a top priority service sector of the AFDA sector prioritization analysis. 2.3.1 Support to piloting and/or scaling up of new financial products and/or services In Q2, AFDA conducted the National Financial Sector Landscape Assessment (NFSLA) to understand which financial products are available within the existing market and to identify interventions areas to develop new financial products for the agriculture sector, especially those that are non-collateral based from banks and MFIs. The assessment also looked for different types of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and investors to bring more agricultural investment to the Myanmar agriculture sector. See Annex 5 for details of the NFSLA In Q1 and Q2, AFDA met with 15 leading banks and NBFIs to explore new business lending models that would benefit market players across agriculture value chains. The project organized access to finance dialogues with farmer associations, banks and MFIs to identify key constraints. AFDA met with the Pilot Project Team (PPT) organized by the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment (MOPFI). The PPT manages the merger and transition of the Myanmar Economic Bank (MEB) and the Myanmar Agriculture Development Bank (MADB) into a single state-owned bank. The PPT expressed strong desire to collaborate with AFDA, even during the transition phase, on different areas: 1. Technical assistance for the development of new financial products for agricultural value chains financing 2. Blended financing with consideration of reduced collateral requirement for AFDA partners 3. Development of warehouse and trade financing model and organization of roundtables with banks and professional warehouse/ logistic operators 4. STTA for transitioning their 1.5 million farmers in the database of MADB to the new state-owned bank resulting from the merger.
The PPT will write an official request to AFDA detailing the support they need. Further discussions and potential MoUs will be explored and pursued as appropriate in Q3 & Q4. AFDA held meetings with four MFIs; Sathapana Limited, LOLC, Myanmar Microfinance Company Limited, and Vision Fund Myanmar. All four expressed interest in collaborating with AFDA to provide agriculture loans to farmer groups within AFDA’s ZOI bundled with other services and access to inputs and markets through other AFDA partners. During meetings with banks, three banks (MEB/MADB, AYA, and A Bank) expressed interest in piloting warehouse financing and other new financial products. Financial sector players are interested in participating in a roundtable or forum to discuss different financial products and modes of delivery of these products to increase access to finance by farmers and SMEs in the agriculture sector. This forum/roundtable will be conducted in Q4 physically if the Covid-19 pandemic is over and the face-to-face meetings are allowed, or online using meeting apps such as Zoom, team viewer, etc. AFDA will hire STTAs who are experts in these different financial products. AFDA will also invite experts from other ACDI/VOCA projects who have successfully partnered with financial institutions in implementing innovative approaches using ICT and multi-actor partnerships to increase access to finance in agriculture. Collective agri-financing for agriculture inputs and operations In Q1, AFDA initiated and organized a meeting among farmer leaders from the Union of Sesame Farmers Association in Magway Region and DCA-grantee, LOLC Microfinance, for the upcoming monsoon season to finance agriculture inputs and operation costs of the Association’s sesame farmer members. During the meeting AFDA introduced the concept of bundling of input sales and financing to increase sales of inputs and give farmers access to more affordable quality inputs. Leaders from the sesame associations and MFI representatives negotiated a new rate and terms of collective lending which will allow sesame farmers to get a loan of 200,000 MMK/acre with a 2.25% monthly interest rate (previously it was 100,000 MMK/acre with a 2.5% monthly rate). In Q2, LOLC provided over 60 million MMK (over 43,700 USD) to 70 sesame farmers from Kanni River Pumped Area and over 30 million MMK (over 22,100 USD) to 36 sesame farmers from Myin Kun River Pumped Area. LOLC has also expanded lending to other farmer associations of the sesame farmers’ Union. Other lenders, including Sathapana, GBS Finance, Proximity Finance, and Alliance Microfinance, are also poised to expand financing with Union of Sesame Farmer Associations.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 2.4 Transport and logistics services Transportation of agriculture commodities has been found to be well covered across the project’s ZOI for AFDA’s priority commodities. Therefore, this activity will be de-emphasized for Q3 & Q4. Modern logistics, like cold chain, is limited to highly perishable vegetable and fruits among the AFDA sectors. The viability to expand cold chain for fresh fruits and vegetables is dependent on the readiness of the market to pay higher price to cover additional costs associated with cold chain. The demand, at the moment, seems limited based on feedback across the priority commodity sectors of AFDA except in the maize market system. Storage is a big issue that limits the capacity of feed millers to operate year-round since they cannot buy as much raw materials during the main maize production season. Initial investigation shows that the root cause for insufficient storage is the lack of access to long-term financing. AFDA will investigate further the issue of storage and logistics in Q3 & Q4.
OUTCOME 3: INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF IMPROVED INPUTS The sector studies and sector prioritization analysis carried out as part of the start-up analyses has ranked the following inputs sectors in the ZOI: 1. Plant protection and fertilizers 2. Machineries and equipment 3. Seeds and other planting materials AFDA facilitation results in access to In the Year 1 workplan, the AFDA team assumed that quality seeds fertilizers and availability of varieties required by specific markets was the biggest AFDA facilitated meetings between Regional input need of the agriculture sector in the ZOI. While this remains an Sesame Farmer Associations Union, key input issue, it is apparently less of an issue compared to access to quality suppliers and financial institutions that resulted plant protection chemicals and fertilizers. Plant protection and in purchase agreements for a total of 12,000 fertilizers emerged as a key leverage area for all commodity sectors as bags of various types of fertilizers from five far as inputs are concerned. A possible explanation for this is because input suppliers: Marubini, Awba, Aventine, more financing for famers are needed to access optimal amount of GBS, and Sein Lan Myae. The estimated total good quality fertilizers as well as plant protection chemicals. AFDA value of these fertilizers is US$179,000 and will plans to carry out a deeper dive into the issue of access to these three benefit approximately 1,600 farmers cultivating input sectors in the last quarter of Year 1 through field research if the sesame crop on 8,000 acres of land. Covid-19 pandemic is resolved before end of Q3 or through telephonic interviews should field travel restriction continues. 3.1 Expand access to quality seeds and varieties required by the market 3.1.1 Support platforms for collaboration between end markets, seed suppliers and farmer organizations In Q1 and Q2, AFDA met with seven key seed businesses including Corteva, a U.S. seed company. The AFDA team introduced the objectives of the project and explored potential for collaboration. Applications for partnership aiming to improve access to quality seeds were received by AFDA from the following companies: 1. Ayeyarwaddy Seeds and Irrigation Co Ltd - Seeds, Irrigation, Agriculture 2. Borderless Link Co., Ltd 3. East-West Seed (Myanmar) Co., Ltd. 4. Hoe Namt Company Limited 5. Longshen Seed Co., Ltd 6. Naung Tayar Potato Company Limited 7. Origin International Ltd. 8. Seeds Energy Agro Group Company Limited 9. Corteva
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Partnerships will be developed in Q3 & Q4 with companies that receive 60 points or higher in the evaluation process done on their respective applications to the MSDF. This activity will be modified in Q3 & Q4 per the result of the sector prioritization activity. Focus on seed will depend on the priority commodity sector where access to seeds is identified as a key systemic constraint. 3.1.2 Support expansion of certified seed multiplication and seed distribution network AFDA planned several activities to increase access to certified seeds. However, after the sector prioritization analysis, access to seeds have been found to be a function of access to end-markets and financing. Farmers will be motivated to spend more on quality seeds of the right variety if they are certain the market price of the produce can cover the additional cost for good quality, certified seeds. Further, this is also contingent upon the availability of financing to procure good quality seeds. Availability of quality seeds has been found as a systems-level constraint for the following top priority commodity sectors: horticulture, oilseeds and pulses. Hence, applications for MSDF award that address access to quality seeds in these commodity sectors will be given high scores in the evaluation. 3.2 Promote access to affordable, quality fertilizers and plant protection products 3.2.1 Support producer associations on collective purchase and distribution of inputs The Sesame Farmer Associations Union in Magway Region is an aggregate of ten township-level sesame farmers groups led by the Sesame Farmer Development Association (SFDA). AFDA organized a meeting between Myanmar’s leading input suppliers and leaders of the Farmers’ Union to discuss new business model of input distribution and financing by companies such as Marubini, Awba, Armo, GBS and Sein lan Myae. Previously, individual farmer purchase inputs with cash payment or with high rate of interest (more than 10% monthly) for six months’ credit. The new model that was agreed is for input companies to work with farmer association’s union providing incentive to bulk buying of fertilizer - 2500 MMK/bag discount for cash payment and 800MMK/bag discount for full credit with zero interest, payable in six months. Input companies also provide delivery arrangement from their warehouse direct to village for bulk volume purchases. Bulk purchase minimum vary by company and by type of fertilizer, e.g., NPK compound fertilizer is 500 bags and for basal compost and urea it’s 1000 bags. Input companies also agreed to establish demonstration farms at village level to prove quality of their product, and also agreed to pay for laboratory test for active ingredients at the Plant Protection Department of the DOA. Additionally, the Farmers Associations will receive 900 MMK/bag as incentive for cash purchases of fertilizers from Marubeni and 2% of the purchase value of Armo (Aventine) compound fertilizer even on credit arrangement. Table 7. Purchase orders verbally agreed between input supply companies, MFIs and Farmers’ Associations 1 USD = 1380 MMK
# Name of Fertilizer Unit Unit Total Total Est. Est. # of farmers to Purchased Price Value MMK Value # of benefit @5 USD acres acres/farmer
1 Shwe Myae Tee basal fertilizer 8,000 14,000 112,000,000 81,159 4,000 800 (Marubini)
2 Armo urea fertilizer 500 28,000 14,000,000 10,145 500 100 (Aventine)
3 Armo compound fertilizer 500 40,000 20,000,000 14,493 500 100 (Aventine)
4 Awba Urea 500 28,000 14,000,000 10,145 1,000 200
5 Awba Compound Fertilizer 500 40,000 20,000,000 14,493 500 100
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
# Name of Fertilizer Unit Unit Total Total Est. Est. # of farmers to Purchased Price Value MMK Value # of benefit @5 USD acres acres/farmer
6 Sein Lan Myae straight line 500 25,000 12,500,000 9,058 500 100 fertilizer
7 GBS compound 1,000 40,000 40,000,000 28,986 500 100
8 GBS Urea 500 28,000 14,000,000 10,145 500 100
Total 12,000 243,000 246,500,000 178,623 8,000 1,600
3.2.2 Pilot and expand innovative private sector distribution of quality inputs (refer to 2.3.2) During the first round of Calls for Application (CFA), seven companies submitted proposals for partnership to expand access to fertilizers and plant protection chemicals. These are: 1. Ayeyarwaddy Seeds and Irrigation Co., Ltd (AWBA) -ASIC 2. Borderless Link Co., Ltd. 3. GBS Agricultural Services Public Co., Ltd. 4. Jaguco Myanmar International Co., Ltd. 5. Marlarmyaing Irrigation Solutions Company Limited (MIS) 6. Ngwe Taung (Agro-Input Shop) 7. Shan Maw Myae Trading Company Limited (SMM) This activity will be implemented according to partnership agreements that will be developed in Q3 & Q4. 3.3 Introduction of new technologies and equipment 3.3.1 Support new technologies that promote resilience to climate change This will be implemented as part of the innovative technology criterion in the CFA for partnerships. Applications that introduce innovations promoting resilience to climate change will be scored the maximum score for the criterion relating to innovative technology or business model. 3.3.2 Promote new technologies to increase productivity and improve quality The AFDA Outcomes 2 & 3 team met with 82 market actors (27 female and 31 are youth) in the first two quarters of Year 1 of project implementation. These market actors are from sectors shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Breakdown of market actors met by Outcomes 2 & 3 Team.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Several new technologies were discussed and presented by these market actors, e.g., drone spraying and plant protection technologies, natural fertilizer production, seed technology resistant to pests, diseases and adverse weather conditions, mobile platform for agricultural extension services, and web-based invoice financing technology.
OUTCOME 4: SMALLHOLDER SUPPLY-CHAINS EXPAND DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET ACCESS In Q1 and Q2 of Year 1, AFDA Outcome 4 Team mainly focused on start-up analysis, especially on sector reports and finalization of sector prioritization through scoring of commodity sectors and support sectors. Also, the team was involved in the organization and facilitation of various key AFDA events such as ‘Information sharing and consultation meeting’ in Myitkyina, Kachin State in November 2019 and ‘Market System Development Fund (MSDF) Roadshows’ in seven cities (Yangon, Taunggyi, Mandalay, Monywa, Myitkyina, Magway and Lashio) from February to March 2020. The team also represented AFDA at events including Kachin State Business Forum 2019 in Myitkyina, Kachin State November 14- 17, 2019, Shan State Investment Forum 2019 in Taunggyi, Southern Shan State in late November 2019, and Sagaing International Trade Fair 2020 held in Sagaing in January 2020 where the team connected with key market actors in respective regions and shared various opportunities to collaborate with the AFDA project. 4.1 Market Expansion Based on the results of the sector prioritization study, the horticulture, oilseeds, pulses and tea sectors demonstrate the strongest demand in the international market. Oilseeds (plant-based edible oil), spices, maize and horticulture sectors show large unmet market demand in the domestic market. In terms of contribution to the Myanmar economy, pulses ranked highest in the agriculture sector, followed by maize, horticulture and oilseeds sectors. The main source of reference used for ‘strong end market demand – international’ is based on the percentage change in export value between 2014 to 2018 and for ‘unmet end market demand – domestic’ is based on the percentage change in import value between 2014 to 2018. As for ‘the contribution to the Myanmar economy’, the average export value of 2014 to 2018 is used as a reference indicator. 4.1.1 End-market mapping and regional product profiling a. Conduct international market assessment During Q2, AFDA Outcome 4 team developed the scope of work for releasing the RFP to engage STTA to carry out the International Market Assessment to identify international market opportunities where producers and related firms in the AFDA ZOI can competitively expand and diversify. The international market assessment is expected to be conducted in Q3, with the possibility that it would extend into Q4, if needed, based on the findings from the initial assessment that may require a further deep dive assessment for specific commodity sectors or countries and due to movement restrictions with the Covid-19 pandemic. b. Conduct domestic market assessment The analysis of Myanmar’s agricultural import statistics covering 2014-2018 shows that maize, horticultural products (fresh and processed) and spices have the highest positive change of 194%, 149% and 196%, respectively. The main end-market for maize is the livestock feed industry. The assessment of this market will also include an estimate of the growth of the livestock sector, which is the main market for feeds. With this information, the domestic end-market assessment will now focus on end-markets for horticultural products, maize and spices to optimize import substitution. The RFP was developed in Q2 and will be advertised in the beginning of April. While the change in imports from 2014-2018 for oilseeds is only 59%, it has the largest value among imported plant-based agricultural products. In 2018, the total import value is over US$ 581 million. Therefore, the domestic end-market assessment will also include oilseeds. The domestic end-market assessment will start in Q3, beginning with desktop secondary research that can be done remotely followed by field assessments in Q4, pending resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 c. Regional product profiling In Q2, the top 20 crops produced in the regions and states included in AFDA ZOI were identified. Crop profile maps were created for Kachin, Northern Shan and Eastern Shan (see Annex 6 for crop maps). The remaining regions crop profile map are in process and are expected to be completed by the end of Q3. Information on what is being grown at scale and by whom in the ZOI will feed into the international market assessment exercise with the objective of diversifying exports in terms of crops. 4.1.2 (Pilot): Support processors/buyers in developing innovative sourcing and supply base development At the end of Q2, the SOW for Supply Chain and Sourcing Specialist was advertised. The Supply Chain and Sourcing Specialist will provide support to 2-3 end-markets (processor, exporter, institutional buyer or wholesale/retail chain) in the horticulture, maize, oilseeds or spices sector that will be identified in Q3. The STTA will assist the 2-3 end-market partners in developing more effective and efficient sourcing models and supply chain management approaches. The aim is for these end- markets to optimize their operations, increase sales and competitiveness. This pilot intervention is expected to be rolled out in Q4 with the possibility of extending into Year 2. 4.1.3 (Pilot): Strengthen edible oil home processing as a new market channel In Q2, the AFDA Team drafted the scope of work for an STTA (a consultant or a firm) to conduct a market chain assessment of the home miller sub-sector. This will analyze activities, gaps, constraints and opportunities in each step of the market chain and related actors. The assessment will be carried out in Q3 . Results will be discussed in a roundtable with USAID and key representatives from the edible oil home millers that will be arranged in a physical venue or online should lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19 continue. If the assessment results show viable opportunities to upgrade edible oil home processing to support import substitution, AFDA, through an STTA, will develop an investment brief that existing oil home millers can use to access loans from banks and other financial institutions with possible blended financing from AFDA. 4.1.4 Support relevant trade association and partners on export promotion and market linkages This activity will be modified. Instead of channeling support to trade associations, in second part of Year 1 AFDA will hire Marketing Specialists in key export destinations for Myanmar’s main agricultural exports and countries with potential for export expansion. The initial countries identified are China, India and Thailand. These marketing specialists are nationals of these countries and should have better familiarity with the markets and are expected to be able to facilitate linkages with reliable and more discerning buyers. This activity will continue through Year 2. In the future this will transition to more permanent marketing platforms or commercial marketing service providers and will collaborate closely with the Trade Attaches in Myanmar’s Embassies. 4.1.5 Build the marketing capacity of relevant trade associations and partners Based on the results of the sector prioritization exercise, it has been found that a lack of marketing service provider or marketing platform is a critical constraint in all of the identified priority commodity sectors. However, marketing services or platforms do not necessarily have to be a trade association. This will be modified to a broader concept of generating commercial market service providers and marketing platforms through MSDF or pilot interventions. Building partners’ marketing capacity will continue to be a focus area that will be supported under the cross-cutting function of Organizational Performance. This will be embedded in partnership activity designs for relevant partners anticipated to be identified in Q3 and Q4. 4.2 Ease of Doing Business 4.2.1 Support relevant trade organizations for evidence-based policy advocacy [to be passed to GAPS] This activity will be de-emphasized in Q3 & Q4 of Year 1. Evidence-based policy advocacy will be revisited in Year 2 since there is not sufficient time to gather information and evidence to formulate policy reforms. Results of studies conducted in Year 1 under the different AFDA outcomes and crosscutting functions will inform the workplan on this activity in Year 2. This activity will be coordinated by the AFDA Government Affair and Policy (GAP) Specialist since the role of GAP Specialist is to act as a bridge between government and the private sector. The GAP Specialist will work closely with
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 government, while at the same time, coordinate with all Outcome Teams on partner selection and evidence-based policy advocacy.
Cross-cutting AFDA’s Cross-cutting Outcome covers three separate elements – gender equity and women’s empowerment, youth inclusion and workforce development and organizational performance.
GENDER EQUITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT In the startup phase of the Activity, the project hired a Women’s Empowerment Specialist to support AFDA technical and operations staff in integrating gender , women’s empowerment, and inclusion-related considerations in their respective areas, including in start-up analyses, the call for applications and ensuing partner selection process, design of pilot activities, and in Activity-level strategy and causal logic documents. Gender Integration in Start-up Analyses A gender lens was applied to sector prioritization criteria for both commodities and supporting sectors. Furthermore, to the extent possible, gender and social inclusion considerations were included in start-up analyses scopes of work and data collection tools. For example, in the Market Systems Diagnostic Study, questions were incorporated around gender perceptions and attitudes influencing business behaviors and norms. All enterprise-level surveys are also expected to disaggregate ownership and management by sex, and to analyze data according to age and sex disaggregates. Insights from these analyses will further complement the gender analysis and be used when developing the gender strategy and action plan. Gender Analysis and Strategy Development In Q2, the project concluded the recruitment process for a short-term gender analysis consultant. The consultant will commence preliminary stages of work remotely, including a rapid desk review of available secondary data and design of primary data collection methods and tools, in April. In addition to digging more deeply into sector-specific gender information gaps, the gender analysis will also incorporate domains of the Abbreviated-Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A- WEAI) to better understand constraints and opportunities to women’s empowerment in the ZOI. These qualitative insights will complement quantitative A-WEAI data anticipated from the USAID Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA) later this year2. Once the travel ban due to Covid-19 is lifted, the consultant will begin the secondary stages of work, including traveling to Myanmar to oversee primary data collection, analysis and report writing. Once the gender analysis is complete, findings will feed directly into the development of the gender strategy and action plan. Onboarding and training of AFDA staff on ACDI/VOCA’s GenderFirst™ Onboarding training for the Women’s Empowerment Specialist was conducted in February 2020. This included an overview of AFDA’s gender equity and women’s empowerment approach, technical start-up activities, and access to ACDI/VOCA resources related to gender mainstreaming. Onboarding training will occur with the Cross-Cutting Team Lead when they start in late April. In addition to onboarding with key AFDA staff, GenderFirstTM training for all management, technical, and operations staff was originally planned for Q2 , but it was delayed because not all technical and operations staff had been hired, including the Cross-Cutting Team Lead and Women’s Empowerment Specialist. The training is designed to build understanding and ownership of gender equity and women’s empowerment throughout all program activities and operations.
2 Data from the Abbreviated-Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) survey that MAPSA will be conducting later this year will serve as a baseline measurement for AFDA.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Pending in-person training is possible in Q3, a joint gender and inclusive market systems training will be delivered to AFDA staff in an attempt to promote more integrated training content. Inclusion of gender equity and women’s empowerment in partnership selection and co-creation AFDA integrated gender, youth, and social inclusion considerations in the partnership selection process, including as discrete evaluation criteria (see Annex 7 for a complete set of MSDF eligibility and evaluation criteria). Furthermore, eligibility requirements, including three years of successful experience and 50/50 leverage contribution, are waived or negotiable for applications from businesses or NGOs that are women-owned or managed, or whose beneficiaries are at least 70% women. AFDA ensured women’s participation at the MSDF launch by inviting participants from women’s networks, entrepreneurships, and associations. The MSDF launch was held in seven townships and was attended by a total of 927 participants, of which 606 were male and 321 were female (about 30%). Women were given the opportunity, as well as men, to raise questions during the event. As a result, 37 of 155 grant applications are from women/youth-led organizations or promote women/youth with at least 70% of their beneficiaries women/youth.. To ensure applications had a thorough gender and social inclusion review, the Women’s Empowerment Specialist was an evaluation committee member for all first round MSDF applications. Pilot activities promoting transformative approaches to gender equity and women’s empowerment identified and supported While no gender-transformative or women’s empowerment pilot activities have yet been identified or conducted. Gender- specific and gender-sensitive activities will be integrated in agreements and pilot projects with local actors under the current CFA. During the development of the gender strategy and action plan, gender equity and women’s empowerment approaches and interventions will be identified and developed and will feed into sector-specific workplans to promote more inclusive market systems. Coordination with other organizations and projects In Q1 and Q2, AFDA initiated internal and external coordination activities, including start-up analyses, MSDF events, and coordination meetings with existing organizations within the ZOI. In Q2, the Women’s Empowerment Specialist attended gender-relevant events conducted by gender-based organizations to coordinate activities to build synergy, avoid duplication, and to learn cultural, gender and contextual sensitivities to ensure consistency with the “do-no-harm” approach. These organizations are: Myan Trade Department - Traunggyi, Htun Tauk enterprise owner, Secretary of Agribusiness Development Committee, Parami Development Network, Shwe In Thu Women group, Shwe Kambuzaw women group, Myitta Development Foundation, and Gender Specialist from MEDA during event.
YOUTH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT Due to difficulties in finding the right candidate for the position of Youth Economic Opportunities Specialist, activities in this area have not yet started. However, an International STTA has already started designing the activities for the community youth mapping exercise and labor market assessment and information collection to map stakeholders and inform design of these interventions began during this period Additionally, the Outcome 1 team made connections with youth-serving organizations and youth networks during the AFDA team’s visits to Kachin and Shan. To facilitate recruitment, the position title has been changed to Youth Empowerment Specialist. The job description has been revised and position was re-advertised in April.
ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE In Year 1, AFDA plans to support two farmer organizations previously assisted by USAID through its recently completed Value Chains for Rural Development (VC-RD) project namely, the SFDA (Sesame Farmers Development Association) from Magway and Myanmar Melon Producer and Exporter Association(MMPEA) from Mandalay. These two organizations have submitted letters of request to AFDA for technical and advisory support to improve their capacity to provide services to their members and to be profitable and sustainable enterprises. Several consultation meetings in person and by phone have been carried out to understand the capacity needs of both organizations. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize cooperation with AFDA is being drafted as of the end of Q2. To support this work, AFDA will hire international and local
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 organizational capacity development STTAs. As of the end of Q2, AFDA has already short-listed international STTA candidates and published a request for proposal (RFP) for local STTA. The international STTA is anticipated to be mobilized in June if the travel ban due to Covid-19 is lifted. If travel is still not possible, the international STTA will provide remote support to the local STTA and will use ICT meeting apps to carry out advisory support during sessions with the leadership of the partner organizations. AFDA also received a letter of request for organizational support from the newly established Kachin Ethnic Entrepreneurs Association (KASH) in Q2. Initial meetings were held with KASH leadership. The process has been stalled, however, due to Covid-19. Discussions with KASH leadership will resume once it is declared safe to resume normal business operations. An important accomplishment in the first half of Year 1 is the clarification and agreement with USAID on the definition and metrics to use for measuring organizational performance improvement (OPI). The OPI work in AFDA will use the Feed the Future indicator CBLD-9. This indicator contributes to the Cross-Cutting IR 6: Improved human, organizational, and system performance of the Global Food Security results framework which states that, “the long-term sustainability and success of food security and nutrition interventions is dependent on strong and functional organizations that are able to achieve their missions and contribute to far-reaching social change, together with skilled citizens who effectively apply professional competencies and achieve their full potential.” This will be carried out through a “process of unleashing, strengthening and maintaining the ability of people, organizations, and society as a whole to manage their affairs successfully.” Guided by the principle behind CBLD-9, AFDA will adapt the Year 1 workplan to optimize partnerships under MSDF to support the improvement of organizational performance. As part of the grant award process under MSDF, a pre-award assessment will be carried out before any award is issued. This assessment focuses on determining the capacity of the awardee to manage the grant by reviewing its financial, HR, procurement, inventory and other operational systems. The Organizational Performance function of AFDA will build on this pre-award assessment by developing a simple tool for organizational capacity assessment that will determine the gaps that prevent market actors from achieving their missions and goals. AFDA will support market actors who are willing and ready to invest in strengthening their organizational capacity.
Market Systems Development Fund In Q1 & Q2, the Activity developed the MSDF manual and subsequently published a call for application (CFAs) in February. The CFA deadline is on a rolling basis where applications will be evaluated every 45 days until funds are depleted. The deadline for the first round of application was March 16, 2020; 155 applications were received, out of which 122 were deemed eligible and will undergo the evaluation process through the month of April. Evaluations will be based on the criteria outlined in the CFA and will be scored accordingly. Applications that scored 60 and above will continue to the partnership co-creation phase. Those that score below 60 will be advised on how they can improve the proposal and will have the option to resubmit. The AFDA MSDF team will reach out to applicants for applications with missing information but nevertheless propose suitable concepts and applicants have track record of successful business operation. The first release of grants is expected to be disbursed in July/August 2020. See Annex 7 for details on the MSDF eligibility and evaluation criteria. In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Team will carry out pre-award assessment and co-creation sessions using mobile calls and ICT apps such as fb messenger, viber, whatsapp, skype, zoom and other online video and audio meeting platforms. Table 8. MSDF achievements against planned activities.
USAID FY 2020 (Quarter) ACTIVITY STATUS RESOURCES 1 2 3 4
MSDF Manual development Done and rolled out in February 2020 ACDI/VOCA
Criteria for partnership determined Done and CFA issued in February 2020 AFDA Mgt
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
USAID FY 2020 (Quarter) ACTIVITY STATUS RESOURCES 1 2 3 4
Done in February – March 2020, in AFDA staff CFA and road show for awareness raising Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway, carried out Taungyi, Lashio, Myitkyina
Training of AFDA staff on compliance and Done by AMS Manager in February 2020 ACDI/VOCA
grants HQ
155 applications received on March 16, AFDA staff Partnership applications received, reviewed and 2020; review process ongoing and co- co-creation carried out creation is expected to start in May.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) AFDA implemented the majority of the planned activities for Q1 and Q2 of Year 1. The Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning plan (AMELP)has been developed and approved by USAID. The MEL Director, two M&E Coordinators, 1 Management Information Specialist (MIS) specialist and 1 Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) Specialist have been hired, completing the MEL Team. Initial capacity building was conducted by HQ MEL staff and a follow up three weeks online MIS training is already on going as this time of writing. This hands-on training is the first step in establishing the MIS MEL database and dashboard which is targeted to be finished by May 2020. AFDA MEL also established collaboration with MAPSA for community data and A- WEIA. Initial talks were also conducted with other research institution for linkages. The significant change in the workplan is the approach to baseline information gathering. MAPSA will carry out the population-based household survey in AFDA’s ZOI. AFDA worked closely with MAPSA to include relevant indicators, e.g., A-WEAI, social capital index and crop production related information, into MAPSA’s household survey. AFDA will use as baseline the results of MAPSA’s household survey on A-WEAI (select indexes) and index of social capital at the household level Resil-b. AFDA will carry out a rolling baseline at the firm/enterprise level and beneficiary level for the other indicators of AFDA. The rolling baseline gathering is anticipated to start in Q4 once the first batch of partners are selected. The final evaluation will be a quasi-experimental evaluation that will be conducted among the beneficiaries (the before and after) however the same data will be compared to the household community survey and A-WEAI findings of MAPSA. The MEL team is leading the conduct of the Market System Diagnostic Study which aims to assess the behavior and resilience of enterprises engaged in agriculture in the ZOI. The research institution ThuraSwiss was contracted to gather the data and make the initial analysis. The study is expected to be completed by May 2020. At the same time a Market System Resource Inventory will be conducted in Q3. Both studies will contribute to baseline information for AFDA. MEL also provided support to the organizational performance and capacity assessments. It is now collaborating with the Organization Capacity specialist in developing a tool for organization performance assessment. This tool is important for baseline information on capacity of organizations. The AFDA team conducted a Pause & Reflect session during the last month of Q2 and which served as the mid-year review where various component leads and cross-cutting technical staff presented their implementation progress, challenges, lessons, and planned changes to the Q3 & Q4 of the Year 1 workplan.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Communications Hiring & orientation of Communication team The Communication Specialist was hired in January and recruitment for a Communication Coordinator started in March. The Covid-19 work-from-home requirements may delay the process, but every effort will be made to interview candidates remotely to keep the process moving. Mapping of media entities in ZOI and assessment of current communication practices Initially, it was planned to hire an STTA to map media outlets throughout Myanmar; however, the Communication Specialist conducted the assessment for mainstream print media, online media and TV channels. The mapping assessment included the name and type of media and contact person, phone number and email. As of now, there are 44 media outlets mapped; 12 online media, 19 print media, 12 TV channels and one radio channel. The media mapping assessment will continue to add specific journalists and other outlets that write about and have interest in the agriculture sector, including international media. At the Market System Launch Event in Yangon, 12 media representatives covered the event; four TV channels, seven print media and one radio channel. Click here to watch coverage of the Market System Launch Event: http://facebook.com/watch/?v=286083289039416
Start-up communication strategic planning workshop The original plan included a workshop with an STTA but the Communication team will provide the workshop to all staff, field staff and partners for branding and marking requirements of the AFDA project.
Development and distribution of AFDA communication paraphernalia and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials The following IEC materials were developed in both Myanmar and English languages and distributed during the reporting period; 1) a one-pager factsheet describing the AFDA program, 2) an information sheet for the Market Systems Development Fund call for applications, and 3) a presentation handout of the Market System Development Fund and call for applications. As program activities ramp up in the next half year, more IEC materials will be developed and distributed, including visual items for program branding.
Outreach events There were eight outreach events in seven townships held on November 14, 2019, February 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, March 3 and 5, 2020 within AFDA’s ZOI of Mandalay, Monywa, Magway, Taunggyi (Southern Shan state), Lashio (Northern Shan State), Myitkyina (Kachin State), Yangon. In total, over 1,000 people participated in all events. On November 14, 2019, AFDA held an information sharing and consultation meeting in Myitkyina. This kick-off event convened around 60 government officials and participants from the agriculture sector to share how the AFDA project can help overcome constraints that farmers and the private sector face in improving agriculture livelihoods. Participants take publications at the Market Systems Development Fund (MSDF) Launch Event in Lashio, Northern Shan State on March 5, 2020.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Matt Curtis interviews with media in Mytikyina, Kachin U.S. Ambassador, Scott Marciel, answers a participant's questions at the information sharing and State at the information sharing and consultation meeting on consultation meeting in Myitkyina on November 14, 2019. November 14, 2019.
Seven program launch events were held in seven townships (Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Magway, Taunggyi, Lashio and Myikyina) throughout February and March of 2020 to promote the Market Systems Development Fund. A total of 927 participants (606 male and 321 female) attended including from the business, government and financial sectors, community service organizations, non-government organizations, individual farmers, and academics.
The participants at Market Systems Development Fund Launch Event in Mandalay AFDA Chief of Party, Agnes Luz, introduces the Market Systems Development Fund on February 25, 2020 at the Yangon launch event February 19, 2020.
Publications and social media outreach IEC materials promoting the newly-launched AFDA project, the Market Systems Development Fund and call for applications were distributed at each event and reached around 1,000 people. The Market Systems Development Fund launch event in
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Taunggyi was livestreamed on the USAID Burma Facebook page and reached 10,000 people. A further two posts of the Taunggyi and Lashio Market Systems Development Fund launch events on the USAID Burma Facebook page reached 500 people. Efforts are underway to create the AFDA Facebook page. A Facebook strategy was developed and approved by USAID in March. The strategy outlines main messaging, target audiences, types of content and frequency. The launch of the Facebook page is planned for Q3.
Photo & video collection Photos and videos are stored in AFDA’s internal database for uploading and further sharing with others. However, plans to create a photo and video archive system using Google Photos are in place for Q3 as this is the preferred platform of USAID.
Mid-year reporting The communications team coordinates the mid-year reporting process with the development of the report production schedule, report template, and compilation. Also, upon donor approval, the mid-year report will be uploaded to the USAID DEC within 30 days.
Staffing and Operations Office Systems set-up and Staffing
The Yangon office opened January 16, 2020 and was fully functional, including IT set up, by March 2020. For field offices in Mandalay and Myitkyina, final contracting for locations is underway and offices are expected to be occupied by June/July. In Taunggyi and Magway, offices are expected to be operational by August/September 2020.
Yangon Staffing The hiring process continues at a rapid pace with a core team of essential staff hired under consulting agreements in Q1. The majority of the Yangon-based staff were hired in Q2. Overall, 36 staff were hired during this reporting period. AFDA ensured equal opportunity for women and men to apply for project positions during start-up recruitment. To date, AFDA has hired 15 females out of 33 staff members, many of which hold decision-making and leadership roles. All critical positions were filled and the remaining Yangon-based staff will be hired by May and early June. (See Annex 8 for a complete update of all staffing). These positions will be converted to long-term contracts once ACDI/VOCA registration in Myanmar is completed.
Regional staffing During the reporting period, the Regional Field Manager (Mandalay) and Environmental Compliance and Climate Change Specialist were hired. The other Regional Field Managers based in Magway, Shan (Taunggyi) and Kachin (Myitkyina) are in the recruitment process. The job descriptions for the market systems officers, organizational performance officer and field admin and finance officer have been developed and the hiring process will continue through July 2020. For regional staffing, position titles were reviewed and changed during the pause and reflect meeting to meet the context and nature of the work. The updated organizational chart is in Annex 9. Comprehensive onboarding in systems and project implementation included orientation on the AFDA program documents, and ACDI/VOCA accounting, HR policies and procedures/timesheet management, sub-award and procurement, ethics training, market systems training, etc. The following table shows the status of trainings conducted for the reporting period.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Table 9. Internal trainings Q1 and Q2 of Year 1.
TRAINING STATUS
Grants and Procurement (including sub-award Training provided by the ACDI/VOCA contracts and compliance Manager in management) February 2020, MSDF and Procurement Manuals rolled out.
Standard training for on boarding and financial management provided to Finance ACDI/VOCA Accounting and Financial Unit by Senior Director of Accounting in February 2020, internal document Management Systems flow and payment procedures developed and informally rolled out to staff.
Senior Director provided both in-person and Skype training for set up of UNANET HR and Timekeeping System Unanet and timekeeping systems. It will go live once ACDI/VOCA is registered in Myanmar and all AFDA consultants move to employment contracts.
Training provided to all AFDA staff in January/February 2020 by Director of Ethics International HR and Benefits and by AMS Manager.
Respect in the workplace Same as above
Preventing Human Trafficking Same as above
Performance Management Same as above
Do-no-Harm General orientation done in Q2
Conflict Sensitivity Done Q2
STTA and Independent Consulting Agreement ICA procurement and hiring AFDA hires short-term technical assistance to provide technical support either to staff or to partners and grantees. During this period, candidates for the Gender Analysis STTA and two MSDF partnership advisors were identified and are in the contracting process. Procurement of STTAs for Edible Oil Home Miller assessment and strengthening, Organizational Capacity Development (international) and Supply Chain and sourcing specialist (international) have been developed started in Q2 and will be completed by May 2020. International STTAs will be mobilized once Myanmar travel ban due to Covid-19 is lifted. AFDA has hired the following firms for studies and training: 1. Market Systems Diagnostic Study: Thura Swiss Limited selected and service contract signed as of end of Q2. Will be rolled out and completed in Q3 2. Market Systems Resources Inventory Study: Single Touch Point Co., Ltd. selected and contract signed as of end of Q2. Will be rolled out and anticipated to be completed in Q3 3. Local Organizational Capacity Development Service: RFP/RFQ advertised on different websites and deadline to receive proposals/quotations is March 20. It is now in the selection process. 4. Market System Development Capacity Building Training: A firm has been selected and contracting process almost completed as of end of Q2. Training for MSDF will be delivered after all AFDA technical staff are onboard, expected in June 2020. 5. Pesticide Evaluation Report and Safer Use Action Plan: STTA started work in Q2 and will complete the document in Q3 Annex 10 shows the STTAs hiring status as of end of Q2.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 The following is the status of operational and administrative milestones, completed in close coordination with ACDI/VOCA HQ. Table 10. Operational and Administrative Milestones for Year 1.
MILESTONES PLANNED STATUS
QuickBooks accounting software development Completed in March 2020, functional
UNANET software installed and functioning It is operational as of February 2020 but not life because AFDA is waiting for ICAs to turn into Employment Contracts to apply Unanet to all local staff Petty cash procedures established Implemented as of February 2020
Travel policy finalized, training provided to staff in February 2020, Security Travel, finance, security and employee policy Policy is to be developed, Employee Policy Manual developed and will be manuals finalized rolled out in April 2020, however, we will not apply until all staff is moved to Employment Contracts. Finance Manual rolled in March 2020 Personnel records established Finalized in March 2020
Procurement Manual rolled out in December 2019, MSDF Manual rolled out in Grants manual and procurement manual drafted February 2020
Inventory/Asset registered since December 2019, Asset Manual rolled out by Assets/inventory management database ACDI/VOCA in February 2020, new database with all inventory is available established from March 2020
Major vendor agreements signed for internet, Signed service contract with the Internet service provider (ISP) namely telecommunications, supplies, accommodation, Myanmar Information Highway International printing/design, translation
International Non-governmental Organization (INGO) Registration of ACDI/VOCA ACDI/VOCA submitted its registration application to the Ministry of Union Government (MoUG) on October 18, 2019 and requested recommendations to relevant Union Ministries and States and Regions Governments. At the MoUG’s request, the application was revised and resubmitted on November 5, 2019. State and regional offices of the Departments of Agriculture issued their recommendations to states and regional governments from November 2019 to January 2020 as follows: • Kachin State Government on November 17, 2019 • Magway Region Government on December 2, 2019 • Sagaing Region Government on January 8, 2020 • Yangon Region Government on January 22, 2020 • Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation on January 2, 2020 • Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations on January 23, 2020 • Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 7, 2020 As a result of above-listed recommendation letters, the MOUG sent a request letter to the Myanmar Police Force, Special Branch on March 17, 2020 to investigate and meet with ACDI/VOCA’s Executive Committee Members. Now, it is delayed
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 because of the Covid-19 crisis. After the Special Branch recommendation, the MoUG will issued a temporary registration card and, after three months, the INGO permanent registration will be issued as per registration process procedures. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MOALI) The MOU with the MOALI is another required document for AFDA to operate in Myanmar. In August 2019, the Government Affairs and Policy Specialist had a preliminary meeting with the Director General of Department of Agriculture (DOA DG) and the Director General of Department of Planning. The first draft MOU was reviewed in October 2019 by collaborating partners including representatives from the DOA, AFDA and USAID. Several revisions ensued. Currently, recommendations from Shan State Government and Mandalay Regional Government are needed but are delayed by the Covid-19 crisis. In March 2020, the DOA DG agreed to submit the MOU to Union Minister once all the recommendations are received. Shan State Agriculture, Livestock, Irrigation and Rural Development Minister will be the counterpart on behalf of Shan State Government. In Mandalay Region, the Security and Boarder Affairs Minister will be the counterpart. Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Since AFDA is involved with market development and export trade promotion under its Outcome 4 it is advised to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Ministry of Commerce. AFDA will submit the draft LOI to MOC in April 2020. In March 2020, AFDA held meetings with the MOC to discuss LOI details. Policy/Capacity Development support to Government AFDA and USAID attended events and advocated for policies such as meeting with Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) Chairman and Committee Members of Agriculture, Livestock Breeding and Rural Development Committee in February 2020. AFDA committed to host the Ministry’s visit to areas where the project is implemented to better understand AFDA and its objectives. AFDA, through its COP, provided advice and ideas to MOALI’s Department of Planning (DoP) relating to implementation of their Climate-friendly Agribusiness Value Chains Sector Project in January 2020 as requested by the DoP. AFDA also participated in the “Food Safety Road Map Development consultation meeting” hosted by MOALI & GIZ.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
ANNEXES
Annex 1. Myanmar’s 2014-2018 imports and exports of AFDA’s commodities.
2. Strong export 3. unmet 4. Contribution demand (Int'l Domestic to the Myanmar market) demand economy
Change Change Average in in Export Commodity/Sector Export Score Import Score Value 2014- Score Value Value 2018 (USD 2014-18 2014-18 thousand)
Pulses (Dried leguminous vegetables, leguminous vegetables fresh or chilled, -19% 3 -33% 1 $1,046,587 5 milled dried pulses)
Maize -33% 3 194% 5 $292,808 4
Horticulture (All combined) 7633% 5 149% 5 $281,204 4
Oilseeds (Seed, Plant-based Edible Oil) 266% 5 59% 4 $271,329 4
Spices 16% 4 196% 5 $40,760 3
Coffee 26% 4 68% 4 $2,049 1
Tea 145% 5 -41% 1 $1,695 1
Reference source: ITC based on UN COMTRADE statistics
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Annex 2. Commodity Sector Prioritization.
Commodity Sectors Scoring Horticulture Oil Seeds Grains Pulses & Beans Coffee Spices Tea
Score Score Score Score Weight Score Score Score (1 - 5, weig (1 - 5, weight (1 - 5, weight weight weight (1 - 5, (1 = low, (1 - 5, (1 - 5, (1 - 5, 5 = weighted weighte hted 5 = most ed 5 = most ed ed ed 5 = most Indicator 10 = 5 = most 5 = most 5 = most most score d score score favorabl score favorabl score score score favorabl highest) favorable) favorable) favorable) favora e) e) e) ble)
Degree to which sector’s value chains are inter-related 1 and its potential for spillover to other sectors. 7 5 35 5 35 4 28 5 35 1 7 2 14 1 7
Relative level of unmet end market demand (Int'l) 2 incentivize collaboration and investment within the sector 10 5 50 5 50 3 30 3 30 4 40 4 40 5 50
Relative level of unmet end market demand 3 (Domestic)incentivize collaboration and investment within 8 5 40 4 32 5 40 1 8 4 32 5 40 1 8 the sector
4 Contribution to the Myanmar economy 8 4 32 4 32 4 32 5 40 1 8 3 24 1 8
Level of current or potential production base in the ZOI 5 from which the sector can grow quickly 10 3 30 5 50 5 50 5 50 1 10 1 10 1 10
Degree to which there are market actors with the 6 incentives and ability to drive upgrades to compete 7 5 35 5 35 5 35 3 21 5 35 3 21 5 35
7 Potential for participation among women 7 5 35 4 28 5 35 3 21 5 35 5 35 5 35
8 Potential for participation among youth 7 4 28 2 14 4 28 2 14 4 28 3 21 4 28
Potential for participation among ethnic minority 9 populations 7 5 35 4 28 5 35 4 28 5 35 5 35 5 35
Degree to which market actors have the incentives and 10 ability to drive inclusive growth focused on women, youth, 7 3 21 1 7 2 14 1 7 4 28 2 14 3 21 and ethnic minorities
Included as a government priority sector or other 11 government initiative 5 3 15 4 20 3 15 4 20 4 20 1 5 2 10
Relative synergies with other USAID projects or donor 12 investments 5 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 3 15 3 15
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Relative opportunities for US firms to benefit from sector 13 development. 7 3 21 3 21 4 28 3 21 4 28 2 14 1 7
14 Degree of impact to the Environmental 7 2 14 5 35 1 7 5 35 1 7 1 7 2 14
Total Score 411 407 397 350 333 295 283
weighted Commodity Sectors score total
1 Horti 411
2 Oilseeds 407
3 Maize 397
4 Pulses 350
5 Coffee 333
6 Spices 295
7 Tea 283
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Annex 3. Support Sector Prioritization Scoring
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 Annex 4. Systemic change impact of support sectors.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 5. National financial sector landscape assessment (NFSLA).
Financial Institution in Myanmar’s Market At present not only does Myanmar’s financial system remain one of the least developed in the world but also Myanmar remains a cash-oriented economy. A history of high inflation, bank runs and insider lending has fueled public distrust of the banking and financial services industry. It is estimated that less than 10% of Myanmar citizens have a bank account and that less 0.1% of the public are active in the credit market. In the financial industry of Myanmar, we can find 4 financial sources: a. Bank institution: state run banks, private bank, foreign banks and mobile service providers b. Non-Bank institution: Leasing Companies and Finance companies c. Micro Finance Institution d. Pawnshop and insider lending a. Bank Institution Four state-run banks, 27 private banks, 13 foreign banks and five mobile service providers are registered under the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) and provide financial services. Generally, banks provide deposit, credit, trade finance, remittance, card service and mobile financial services. On March 12, 2020, CBM instructed banks to reduce the maximum deposit interest rate of 10% to 9.5% and lending interest rate from 13% to 12.5% (secured) and from 16% to 15.5% (unsecured). On March 24, 2020, CBM instructed CBM interest reduces to 8.5% and saving deposit rate from private bank is less 2% than CBM rate that is not less than 6.5%. Secured loan adding 3% on CBM interest rate is not more than 11.5% and unsecured loan adding on 6% is not more than 14.5%. The CBM instruction will be affected from April 1, 2020. a.1-State Run Bank 1. Myanmar Economic Bank 2. Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank 3. Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank 4. Myanmar Agriculture and Development Bank a.2- Private Bank
1. Myanmar Citizens Bank Ltd 15. Innwa Bank Ltd
2. First Private Bank Ltd 16. Asia Green Development Bank Ltd
3. Co-operative Bank Ltd 17. Ayeyarwady Bank Ltd
4. Yadanabon Bank Ltd 18. United Amara Bank Limited
5. Myawaddy Bank Ltd 19. Myanmar Apex Bank Ltd
6. Yangon City Bank Ltd 20. Naypyidaw Sibin Bank Limited
7. Yoma Bank Ltd 21. Myanmar Microfinance Bank Limited
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
22. Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Development Bank 8. Myanmar Oriental Bank Ltd Limited
9. Asia Yangon Bank Ltd 23. Shwe Rural and Urban Development Bank Limited
10. Tun Commercial Bank Ltd 24. Ayeyarwady Farmers Development Bank Limited (A Bank)
11. Kanbawza Bank Ltd 25. Glory Farmer Development Bank Limited (G Bank)
12. Small & Medium Enterprises Development 26. Mineral Development Bank Limited Bank Ltd
13. Global Treasure Bank Ltd 27. Myanmar Tourism Bank Limited
14. Rural Development Bank Ltd
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 a.3- Foreign banks
1. MUFG Bank, Ltd. 8. Mizuho Bank Limited
2. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd 9. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
10. The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and 3. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Development of Vietnam (BIDV)
4. United Overseas Bank Limited 11. Shinhan Bank
5. Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited 12. E.Sun Commercial Bank Limited
6. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China 13. State Bank of India
7. Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank)
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 a.4- Mobile Service Providers 1. Digital Money Myanmar Limited (Brand Name-Wave Money) 2. Ooredoo Myanmar Fintech Limited (Brand Name-M-Pitesan) 3. Internet Wallet Myanmar Limited (Brand Name-OK$) 4. Mytel Wallet International Myanmar Company Limited (Brand Name- My Money) 5. MPT Money Company Limited (Brand Name- MPT Money)
AFDA already had meeting with 6 potential private banks and 1 state run bank, which are boldly active in market. All the banks are interested in AFDA. Some banks are already entered in agriculture financing, some are runs as pilot, and some are seeking opportunity to enter the market. Banks general products criteria are shown as the table below:
Accessible Corporate SME Agri-Financing Individual Trade Facility Inerest Rate Deposit Interest Bank Name/ No. of Mobile Internet Tenor Service Service Service Branch Term Over Term Over Sesonal Home Invoice Banking Banking (Month) Fees Area H.P HP KFW JICA Green CGI DCA H.P H.P TT LC Secure Un Secure Saving Fixed loan Draft loan Draft Loan Loan Financing A Bank 5 18 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% AYA Bank 14 261 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% CB Bank 14 230 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% UAB Bank 14 78 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% MCB Bank 12 47 a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% MAB Bank 13 99 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1-60 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% MEB/MADB 14 315 a a a a a a a a a a 1-120 7%-11.5% 14.50% 1-3% 6.5%-8.25% 6.5%-9.25% b. Non- Bank Financial institution: Leasing Companies and Finance companies 1 leasing company and 28 finance companies are registered under Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) and providing financial services. Maximum loan interest rate is 3% per month (36% per annum).
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
1. Oriental Leasing Company Ltd. 16. Pristine Global Finance Company Limited
2. Myat Nan Yone Finance Company Ltd. 17. Maha Agri Finance Company Limited
3. National Finance Company Ltd. 18. First Collaborative Finance (FCF) Company Limited
4. Ryuji Finance Company Ltd. 19. Thiri Zawtika Company Limited
5. Mahar Bawga Finance Company Ltd. 20. Excellent Fortune Finance Company Limited
6. Jewel Spectrum Company Ltd. 21. Imperial Myanmar Finance Company Limited
7. Century Finance Company Ltd. 22. Pacific-AA Finance Limited
8. Win Progress Services Company Ltd. 23. Mo Mo Ventures Finance Co., Ltd.
9. Z Corporation Company Ltd. 24. Reliable & Trusted Co., Ltd.
10. Global Innovations Finance Company Ltd. 25. Pluses Financial Services Company Limited
11. Mother Finance Company Limited 26. Fairgrow Finance Company Limited
12. Morganite Finance Company Limited 27. Shwe Minn Gan Finance Company Limited
13. Best Merchant Finance Company Limited 28. Mandalay Capital Company Limited
14. Myanma Ruby Hill Finance Company Limited Fulfillment (FFM) Finance
15. A1 Capital Company Limited
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020 During the second half of Y1 AFDA will setup the meeting with Finance Companies. c. Micro Finance Institutions 177 micro finance companies: three INGOs, 19 NGOs, 106 local, 45 foreign, and four joint ventures, are registration under Financial Regulatory Department, but only 49 micro finance companies are active in the market. Normally MFls are operating both deposit and loan service. 5% of the loan must be saved with 14% per annum and the loan interest rate is 2.33% per month (28% per annum). The active MFIs are shown as below:
1. ACLEDA Myanmar Company Limited 26. Microfinance Delta International Company Limited
2. AEON Microfinance Myanmar Company Limited 27. Myanmar Development Partners Co., Ltd.
3. Ar Yone Oo Social Development Association 28. Myanmar Finance International Limited
4. BG Microfinance Myanmar Company Limited 29. Myanmar's Heart Development Organization
5. BMF Microfinance Co.,ltd 30. National YWCA of Myanmar
6. BNK Capital Myanmar Company Limited 31. Ngwe Mar Lar Microfinance Company Limited
7. BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Company Limited 32. NongHyup Finance Myanmar
8. CARD Myanmar Company Limited 33. Pact Global Microfinance Fund
9. CBC Myanmar Microfinance 34. Pine Tree Development Corporation Limited
10. DY Microfinance 35. Proximity Finance
11. Early Dawn Microfinance Company Limited 36. Ruby Hill Microfinance Co., Ltd.
12. Focal Point Service Company Limited 37. Sanda Phone Pyae Microfinance
13. Fullerton Finance Myanmar Company Limited 38. SATHAPANA LIMITED
14. Good Brother Microfinancing Company Limited 39. SHAN SHAN Company Limited
15. Hayman Capital Company Limited 40. Shinhan Microfinance Company Limited
16. IBK Capital Myanmar 41. Shwe Sin Hinthar Microfinance Co., Ltd.
17. INNO Capital Microfinance Company Limited 42. Socio Lite Microfinance Foundation
18. KB Microfinance Myanmar Company Limited 43. Star Moe Yan Microfinance Co, Ltd
19. KBZ Brighter Future Foundation 44. Straits Microfinance Company Limited
20. KEB Hana Microfinance Limited 45. Thitsar Ooyin Company Limited
46. Unique Quality Microfinance and Business 21. LB Microfinance Myanmar co., Ltd Development Company Limited
22. LOLC Myanmar Microfinance Company Limited 47. United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
23. Lotus Bridge Microfinance Company Limited 48. Vision Fund Myanmar
24. Lut Myauk Lann Services Company Limited 49. Woori Finance Myanmar Company Limited
25. Maha Agriculture Public Company Limited (Microfinance) d. Pawnshop and insider lending Over 250 pawn shops are registered under city municipal across the country. With gold as collateral, the interest is 3% per month and others such as electric appliance and home appliance are 8% to 10%. Insider lending interest rates start from 2% to 20% per month in the market. But pawnshop and insider lending is not reliable lending for business and also is not in the focus area of AFDA access to finance activity. 1. Private equity firms and venture capital firms in Myanmar
Since 2012, Myanmar attracted the interest of private equity investors looking for promising opportunities in the country. In 2018, startups in Myanmar raised around $62 million, of which, for example, online travel firm Oway secured $14.7 million from Japanese multinational business conglomerate Daiwa and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. In 2019, U.K. government-owned Commonwealth Development Corporation has invested $30 million into Internet service provider Frontier, the parent company of Myanmar Net, as the first direct equity investment in the country. Currently 15 private equity and venture capital firm are organized under Myanmar Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (MPE&VCA). These are:
1. Anthem Asia 9. Myanmar Investments
2. YGA Capital 10. Seed Myanmar
3. Delta Capital Myanmar 11. Yangon Capital Partners (Trust Venture Partners)
4. Daiwa PI Partners 12. Andaman Capital Partners
5. Emerging Markets Investment Advisers 13. Ascent Capital Partners
6. Emerging Markets Entrepreneurs 14. Infrastructure Capital for Development in Myanmar
7. insider Partners 15. Phandeeyar
8. Myanmar Strategic holdings
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 6. Crop Profile and Major Sowing Crops in Kachin, Northern Shan and Eastern Shan States.
Crop Profile Map of Kachin State
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Crop Profile Map of Northern Shan State
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Crop Profile Map of Eastern Shan State
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 7. MSDF eligibility and evaluation criteria. Eligibility Requirements: 1. Registered as a business or non-government organization* 2. Proponent (business, NGO, or person/s) has track record of successful experience in the field of the proposed initiative (> 3 years)** 3. Leverage contribution, minimum of 50-50** 4. Activity implementation will directly impact smallholder farmers or generate employment within the ZOI 5. If former grant beneficiary from any donor, must show successful utilization of the grant 6. Business or activity is not supported by other donors or if it is, additionality is clearly demonstrated 7. The proponent commits to submit regular progress reports to the USAID AFDA * Non-registered organization may be eligible if it is in the process of registering or willing to be registered ** This is negotiable for 1) women/youth led (owned or managed) businesses/NGOs, 2) if proposed activity’s beneficiaries are at least 70% women and/or youth, and 3) if proposed activity will be implemented in difficult areas and/or directly benefit IDPs or ethnic groups in conflict affected areas Ineligible organizations: a) Political parties, groupings, or institutions or their subsidiaries and affiliates b) Organizations promoting anti-democratic policies or illegal activities Note: Organizations who have received substantial assistance from USAID and other donors but have not shown successful utilization of the grant/s are not encouraged to apply. Evaluation Criteria:
# CRITERIA POINT
1 The activity addresses a systemic constraint and offers solutions that will increase access 18 to agricultural services and/or quality inputs in a sustainable manner for small holder farmers
2 The activity will expand access to markets in a sustainable way and increase sales to 18 domestic and export markets
3 The activity will increase women and/or youth participation in the transformation of the 14 agriculture sector
4 The activity will promote economic interdependence among ethnic groups, or will work in 18 difficult geographic areas, such as Kachin and North and East Shan
5 The activity proposes innovative or pilot business models or technologies to address 14 systemic constraints for access to inputs, services and markets
6 The activity’s anticipated quantitative results in terms of job creation, new capital 18 investment in agriculture, sales and number of individuals directly benefited within the duration of the MoU justify the grant amount requested.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 8. Staff, roles and schedule of onboarding.
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month
Manage day-to-day strategic planning, oversee technical COP implementation and manage overall Activity implementation Mobilized Yes with support from ACDI/VOCA HQ as appropriate
Identify opportunities to align incentives between various ethnic groups and the ethnic majority, and promote inclusive, December/ Outcome 1 Lead mutually beneficial and transparent interactions that will build Yes January trust and reinforce these inter-ethnic relationships and lead to greater community and household resilience.
Provide technical leadership to Burma AFDA for results relating to increased access to agricultural support services and increased availability of improved inputs for smallholder
farmers, especially ethnic minorities. He will lead assistance Outcome 2 & 3 Mobilized Yes targeted at buyers, service providers, input suppliers, Lead producers, and other relevant market actors and will act as a focal point for the expansion of agricultural services and inputs.
Provide technical leadership to Burma AFDA for results related to increased market access for smallholder farmers, especially ethnic minorities. She will lead assistance targeted at
end-markets such as post-harvest firms, exporters and Mobilized Yes Outcome 4 Lead international buyers, and will identify constraints, market- based solutions, and incentives to integrate small-scale producers into their supply chains.
Responsible for guiding the overall design and implementation of the Activity’s MEL strategy and overseeing the database Mobilized Yes MEL Director development in consultation with ACDI/VOCA home office M&E team.
Responsible for leading field-level implementation of the DCOP program, as detailed fully in the Award and subsequent annual Mobilized Yes work plans.
Oversee cross-functional components in the program and will
coordinate the mainstreaming of gender, youth and Recruited in March and Cross-cutting January organizational capacity building in the planning and will join on April 22 Technical Lead implementation of the different outcome areas in AFDA.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month
Accountable for overall financial and administrative Director of management. Directs and oversees all finance, grants Started work on 2 Dec Finance and December management, IT, human resources and administrative aspects 19 Operations of the program.
The Communications Manager is responsible for leading AFDA’s communications and outreach efforts including organization of events, disseminating information on program Communications requirements and selection criteria, and developing both Started work on 2 Jan December Manager/Specialist internal and external messaging regarding AFDA’s results, in 2020 compliance with the branding and marking plan incorporated into the award, and coordination with technical staff to generate and disseminate success stories and lessons learned.
Guides the project’s policy work and coordination with the government of Myanmar, including at the union, state and Government regional level. Collaborates with technical teams to gather Mobilized Yes Affairs Specialist information required for government reporting, facilitate site visits by government representatives, and manage the registration and MoU process.
Manages sub-awards within the AFDA Market Systems Development Fund (MSDF) portfolio by coordinating, planning, implementing, and monitoring related activities in the Started work on 17 December Grants Manager project. Manages the in-kind grants-related procurement, Feb 2020 subcontracting and grant processes and monitors all grant and subcontract implementation activities.
Maintains accounting systems, policies and procedures, financial controls, accounting standards and records. Applies Started work on 24 Jan December Finance Manager fiscal controls and procedures for all accounting areas in 2020 accordance with government regulations.
Guides and manages the overall provision of HR and Human Resources administrative services within ACDI/VOCA projects in Started work on 2 Dec and Admin December Myanmar, ensuring compliance with local labor law and 2019 Manager ACDI/VOCA policies and procedures.
Selected candidate Centralize many of the critical project support components dropped out and CLA Specialist that, collectively, influence CLA within the project, and better January position re-advertised enable sustainable and effective project outcomes. in April 2020
provide technical leadership to Burma AFDA leading the
project’s efforts to increase the performance of the financial Access to Finance January Started on 21 Jan 2020 sector and increase access to finance for project beneficiaries, Specialist especially ethnic minorities.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month
Responsible for managing and executing M&E data Initial recruitment management functions pertaining to the project’s M&E unsuccessful, position requirements. Administers the corporate Management December MIS Specialist filled and candidate Information System (MIS) for the capture, management and started on 16 Mar 2020 analysis of M&E data for the project.
Responsible for managing and executing procurements associated with the project’s operational activities and grant Procurement and portfolio. Prepares and processes requisitions, purchase December Started work 2 Dec 19 Logistics Specialist orders and contracts for materials, supplies, lease contracts and services.
Provides technical inputs to and oversees appropriate SBCC interventions across program technical areas. Identifies SBCC Specialist barriers and develops content for SBCC materials and January/February Started in January 2020 (FHI360) interventions that are inclusive and delivered through a variety of communication channels.
Leads project programming related to increasing social cohesion and building social capital among diverse ethnic Community groups and monitors rapidly evolving conflicts zones and at- Development/Co risk areas that relate to program implementation. Designs January/February Started in January 2020 nflict Specialist activities that are conflict-sensitive and inclusive based on (FHI360) significant participatory engagement to develop collaborative action plans around shared economic objectives advancing towards the achievement of peace and stability.
Leads project programming to increase livelihood Livelihoods opportunities based on priorities defined by organic December/ Specialist Started in January 2020 community engagement initiatives and AFDA’s market “pull” January (FHI360) activities.
Supports interventions to increase access to agricultural input among crop and livestock smallholders, especially ethnic Input Market minorities and women. S/he will support engagement and Started on 16 Dec Development January capacity building among input market actors to develop and 2019 Specialist expand smallholder-oriented rural distribution networks inclusive of ethnic minorities, women and youth.
Support interventions to increase access to agricultural input Agricultural among crop and livestock smallholders, especially ethnic Started on 16 Dec January Services Specialist minorities and women. Coordinates closely with output 2019 market and cross-cutting roles.
Identifies barriers across the market system and selected value ICT4Ag Specialist chains, and the most promising interventions for AFDA Recruitment continues, February (FHI360) support. Design and oversee implementation of inclusive will re-advertise ICT4Ag/DFS solutions.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month
Support interventions to increase market access for smallholder farmers, especially ethnic minorities and women. One position started
S/he will support engagement with output market actors to December/ on 9 Feb 2020, and the End Market connect smallholders to improved end markets, and identify January other started on 23 Specialists (2) constraints, market-based solutions, and incentives to Mar 20 integrate small-scale producers into buyers’ supply chains.
Oversee gender and social inclusion and women’s
empowerment efforts across the project, including ensuring Women’s that gender and inclusion-based approaches are central January Started on 6 Feb 2020 Empowerment to AFDA activities, in accordance with the program design and Specialist the intended outcomes of the award.
Support the implementation of Burma AFDA interventions to Organizational improve organizational performance for producer Started on 16 Dec Capacity Building January organizations, informal farmer groups, trade associations and 2019 Specialist community-based organizations.
Design and oversee youth inclusion and workforce Youth development activities. Lead youth analysis at program Inclusion/WFD Recruitment continues, outset to inform activity design and youth engagement February Specialist will re-advertise strategy. Contribute to labor market assessment and activities (FHI360) designed as a result of its findings.
Responsible for handling all aspects of IT support to Yangon December/ Started on 2 Jan 2020 IT Specialist and field offices. January
Under the supervision of the Grants Manager, the Compliance Compliance Specialist will provide financial, subrecipient management, January Position is on hold Specialist procurement, start-up and other compliance support to the ACDI/VOCA field office.
Communications Supports the Communications Manager in managing AFDA’s Started work on 2 Jan Officer/Coordinat January communications and outreach efforts. 2020 or
Assists the MEL Director in conceptualizing, planning, and One position started implementation of M&E activities, tools, routine monitoring, on 13 Jan 2020, the M&E Coordinator reporting and analysis of associated sectors. Ensures the December other is started on 3 (2) adaptive monitoring and evaluation system of the assigned Mar 2020. sectors are in place and functioning.
One position is fill and Supports implementation of grants and sub-awards within the started work on 3 Mar Vacant Grants AFDA portfolio by coordinating, planning, implementing, and January 2020. And the second Coordinator (2) monitoring related activities in the project. position under the advertising process.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month
Responsible for the implementation of accounting tasks, in Accountant accordance with ACDI/VOCA policies and procedures and January Started on 20 Jan 2020 applicable USG rules and regulations.
One position filled and The Administrative Assistant is responsible for handling all started work on 29 Jan Admin Assistant aspects of the administration and operations in designated December (1 of 2020, the other (2) offices and providing necessary administrative support to the 2) position is under project employees and official visitors. recruitment.
Mandalay’s position Magway and started on 10 Feb Responsible for managing operations of a field office, including Mandalay first in 2020, office. Magway oversight of field office-based staff, management of cash, assets Regional Field February, Shan in candidate identified, and resources allocated to the field office and representational Manager March, and still in the process of duties for the program in the area served by the field office. Kachin in April advertising for Myitkyina and Taunggyi
Environmental Provides technical support on environmentally sustainable Compliance and agricultural best practices and monitors partner compliance Started on 16 March January Climate Change with environmental mitigation measures in line with the 2020 Specialist Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (EMMP).
The Social Mobilization Officer's will work closely with the project’s community development, conflict, and youth technical specialists. They will be responsible for coordination efforts at the village and township level to ensure the Social successful participation of multiple agricultural stakeholder Ongoing recruitment Mobilization groups, engaging diverse ethnic groups, women, and youth in June process for Myintkyina Officer committees, meetings, and workshops. In addition, they will be and Taunggyi office. tasked with identifying and collaborating with various stakeholders to support inclusive business initiatives between urban and rural communities affected by conflict as directed by the AFDA project leadership.
Serve as local project coordinator for a portfolio of market actors partnering with AFDA for outcome 2 . Market actors Magway and Job description Agri Support may include private sector input suppliers, service providers, Mandalay in developed and the Services Officer or buyers. Will be primary point of contact between partner February, Shan in recruitment process firms and AFDA, including dissemination of project March, and will start in May 2020. information, coordination and monitoring of assistance and Kachin in April. primary data collection and reporting
Magway and Agri Input Market Serve as local project coordinator for a portfolio of market Job description Mandalay in Development actors partnering with AFDA for outcome 3. Market actors developed and the February, Shan in Officer may include private sector input suppliers, service providers, recruitment process or buyers. Will be primary point of contact between partner March, and will start in May 2020. firms and AFDA, including dissemination of project Kachin in April.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
SCHEDULED ACTUAL ONBOARDING POSITION ROLE Month information, coordination and monitoring of assistance and primary data collection and reporting
Serve as local project coordinator for a portfolio of market actors partnering with AFDA for outcome 4 . Market actors Magway and Job description Market Expansion may include private sector input suppliers, service providers, Mandalay in developed and the Officer or buyers. Will be primary point of contact between partner February, Shan in recruitment process firms and AFDA, including dissemination of project March, and will start in May 2020. information, coordination and monitoring of assistance and Kachin in April. primary data collection and reporting
Serve as local project coordinator for a portfolio of producer Magway and organizations. Will be primary point of contact between Job description Organizational Mandalay in partner producer organizations and AFDA, including developed and the Performance February, Shan in dissemination of project information, coordination and recruitment process Officer March, and monitoring of assistance and primary data collection and will start in May 2020. Kachin in April reporting.
Four admin officers will be hired for field implementation Magway and Job description offices one for each office for handling all aspects of the Mandalay in Field Admin and developed and the administration and operations in designated offices and February, Shan in Finance Officer recruitment process providing necessary administrative support to the project March, and will start in May 2020. employees and official visitors. Kachin in April.
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 9. AFDA Organizational chart
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
Annex 10. STTA Recruitment Status.
OUTCOME/ # OF RECRUITMENT # STTA REMARK SECTION POSITIONS STATUS AS of Q2
Modified SOW to assist 1 MSDF Partnership Advisor MSDF 2 Consultants selected MSDF Evaluation Committees
Consultant has completed 2 PERSUAP Writer General 1 Contracted field work and is finalizing the draft PERSUAP
Delayed due to travel Market Systems Development Consultant has been 3 General 1 restriction; anticipated to Training selected be implemented in Q3
5 ICT4Ag - Local Consultant Outcome 1 1 SOW developed For advertisement in April
Conflict analysis consultant- Anticipated to start work 6 Outcome 1 1 Advertised local in Q3
Political Economy Analysis (PEA) Developing SOW to Anticipated to start work 7 Outcome 1 1 consultant-Local announce in Q3
8 Conflict Analysis-Int STTA Outcome 1 1 Report completed
9 PEA consultant-Int STTA Outcome 1 1 Report completed
Supply Chain and Sourcing Anticipated to start work 10 Outcome 4 1 Advertised Specialist in Q4
Market Chain Assessment of the Anticipated to start work 11 Outcome 4 1 Advertised Home Miller Sub-Sector in Q4
Market Assessment – Anticipated to start work 12 Outcome 4 1 SOW developed Domestic in Q4
Anticipated to start work 13 Market Assessment – Int’l Outcome 4 1 SOW developed in Q4
14 Market Specialist – China Outcome 4 1 Not started To be advertised in May
15 Market Specialist – India Outcome 4 1 Preparing to announce To be advertised in May
16 Market Specialist – Thailand Outcome 4 1 Preparing to announce To be advertised in May
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
OUTCOME/ # OF RECRUITMENT # STTA REMARK SECTION POSITIONS STATUS AS of Q2
Market Specialist – Asia 17 Outcome 4 1 Preparing to announce To be advertised in May Markets
Gender Specialist- Short term Anticipated to start work 18 Cross-Cutting 1 Consultant selected Technical Assistant in Q3
Organization Performance Anticipated to start work 19 Development Expert Cross-Cutting 1 Selection in process in Q4 International
STTA for Local Anticipated to start work 20 Organizational Capacity Cross-Cutting 1 Selection in process in Q4 Development Service
Market Systems Diagnostic Study implementation has 21 MEL 1 Consultant contracted Study started
Market Systems Resource Consultant has been 22 MEL 1 Study to start in April Inventory Study selected
Due Diligence report for the Anticipated to start work 23 MSDF 1 Advertised prioritized Market Actors in Q3
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AFDA Year 1 Mid-Year Report April 30, 2020
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