THE USAID YALWA ACTIVITY USAID AGREEMENT NUMBER: 72068520CA00003 FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2020 ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT (MARCH 18, 2020 – SEPTEMBER 30, 2020) Implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) Submission Date: December 23, 2020 Submitted to: Doudou Ndiaye Acting Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) Deputy Director and Regional Agriculture Officer Sahel Regional Technical Office, USAID/Senegal Period of Performance: March 18, 2020 – March 17, 2025 This Annual Progress Report was made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of CNFA and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. 1 Table of Contents LIST OF ACRONYMS III 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. OVERVIEW OF ACHIEVEMENTS 3 3. ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED IN FY20 4 3.1 - PRODUCTION OF KEY TECHNICAL DELIVERABLES OF THE REFINEMENT PERIOD 4 3.2 – OTHER TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE REFINEMENT PERIOD 7 3.3 - COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES WITH USAID IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS 15 4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT 17 4.1 - PROJECT STAFFING 17 4.2 - OPERATIONS, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE START-UP 18 4.3 – PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS 19 4.4 – PROJECT REPORTING AND PLANNING 19 5. KEY PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND RESOLUTION 19 6. KEY SECURITY ISSUES/CONCERNS AND IMPACT ON INTERVENTIONS 20 7. PERFORMANCE IN FY20 AND PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING LOP PERFORMANCE RESULTS 20 ANNEXES 22 ANNEX 1 : LIST OF USAID YALWA, DFS, AND TEV INTERVENTION COMMUNES 22 ANNEX 2 : CHARACTERISTICS OF 15 LIVESTOCK MARKETS PREVIOUSLY SUPPORTED BY REGIS-AG AND NOW SUPPORTED BY YALWA 24 ANNEX 3 : LIST OF YALWA EMPLOYEES AT THE END OF FY20 28 ANNEX 4 : PROJECT PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING LOP PERFORMANCE RESULTS 31 ANNEX 5 : FY20 FINANCIAL TABLE 32 ANNEX 6 : SUCCESS STORIES 33 ANNEX 7 : USAID YALWA ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION AND MONITORING REPORT 34 ANNEX 8 : USAID YALWA ACTIVITY CONTINGENCY PLANNING REPORT 35 USAID YALWA ACTIVITY | FY20 – Q3 REPORT 2 List of Acronyms 2M Invest Promotion of Entrepreneurship of Women and Young People AOR Agreement Officer Representative AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan ACP Activity Contingency Plan AREN Association for the Revitalization of Livestock in Niger CDC US Center for Disease Control and Prevention CMU Crisis Management Unit COP Chief of Party DCOP Deputy Chief of Party DFSA Development Food Security Activity EMMP Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan FAFPA Fonds d’Appui à la Formation Professionnelle et à l’Apprentissage FY Fiscal Year GoN Government of Niger HKI Helen Keller International HQ Headquarters IPA Innovations for Poverty Action IR Intermediate Result Karkara Nigerien Association for the Revitalization of Local Initiatives LUXDEV Luxembourg Agency for International Development MCC Millennium Challenge Corporation MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning M&N Markets and Nutrition MSDD Market Systems Development Director NYC Conseil National de la Jeunesse PIRS Performance Indicator Reference Sheets PO Producer Organization PEA Political Economy Analysis PRAPS Projet Régional d’Appui au Pastoralisme au Sahel PRODAF Programme de Développement de l’Agriculture Familiale PRODEC Projet de Développement des Compétences pour la Croissance ReCom Relais communautaire (Community Relay or Community focal point) REGIS-AG Resilience and Economic Growth in the Sahel – Accelerated Growth REGIS-ER Resilience and Economic Growth in the Sahel – Enhanced Resilience USAID YALWA ACTIVITY | FY20 – Q3 REPORT 3 RESEAN Réseau des Structures d’Accompagnement en Entrepreneuriat au Niger RISE Regional Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced SCC Sahel Collaboration and Communication SDFA Sr. Director of Finance and Administration SHIGA Sahel Human Voice in Governance Activity TC Technical Committee TEV Terres Eau Vie TOR Terms of Reference USAID United States Agency for International Development WFP World Food Program WHO World Health Organization YEPS Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion Strategy USAID YALWA ACTIVITY | FY20 – Q3 REPORT 4 1. Introduction Activity Name USAID Yalwa Start Date and End Date March 18, 2020 – March 17, 2025 Cooperative Agreement Number 72068520CA00003 Name of Awardee CNFA Name of Sub awardees HKI, Karkara, AREN, IPA Geographic Coverage Niger: Maradi, Tillabéri, Zinder Focus Value Chains Small Ruminants, Poultry, Cowpea, Local Nutritious Foods USAID Yalwa objective and Results areas - The five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Yalwa activity is designed to strengthen food market systems, sustainably increase household incomes, and improve the nutritional status of women and children in the Tillabéri, Maradi and Zinder regions of Niger.1 To achieve its goal, USAID Yalwa implements interventions across the following mutually reinforcing results (IR) areas: ▪ IR1: Enhanced performance of commodity market systems; ▪ IR2: Increased utilization of quality inputs and services; ▪ IR3: Increased local consumption of nutritious, safe foods. USAID Yalwa technical approach - USAID Yalwa technical approach is grounded on an innovative market system strengthening approach that is facilitative and focused on sustainability – implementing the exit strategy from day one – while consolidating the progress made during the five years of the Resilience and Economic Growth Program in the Sahel - Accelerated Growth (REGIS-AG). A market system consists of all the market actors that collaborate, coordinate, and compete for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Structurally, a market system is made of multiple interconnected parts that are further interconnected to other systems. In particular, commodity market systems are linked to supportive market systems (or cross-market functions) such as those for agricultural inputs, technical services, and financial investment. USAID Yalwa market system strengthening focuses on enhancing linkages, building capacity of market actors (especially their business, financial, and organizational effectiveness), and establishing supportive environments that create incentives for more efficient, competitive, and inclusive markets. Actors’ capacities are enhanced to allow them to assess market opportunities, plan their approach, obtain necessary resources and services, implement, and then adjust based on how well they are achieving their short- and long-term business goals. The sustainability focus is based on collaboration with influential local actors and networks that catalyze change at key points in the system. More specifically, USAID Yalwa's core approach to ensuring sustainability is to work through Unions to provide services to producer groups (e.g. access to agro-inputs, finance, market 1 Yalwa means “fulfillment” or “blossoming” in the Hausa language. 1 and climate information, skills development, group sales). To this end, USAID Yalwa builds the capacity of Unions to continue the provision of such service without project support. The approach also leverages commercial investments to build long-term linkages between buyers and sellers, and to ensure the consistent delivery of inputs and services over time. In addition to developing the skills of farmers, the approach also builds the skills of traders, processors, and other buyers so that they can earn a profit from their businesses, be motivated to seek out nutritious foods, and become self-reliant. In this way, local ownership is established, and sustainable development outcomes are produced by the synergies of market actors themselves. USAID Yalwa in the RISE II initiative - As a key part of USAID’s Regional Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE II) Initiative, USAID Yalwa’s expected results listed below contribute to the following Objectives and Intermediate Results (IRs) of RISE II: ▪ RISE II Objective 1: Enhance social and ecological risk management systems o IR 1.3 Improved management of shocks, risks and stresses ▪ RISE II Objective 2: Increase and sustain economic well-being o IR 2.1 Improved agricultural and pastoral livelihoods o IR 2.2 Diversified economic opportunities o IR 2.3 More inclusive and resilient market systems o IR 2.4 Increased utilization of financial services o IR 2.5 Improved human capacity, especially for women and youth ▪ RISE II Objective 3: Improve health, family planning, and nutrition outcomes o IR 3.3 Improved health, family planning, hygiene and nutritional practices (Yalwa to focus on nutrition-sensitive practices and behaviors related to diets) o IR 3.4 Increased access to affordable, nutritious, safe foods ▪ RISE II Objective 4: Enhance governance of institutions and organizations o IR 4.2 Strengthened local civil society and community-based organizations ▪ RISE II Objective 5: Enhanced social, economic, and political agency of women and youth However, although USAID Yalwa is expected to contribute to these common goals of RISE II, its implementation focuses on achieving its specific goal and expected outcomes, and in engaging with other USAID partners to develop strategies for collaboration for the common goals of RISE II. Focus of the implementation period and report structure - This reporting period, USAID Yalwa focus was the production of key deliverables defined in the approved refinement period’s work plan. Initially scheduled to end on September 18, USAID approved an extension of the refinement period to November 30 due to the large volume of work planned and the challenging Covid-19 context that limited the effectiveness of the team. This