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FIPS-Africa At a Glance

Food Security and Incomes

Since 2003, we have been empowering smallholder farmers to build sustainable livelihoods through equitable access to information, resources, support networks, and food and market systems. 

We also contribute to systemic changes that impact food security and resilience, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.  

Through close collaboration with smallholder farming communities and food and market system actors, we identify pressing challenges and missed opportunities across various value chains. These include both staple crops, high-value crops, livestock, and soil and environmental health. 

Access to inputs and extension services

Inputs and Extension Provision

FIPS-Africa improves access to inputs and extension provision by:

  • Training and supporting self-employed Village-based Advisors (VBAs) in Kenya to deliver advice, and build up income from sale of inputs and provision of extension services
  • Providing training and development services to support the transformation of extension provision across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond
  • Providing training and grants to youth agri-entrepreneurs producing vegetables, poultry and eggs and fodder crops
  • Developing a network of agro-dealers to work with village-based advisors and meet the needs of smallholder farmer
  • Supporting private sector input supplies to develop products and services that meet the needs of the smallholder farmer

Policy Change for Farmers

FIPS-Africa advocates for changes in policy and practices that can support smallholders to thrive by:

  • Advocating for informal seed system developments that ensure that farmers can access the seed and clean planting
    material they need

Research and Development ​

FIPS-Africa brings research and development of new technologies to smallholder farmers by:

  • Working with partners to undertakes original research to validate technologies that work well in smallholder
    farming systems
  • Testing sustainable, low-cost solutions to improve soil health, increase productivity or reduce drudgery
  • Supporting all farmers to use trail pack of seed to test the suitability of the crop before moving to scale
  • Facilitating farmer research networks aligning with co-creation and knowledge-sharing principles
  • Working with the private sector to bring promising options and technologies within the grasp of smallholder farmers
How we make smallholder farmers benefit from research