Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II: FY20 Quarter 2 Performance Report

The project has three interconnected sub-purposes: improving capacities for market participation, improving market linkages, and improving governance and the enabling environment. To achieve these sub-purposes, Harvest II works with private sector service providers to increase financial and business capacity, stimulate the use of technical and market information, and expand financial opportunities of Harvest II's commercial partnerships (CPs). The project also engages buyers and producers to build trust and form mutually profitable CPs, and works with other market actors, including financial institutions, input supply companies, and other private sector firms, to strengthen coordination across value chains and increase investment in the sector. Harvest II employs a blended buyer-led and market systems development approach, taking horticulture buyers as the main market entry point while working with a range of other partners to expand the availability of products and services. The project facilitates and strengthens relationships between buyers and suppliers, and engages other market actors in fashioning solutions to both the specific constraints affecting a small group of actors and the broader, underlying constraints in the horticultural market system. In FY20 Quarter 2, Harvest II made significant progress in achieving its sub-purposes. Under Sub-Purpose 1, Improved Capacities for Market Participation, the project worked with private sector service providers to increase financial and business capacity, and expanded financial opportunities of Harvest II's commercial partnerships. Major activities included providing training and technical assistance to farmers, and facilitating access to financial services. Under Sub-Purpose 2, Improved Market Linkages, Harvest II worked with buyers and producers to build trust and form mutually profitable CPs. The project also engaged other market actors, including financial institutions, input supply companies, and other private sector firms, to strengthen coordination across value chains and increase investment in the sector. Major activities included facilitating market linkages between buyers and producers, and providing technical assistance to improve the quality and quantity of produce. Under Sub-Purpose 3, Improved Governance and Enabling Environment, Harvest II partnered with government entities, the private sector, and civil society platforms to strengthen opportunities for advocacy and public-private dialogue. The project also helped build government capacity to address stakeholder constraints and foster inclusive horticulture sector growth. Major activities included providing technical assistance to government agencies, and facilitating public-private dialogue to address sector constraints. In terms of geographic distribution, Harvest II's commercial partnership buyers and producers are located in Pursat, Battambang, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom, and other provinces on a case-by-case basis. The project has also made significant progress in terms of gender and youth, with women-headed households representing 38% of participants in the project's commercial partnerships. Overall, Harvest II has made significant progress in achieving its sub-purposes and contributing to the growth of the horticulture sector in Cambodia. The project's blended buyer-led and market systems development approach has facilitated and strengthened relationships between buyers and suppliers, and engaged other market actors in fashioning solutions to both the specific constraints affecting a small group of actors and the broader, underlying constraints in the horticultural market system.