USAID Colombia Producers to Markets Alliance | Quarterly Report 04

The program's geographic focus is on seven economic corridors in Colombia, including Norte del Cauca and Valle del Cauca, Bajo Cauca Antioqueno, Sur de Córdoba, Sur de Bolívar, Piedemonte Caqueteño, Meta, and Pacífico and Frontera Nariñense. These corridors include a total of 86 selected municipalities where PMA is targeting its activities. During the reporting period of January to March 2018, PMA significantly scaled up field operations, initiating 30 new activities under its Activity Fund. These activities included 19 partner alliances with commercial producer organizations to increase productivity, sales, and business capacity, and 11 tertiary road projects to improve market access for rural farmers. To date, PMA has programmed $13.24 million (31 percent) of its Activity Fund resources. Key results and interventions during this reporting period include increased export sales by connecting producers to markets. PMA-supported producer associations generated $1.3 million in transaction sales, bringing the cumulative total to $3.5 million – 35 percent of the annual target. An export strategy for the coffee value chain was also developed, focused primarily on brokering new deals with international buyers for the May/June harvest. In this reporting quarter, small lots valued at $34,850 were exported to the EU. In addition, PMA incorporated 6,550 farm households into the program, bringing the cumulative number of beneficiaries to 6,829 – 26 percent of the FY 2018 cumulative target. These households represent more than 9,975 hectares of licit crops in target value chains. PMA also conducted more than 2,400 individual technical assistance and training events in the areas of production, postharvest, marketing, environment, and social inclusion, reaching 10,538 individuals. PMA-supported roads projects improved an additional 103 kilometers of tertiary roads, bringing the cumulative total to 127 kilometers – 97 percent of the cumulative FY2018 target of 131.4 kilometers. Completed infrastructure projects have resulted in a 55 percent decrease in transport time, opening up new economic opportunities for communities and benefiting farmers with improved access to markets. Cross-cutting components of the program include adapting, piloting, and initiating baseline assessments for capacity strengthening methodology for producer organizations. PMA has also strengthened institutional relationships with key entities, leveraging resources, value chain finance, and broadening the impact of interventions. To date, 66 percent of program beneficiaries represent vulnerable populations, including women, youth, afro-Colombian, and indigenous groups. PMA has leveraged $854,000 in counterpart contributions to program activities, bringing total counterpart contributions to $1.1 million – 17 percent of the FY 2018 target. The program has expanded coverage from 28 to 38 municipalities for interventions, representing 44 percent of the 86 priority municipalities targeted by USAID and GOC. These results represent significant advancement against targets from previous quarters, and have laid the foundation for productivity, sales, and export increases.