The Value Chain Development Programme’s through greater professionalization and organization among smallholder agricultural producers within viable agricultural value chains, will help reduce the country's grain and dairy deficit. The project’s goal are to:

• reduce poverty and improve food security in rural areas through the development of agricultural value chains
• empower smallholder farmers to play a central role so that they can achieve maximum value added in their production and increase their income.

The project will:

• assist public and private institutions, civil society and organizations of rural poor people in forming quality partnerships to promote two main value chains such as rice and milk and six other secondary value chains
• build the human, physical and technical capacity of poor smallholder farmers to enable them to protect their productive assets, increase their production of rice and milk and raise their incomes in a sustainable manner; and
• allow producers' organizations to make the most of the value added to their produce through better market access.

The programme will directly reach 77,500 rural family farm households, or approximately 387,000 people. Around 262,000 people as well as hundreds of grass-roots associations, economic interest groups and services providers will also benefit indirectly from the programme.

Source: IFAD