Phase 1

Rural Markets

Project completed

In Bolivia, small-scale rural producers have limited access to rural markets and services. The project, to be carried out by Swisscontact and Profin (foundation for financial innovation) and other partners, aims to increase the income of 12,000 production units (at least 40% women) in the Western region by linking them to markets and services, taking advantage of favorable policies and public-private investments.

Country/region	Topic	Period	Budget
Bolivia	Agriculture & food security Inclusive economic Development Agricultural development Agricultural financial services Agricultural services & market Agriculture value-chain development (til 2016) Employment creation Financial policy	01.03.2013 - 30.06.2018	CHF 10’351’110

The project in brief

Background	With a population of 10 million inhabitants, Bolivia is still among the countries with the highest indices of poverty and inequality. Poverty is 64% in the rural area and 41% in urban areas. Because of the trend towards urbanization, the productive force in the rural area is increasingly made up of women. Aware of this situation, the State has implemented various public policies aimed to improve opportunities and the quality of life in the rural area, enacting laws to encourage the presence of public and private services for productive development. The current climate in the country is believed to be an opportunity to link the smallholder producers to the market.
Objectives	To contribute to poverty reduction in Bolivia, by improving the income of women and men of rural production units that become linked to the market in a competitive manner.
Target groups	12,000 household production units (60,000 persons) from the Highlands and Valleys (30 municipalities in 5 departments) that take part in production complexes of dairy products, vegetable and fruit crops, and tubers (potatoes). Within the framework of scaling-up, estimates are that an additional 12,000 (60,000 people) household production units will improve their economic situation by being linked to the market.
Medium-term outcomes	Outcome 1: More than 12,000 rural household production units (60,000 people) and other stakeholders of the selected productive complexes have improved their market access. Outcome 2: The financial credit and insurance products have been adapted to the productive demand, mainly of women. Outcome 3: The business environment has improved for the benefit of small-scale rural producers based on public policies and private sector participation.
Results	Results from previous phases: SDC has been supporting small-scale production for 15 years (FOMEM, Proseder), contributing to improvements in terms of employment and income. More than 20,000 small-scale producers have been granted access to non-financial services. Likewise, there has been a focus on an enhanced access to financial services, thus helping to consolidate rural financial systems.
Directorate/federal office responsible	SDC
Credit area	Development cooperation
Project partners	Contract partner Private sector Foreign state institution Swiss Non-profit Organisation Central State of South East National State Institute North Swiss Private Sector SDC Field Office Swisscontact Consortium: Swisscontact and Fundación Profin (public tender winners)
Budget	Current phase Swiss budget CHF 10’351’110 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 10’372’567
Project phases	Phase 3 01.01.2022 - 30.09.2023 (Completed) Phase 2 01.01.2018 - 31.12.2021 (Completed) Phase 1 01.03.2013 - 30.06.2018 (Completed)

Further technical details

Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	AGRICULTURE OTHER MULTISECTOR OTHER SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES AGRICULTURE BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES AGRICULTURE
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	Agricultural development Agricultural services Agricultural financial services Rural development Employment policy and administrative management Agricultural services Agricultural financial services Financial policy and administrative management Agricultural financial services
Cross-cutting topics	The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme. The project supports partner organisation improvements as a priority The project also supports partner organisation improvements
Type of support	Official development assistance (ODA)
Type of collaboration	Bilateral cooperation
Finance type	Aid grant
Aid Type	General or sector budget support Mandate with fiduciary funds Mandate without fiduciary fund Project and programme contribution SDC direct implementation
Tied/untied aid	Untied aid
Project number	7F08634