Project Details.

USAID/Pakistan awarded the five-year USD 89.4 million cooperative agreement for TAP to the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF), a local organization with no previous USAID experience, in November 2011. A 2013 Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit concluded that ASF did not have the capacity to implement the project. In consultation with USAID, ASF scaled back the project, focusing on fewer value chains and a more limited geographic area, cutting the budget to USD 39.9 million, and reducing the timeframe to four years. TAP provides grants and technical assistance to small farmers organized into farmers’ enterprise groups (FEGs) and individual grants to agri-businesses, e.g., larger farmers, processors, and exporters. Grants help recipients adopt new technologies and practices to enhance competitiveness and ultimately “support improved conditions for broad-based economic growth, enhanced profitability, and employment opportunities, and contribute to poverty alleviation through product and process transformation.” 

In a comprehensive research process, Mr. Himat (HIMAT Consulting) initiated an inception meeting with the USAID team, allowing for the exchange of ideas and feedback. This interaction provided valuable insights that informed the subsequent stages of the evaluation. Following the data collection and analysis phases, the team prepared and submitted the final report. The research initiative concentrated its evaluation efforts on a subset of five value chains out of the eight supported by the Technical Assistance Project (TAP): apricot, high-value off-season vegetables (HV/OSV), seed potatoes, grapes, and meat. Primarily employing qualitative data collection methods, the study involved a comprehensive approach that included 67 individual interviews and site visits with project beneficiaries and stakeholders. Additionally, 39 group interviews were conducted with Farmer Enterprise Groups (FEGs), and 22 key individuals involved in the project’s design, including representatives from USAID and ASF, were interviewed. To bolster the findings, the team complemented the qualitative insights with quantitative performance data from project documents.