Strengthening Market Systems

Overview

Agribusiness owners and farmers need more than financing and training to succeed. They also need tools, materials, equipment, someone who can reliably fix and maintain their equipment, wholesalers, traders, and exporters who will work with them fairly and on a long-term basis, and access to safe roads to meet with business contacts and buyers.  

Near East Foundation aims to build resilience among vulnerable and marginalized groups throughout the value chain. To achieve this, we work to activate systemic change throughout the market system to meet needs and facilitate inclusive economic and social development. 

Most non-timber forest product (NTFP) producers are women, but they make significantly less than their male counterparts. Women-led associations not only support producers with technical skills and competencies, but they also improve empowerment, agency and the inclusion of women in the NTFP sector, community-based finance and climate resilience. The approach builds women’s social and economic networks, yielding measurable improvements in confidence, economic participation and decision-making. 

Through ongoing programming, NEF aims to rebuild resilient livelihoods by organizing and strengthening women-led cooperatives, supporting sustainable production and value chain development, investing in collaborative natural resources management, and facilitating access to finance through community-based credit. It links NTFP livelihoods with forest ecosystem protection, supporting NTFP-producing communities to protect and invest in their natural assets to help secure important sources of income generation and guard against climate shocks and stresses.