Banyan Global was a subcontractor on the five-year Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity. Led by Fintrac, the activity contributed to the Government of Ethiopia’s objective to improve agricultural productivity and commercialization of smallholder farmers in four regions of the country – Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR); and Tigray. The project emphasized increasing nutrition-sensitive productivity of targeted value chains (chickpea, coffee, dairy, meat and live animal, maize, and poultry) inclusive of women and youth; making market systems and trade more inclusive; and improving the enabling environment in support of agricultural transformation. The activity specifically built upon existing advances and addressed constraints in women’s and youth’s access to farm inputs, credit, technology, information, markets, training, and leadership opportunities.

Banyan Global led the project’s gender and youth integration work through a two-pronged approach with activities that target women’s and youth’s empowerment interventions and integrate women, men, and youth considerations across all targeted value chains. As gender and youth lead, Banyan Global conducted a gender assessment and developed an action plan, both of which were instrumental in designing and implementing gender equality and positive youth development (PYD) trainings for staff and local partners, designing gender and youth implementation plans, and providing technical assistance on gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and PYD for the duration of the activity.