Client: United States Agency for International Development

The Market Linkages Initiative (MLI) is a two-year regional program to promote growth in food staples and food security, working alongside partners such as ACTESA (Alliance for Common Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa) to integrate smallholder farmers into more efficient national and regional markets.

MLI works in in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Malawi. In Rwanda, it works closely with the USAID Post Harvest Handling and Storage (PHHS) project.

MLI is working toward four major results:

• Expanded and strengthened Grain Bulking Systems (GBS) in target locations
• Enhanced capacity of smallholder farmers to integrate into GBS
• Sustained GBS operations in relevant market institutions
• Institutional platforms that disseminate lessons learned and best practices

Download the project's Fact Sheet and Brochure

Latest MLI News:

• CARANA contributes to African trade successes
• Crop conditioning lessons for Ugandan farmers
• Grants for Ugandan farmers upgrade food security systems
• SMS market info system will improve prices for farmers
• Getting more grain to markets in Malawi
  
• Storage handbook takes aim at staple crop losses
• Lessons learned in food security
• VIDEO: Catalyzing farm-to-market linkages