Abt supports development of an inclusive horticulture market system in Upper Egypt that integrates smallholder farmers into high-end local and international markets using a buyer-led approach. Abt helps buyers connect with smallholder farmer suppliers who are part of producer organizations and supports farmers’ efforts to meet requirements for quality, quantity and timeliness. Abt’s capacity building extends to pack houses and processors who seek to upgrade their operations. Partnerships with agricultural universities and technical schools help build the next generation’s agricultural workforce. The project has also adopted a market system approach, facilitating business linkages to support producer organizations and smallholder famers, signing forward contracts between buyers and the partner producer organizations, as well as supporting partner financial institutions for agricultural loans.

Additionally, the project has adopted a climate-smart agriculture approach, promoting sustainability by improving the efficiency of resource use on farms, finding ways to reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions from smallholder farms, and introducing innovations that will help to enhance food security and build climate resilience capacity. For example, vermicomposting contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing gas emissions from burning organic home and farm residuals and lessening the use of chemical fertilizers that depend on fossil fuels for manufacturing. Vermicompost plays an integral role in climate change adaptation as well, as it increases plant immunity and reduces infection from soil borne diseases, which are becoming more prevalent with global warming.