Contribution to international development: report 2021 to 2023

5. Sustainable Economic Development

In line with SDGs 1 (Poverty), 2 (Hunger) and 8 (inclusive growth), IDF projects in sustainable economic development support economic activity, employment and growth by encouraging inclusive opportunities for dignified and decent work, creativity and innovation, capacity-building and skills, and entrepreneurship.

5.1 ODA Spend

In the reporting period, the IDF has supported a number of Sustainable Economic Development initiatives, including:

• Tools and Training for Livelihood in Malawi delivered by the Global Concerns Trust, KODO and MACOHA contributes to the reduction of poverty, the enhancement of economic sustainability and participation in development processes of disabled men and women in Malawi, while promoting skill development, well-being and engagement in international development of people with disabilities in the UK. We presented an in-depth case study of this project in our 2017-2018 Contribution to International Development Report;
• Sustainable Economic and Agricultural Development (SEAD) Programme, delivered by Tearfund in partnership with African Evangelistic Enterprise, worked to reduce food insecurity and poverty across four districts in Rwanda through:
  • improving the agricultural skills of 30,000 participants in target communities, supporting them to employ climate-smart agricultural techniques to improve yields and increase income from crops;
  • promoting economic empowerment and income diversification through the self-help group (SHG) model;
  • This project was spotlighted in our 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 Reports, with further project achievements now including:
    • 29,968 people (79% women) have improved access to financial services through Self Help Groups and formal financial service providers;
    • 30,000 households have increased climate resilient livelihoods through improved agriculture production, value addition and trade of selected commodities with 82% of households involved now reporting savings and 99.5% owning livestock; and
    • 73 self-help-groups whose members’ businesses were most affected by the COVID –19 pandemic received stimulus loans, with 73 Community facilitators trained to hold the groups accountable through the setting up of functional social protection and disaster funds; the trained Community facilitators also followed up on loan repayments.

Projects explored in more detail for the period of this Report through our Case Studies below.

5.2 Case Studies

Case Study SED1: The Scottish Fair Trade Forum

“Fair Trade is integral to the Scottish Government’s commitment to policy coherence for sustainable development. The support from the International Development Fund for the Scottish Fair Trade Forum helps to develop Fair Trade based on partnerships to deliver sustainable and ethical trade between Scotland and the rest of the world, contributing to rebalancing power in trading relations. The importance given to global citizenship has been central to Scotland achieving and maintaining Fair Trade Nation status for over ten years.” - Martin Rhodes, CEO Scottish Fair Trade Forum

The Scottish Fair Trade Forum contributes to building a just, equitable and sustainable world by supporting Scotland to remain a vibrant Fair Trade Nation and working to embed the principles of Fair Trade in all aspects of Scottish society.

In February 2023, Scotland marked 10 years as a Fair Trade Nation, with this Blog by Martin Rhodes on the 10th anniversary of Scotland as a Fair Trade Nation setting out the strength that comes in partnership working with others committed to change as part of the global Fair Trade, including producers and campaigners in the Global South, and grassroots campaigners across all parts of Scotland.

As an example of Fair Trade in action, the Scottish Fair Trade Forum has also been working with partners Challenges Worldwide, TWIN and local Rwandan cooperatives, to build the market for Rwandan fair trade coffee in Scotland. Throughout the project, the Forum facilitated online meetings with Rwandan coffee cooperatives, Scottish coffee roasters, and members of the public.

These sessions served to connect cooperatives to potential buyers, and importantly helped to promote Rwanda as a specialty coffee growing country and to raise awareness of the importance of fair trade.

Representatives of the cooperatives were invited to contribute to the Forum’s “Coffee Growers Speak Out on Climate Change” event. Farmers discussed the impact of the climate crisis on their livelihoods, and the urgent action that is required. The cooperatives stressed the positive impact that the Fairtrade premium payments can have in terms of funding environmental initiatives.

As the project advanced, the Forum looked to progress from a development project to a sustainable social enterprise. Through their partnership with Ollema Fairer Farming Ventures, they helped to establish the Alternative Coffee Company – a social enterprise green bean wholesaler that connects coffee growing cooperatives in Rwanda, with coffee roasters in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Coffee from three of the cooperatives involved in the project was purchased and sold to coffee roasters. In May 2023, coffees from Cocagi, Koakaka and Kopakaki Dutegure cooperatives were showcased at a Glasgow Coffee Festival cupping session.

The years 2021-2023 demonstrated how tumultuous the global coffee market can be, and the damaging effects it can have on farmers. Freight delays, price fluctuation, and the lasting impacts of COVID-19 were just some of the challenges faced by the cooperatives during this time. However, through building fair, sustainable trading relationships, it was possible to alleviate the impact of some of these issues.

“Rwanda Coffee Project with Challenges Worldwide helped my cooperative to improve the water recycling system to protect the environment, and they supported us to get improved drying tables. The Alternative Coffee Company supported Kopakaki Dutegure to improve the quality of the coffee by ordering micro lots and offering a better price, they supported us to talk to the roasters where our coffee is going, and they visited our farm as a one way to strengthen the cooperation.” – Mbonimpaye Brother Moses, Tourism and Marketing Manager at Kopakaki Dutegure Coffee Farmers Cooperative

Case Study SED2: St Andrews Macadamia Ltd - African Lakes Company

The African Lakes Company (ALC) is a Scottish company making investments in growth-stage companies in Africa. After considerable research, and a few test investments (notably in aquaculture), ALC settled on a major investment in macadamia nuts, a more socially responsible and economically viable crop than tobacco^[23].

The St Andrew Macadamia project supports the St Andrew Farm, the operational focus of which is on removing tobacco, retraining staff, then propagating and planting macadamia trees and installing irrigation. Principal achievements in the reporting period include:

• Transition from tobacco farming completed at the Farm.
• Macadamia tree nursery established and selling good quality hybrid varieties to neighbouring smallholders.
• Planted area will be 287 hectares compared to the original plan of 250 hectares.
• Irrigation reservoir had to be rebuilt and upgraded after Cyclone Freddy, with the new dam being more climate resilient.
• Next stage in the business plan is to install drip irrigation/fertigation to maximise tree health.

In 2024, ALC commissioned a full, independent report from specialist agricultural consultancy, Agricane. Their draft report noted the high standards of husbandry, the new dam, and the business model.

ALC are actively exploring options to raise more capital to expand the existing farm by taking more neighbouring land out of tobacco and into macadamia, and to develop on-site processing in partnership with the women enterprise village.

Case Study SED3: Agricultural Community Foundation

The Agricultural Community Foundation (ACF) is based on land set aside by St Andrews Macadamia farm to provide opportunities for local women to learn, test and trial new practices, crops and to develop business ventures that were previously not available to them due to financial and educational constraints. This will lead to more productive, profitable and regenerative practices and methods that can be implemented on ACF’s farm and other smallholder farms in the community. ACF projects focus on circular agriculture with each section of the farm integrated with each other- be it composting, manure, fish farming, crop rotation and livestock. Our goal is to create balance throughout the farm with nothing wasted, across the following business areas:

• Bees: ACF currently has an apiary of 60 hives. Members have harvested their first hive and the remaining initial hives will be ready for harvesting soon. Ongoing workshops have been taken place through the different stages of the hive and honey production.
• Market garden: Members have grown and sold tomato, cabbage and rape.
• Native species: The indigenous seedling nursery is thriving, growing thousands of seedlings that will be used for reforestation.
• Orchard trees: Fruit trees have been planted around ACF ’s land for future produce to sell, including granadilla, mango, mulberry, lemon, and orange. Bananas have been planted near the lands’ waterway as well as a small cashew orchard, which is another new crop to ACF members.

ACF Member Profile

Mable Chinduta, 33, is one of ACF’s founding members. Before working at ACF she had her own tailoring business but was forced to close down due to the high costs of sewing equipment. Currently, she enjoys working in the vegetable garden and learning skills that she can take back to her village, such as new crops and farming practices. Mable is also in training to run ACF’s farm shop. The foundation enables Mable to balance work with being a mother of two. Mable believes it is important that ACF is focused on women’s empowerment because many women in Namadzi (Zomba District, Malawi) have little formal education:

“Many women in my village stay at home and have to rely on their husband. ACF gives women the opportunity to earn money for themselves and families”.

Looking Ahead

ACF strives to develop a scalable operational model which can be adapted and implemented on other commercial farms. Looking forward, the project will engage the women from this project as ambassadors and mentors for women’s enterprise on other commercial farms in Malawi, and in the longer-term will build a national network of entrepreneurial women in agricultural communities, based on working farms, across the length and breadth of the country.

5.3 Cross-Scottish-Government Policy Initiatives

In wider Scottish Government policy initiatives on trade, investment and procurement that contribute to international development, as part of our commitment on policy coherence for sustainable development:

The Scottish Government's Procurement Strategy 2022-24 explicitly recognises the use of public procurement to support ethical and fair trade producers and suppliers, links to the SG International Development Strategy, and its alignment with international development goals.^[24]

In the Scottish Government’s second annual report on Scotland's Vision for Trade, we reported that in the Vision we had recommended that the UK Government explore how the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) mechanism could be improved. Our second annual report ^[25] highlighted how the Scottish Government engaged with the UK Government on its development of a new GSP mechanism, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which was launched in August 2022. That second annual report also welcomed the simplification of Rules of Origin requirements for Least Developed Countries and tariff reductions on imports from low income and lower-middle income countries. It highlighted too, however, concerns on preference erosion and the weakening of conditionality in the scheme.