OUR PROJECTS

With the significant expansion of HIV/AIDS, TB and OVC programmes in Africa, there is both an urgent need to meet the demand for expanding programmes and, at the same time, address the increased food security and nutritional needs of programme clients.  Under a contract with UNAIDS, Kimetrica conducted a study on the feasibility and potential impact on smallholder incomes of market opportunities for supplying food to support antiretroviral therapy (ART) and Tuberculosis (TB) treatment programmes and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) services in Africa.  Kimetrica conducted case studies in six African countries to gain insight and practical knowledge of the potential benefits, costs, risks and constraints of investing in smallholder supply chains for donor-funded health and social protection programmes. In addition, Kimetrica's staff mapped potential partners in 20 African countries, ranging from NGOs to farmer groups to health facilities that can manage procurement of food between small farmers and social protection programmes.  The study’s findings were used to develop programmes to support smallholder production and to provide nutritional support to HIV/AIDS, TB and OVC beneficiaries.

The Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI) was implemented to strengthen the capacity of local partners in preparing for and responding to the present cassava mosaic disease and emerging cassava brown streak disease pandemics that threaten food security and incomes of cassava dependent farm families in six Great Lake countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The project linked with existing breeding programmes, farmer evaluations of new varieties and integrated crop management options to train 3,000 farmer groups in improved farming techniques to increase crop yields.  In support of the project’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E)  system, Kimetrica's survey team conducted surveys of over 9,000 households in 6 countries to establish a monitoring, evaluation and reporting system for the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative. To facilitate M&E across multiple countries, Kimetrica's software team established a web-based system, allowing for the fast collection of time-sensitive data at the farmer level. Combined with data collection tools to help track the spread and mitigation of cassava mosaic across the project area, the M&E system provided CRS and its partners with a near real-time M&E system for project management and impact measurement.