Agribusiness Linkages

Started in 1997, Agribusiness Linkages for Egypt (AgLink) was a six-year program designed to build stronger commercial ties between the United States and Egypt. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s mission in Egypt funded the $11 million ACDI/VOCA project. AgLink provided technical expertise to Egyptian agribusinesses and promotes trade and investment through consulting and outreach activities. Specific methods for creating linkages included:

• targeted technology transfer between Egyptian farmers and U.S. experts
• firm-to-firm exchanges whereby Egyptian representatives traveled to the United States and U.S. representatives traveled to Egypt
• farmer exchanges where selected Egyptian farmers traveled to the United States to study livestock production and marketing
• seminars and peer training sessions in which Egyptian agriculturalists visited exemplary farms identified by AgLink staff for observation and emulation

AgLink was a client demand-driven operation with a distinctive market orientation. Market-led production was promoted through improved coordination between primary producers and processors, an emphasis on quality, identification and exploitation of clients’ competitive advantages, and the linking of potential trading partners.

AgLink worked with clients primarily from Egypt’s livestock sector, and activities focus on three subsectors: dairy, meat and meat processing, and feed and farm supply. AgLink actively promoted beneficial linkages between farmers and agribusiness firms within Egypt as well as among a broad network of agribusiness contacts in the United States. A primary goal of AgLink was to bring Egyptian companies up to a level where they were prepared to receive foreign private investment. To this end, AgLink provided both technical assistance to improve agricultural methods, and networking opportunities for business-to-business ventures—necessary elements for long-term economic growth.

According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Client Satisfaction Reviews for both 2001 & 2002, AgLink ranked first in customer satisfaction among all of the USAID/Egypt Growth-Through-Globalization (GTG) projects. AgLink clients were especially impressed by the responsiveness of AgLink’s staff to client needs. In addition, clients expressed that the project had played a significant role in the growth and expansion of their businesses, generated a significant sector-level impact and fostered a collective spirit among Egyptian farmers.

In September of 2001, AgLink received a two-year extension. The new phase of AgLink continued to develop associations, expanded trade linkages and provided technical assistance, but also expanded the initial program area to include Upper Egypt. Based in Minya, AgLink instated a new strategy of targeting smallholder farmers (farmers with six or fewer head of livestock) through implementation of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to assess smallholder needs, followed by extensive training . In addition to the establishment of sustainable livestock associations, the project trained Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation extension agents in order to institutionalize project services, helping ensure the sustainability of the project.