In 2020, March Associates was engaged to conduct rapid appraisals for the Africa Agriculture Trade Investment Fund (AATIF) credit facilities, namely Mount meru and Africa Milling Limited. The purpose of the Rapid Appraisal was to collect and analyse a selected and limited set of comparable data, as a basis for assessing the overall impact of AATIF and to learn for future investments. The scope for the study entailed the direct operations of Mount Meru (soybeans, sunflower and cotton procurement and processing) and along the cotton supply chain and AML (maize and wheat processing) and the entire maize supply chain (maize farmers and aggregators). The Mount Meru rapid appraisal was conducted between September and October 2020 in Chisamba (Central Province) and Chipata, Katete, Lundazi and Mambwe districts in Eastern Province and data was collected from 163 cotton farmers. Additionally, the AML rapid appraisal was conducted in October 2020 in Chiparamba, Katete and Sinda Districts of Eastern Province and Chilanga, Kafue and Lusaka Districts of Lusaka Province and data was collection from 160 maize farming households. Key activities included, data collection and analysis, writing of two main appraisal reports and impact briefs.
