31. Percentage of targeted smallholder farmers reporting increased production of nutritious crops

31. Percentage of targeted smallholder farmers reporting increased production of nutritious crops

VERSION

V5.0 - 2026.03 — Existing

INDICATOR CODE

31

TECHNICAL OWNER

PRG-R and PRG-S

INDICATOR TYPE

Country Level Outcome Indicator

INDICATOR CLASSIFICATION

Complementary

INDICATOR SCOPE

Programme specific indicator

APPLICABILITY

This indicator applies to WFP value chain development work (aka Smallholder Agricultural Market Support – SAMS), combining procurement and programmatic activities along the value chain to promote improved access to stable and remunerative markets for targeted smallholder farmers. Interventions include but are not limited to: support to smallholder capacity to access productive input and equipment; support to post-harvest loss reduction and processing; capacity strengthening of smallholder aggregation systems; promotion of market access; capacity strengthening of value chain actors, including access to finance and digitalization.

The selection of this indicator is recommended against the following sub-activities in CSPs logframes. Selection of the below sub-activities will NOT trigger the mandatory selection of this indicator

1. Smallholder Agricultural Market Support (SMS)

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS

Percentage of smallholder farmers

DEFINITION

This indicator measures the percentage of smallholder farmers that reported to have increased production of nutritious crops disaggregated by 11 food groups.

Below are some important terminologies related to the indicator:

Smallholder farmer: There is no unambiguous global definition of a smallholder farmer; however, the scale of operation measured in farm size is generally used as a classification criterion. Smallholders are often viewed as those farming less than two hectares. However, this farm size is considered “large” in some countries or regions within countries.

As a result, other parameters are sometimes used, including the production volume, the source and amount of available labour, and the value of capital and inputs.

For WFP, if a host country has an accepted definition of smallholder farmers under which it collects and reports agricultural and related data, such a definition should be followed whenever adequate.

Nutritious crops: For the purposes of this CRF indicator, “nutritious crops” are defined as those crops belonging to the following food groups¹:

• Pulses (including beans, peas and lentils);

• Bio-fortified grains, roots, tubers and plantains;

• Nuts and seeds;

• Dairy (liquid and solid dairy products from an animal source, including milk and yoghurt);

• Meat, poultry and fish;

• Eggs;

• Vitamin A-rich vegetables (including carrot, red pepper, pumpkin, orange sweet potatoes)

• Dark green leafy vegetables (including spinach, broccoli, amaranth leaves and or

• other dark green leaves, cassava leaves).’

• Vitamin A-rich² fruits (including ripe mango, ripe papaya, red palm fruit, passion fruit, apricot, peach, NOT including oranges); - Other vegetables (including beans – when eaten as fresh pods –, asparagus, cauliflower, celery, green pepper, onion, tomato, zucchini);

• Other vegetables (including beans – when eaten as fresh pods –, asparagus, cauliflower, celery, green pepper, onion, tomato, zucchini);

• Other fruits (including avocado, apple, white-fleshed banana, grapes, guava, lemon, lime, orange, peach, strawberry, and watermelon)

Excluded from this list are (non-biofortified) grains, roots, tubers and plantains (“starchy staples”), including maize, millet, rice, sorghum, wheat, cassava, potatoes, and food derived from grains (e.g. bread, stiff porridges, pasta and noodles).

RATIONALE

Value chain development programmes can contribute to diversifying the foods available and accessible to consumers through WFP safety net programmes, local markets, schools, and other institutional markets by increasing smallholders’ production and sales of diverse foods.

Ideally, supply-side interventions aimed at improving the production of nutritious foods will be informed by assessing local diets and likely nutrient gaps. Diets are highly context-specific, so food that may have an important role in filling a nutrient gap in one country or region may have a less important role in another country or region.

DATA COLLECTION TOOL

The data to calculate this indicator is to be collected through household questionnaires focusing on agricultural production, in line with the guidance material provided in the Smallholder Agricultural Market Support (SAMS) M&E Framework.

The questionnaire should be administered to those members of the households that were

randomly sampled from the aggregation systems’ membership lists, either as a stand-alone assessment tool or as part of a more comprehensive household survey.

The electronic version of the questions associated with this indicator can be found in Survey Designer.

SAMPLING REQUIREMENTS

If targeting households through aggregation systems, a representative sample should be built by randomly selecting from the aggregators’ membership/supplier roster. For more indications on sampling, see the Corporate Monitoring Guidelines.

INDICATOR CALCULATION FOR REPORTING

Per each nutritious crop, this indicator is calculated as the ratio between the farmers indicating an increase in production divided by the total number of respondents that have produced this nutritious crop, then convert to a percentage by multiplying by 100. The same calculation can be conducted by sex.

Scripts in R, STATA and SPSS and sample data are available on github for calculating this indicator.

Also, see the “Reporting example(s)” field.

DATA ENTRY AND DISAGGREGATION IN CORPORATE SYSTEMS

Values are recorded in the logframe. Each value has a reporting combination which is created based on:

• Sub-activity

• Country

• Target Group

The following data is entered in COMET:

BASELINE

Baselines are set only once, at one of the following points:

1. At the beginning of the CSP, or

2. When the indicator is selected for reporting after the commencement of the CSP, or

3. When there is a change in target, location and/or modality that triggers a new reporting combination (target, location and modality) for an existing indicator.

Because this indicator measures the percentage of smallholder farmers reporting an increase in production because of the project, before the start of the project, the baseline percentage will be 0.

However, for multi-year projects, from the first year the annual baseline is the latest follow-up reported for the same target group.

Baselines must be set at the level of disaggregation of the information and overall, as shown below.

TARGET SETTING

Annual targets:

The annual targets are expected to show gradual improvement towards the end of the project /end of the CSP target.

WFP food procurement plans will provide targets for the amount of each nutritious crop to be procured through WFP-supported aggregation systems each year. However, each targeted smallholder will produce the amount each year, and the increase over previous years is context specific.

The degree of improvement throughout the life of the project is likely to depend on the same factors as described above (e.g. farmers’ pre-existing familiarity with the nutritious crop and capacity to produce it, variation among the smallholders in their capacity, as well as access to credit, irrigation, etc.).

For example:

• If farmers are less familiar with improved production techniques for the nutritious crop, they may be slower to adopt cultivation and increase their production in the early years.

• If there are large differences among farmers, with some much more capable of increasing their production than others, production increases across the targeted group of smallholders may remain concentrated among those with higher capacity, especially during the early years.

End of CSP target:

By the end of the CSP, it is hoped that a greater portion of the targeted smallholder farmers will have adopted the nutritious crop(s) and produce it in higher volumes.

The five-year food procurement plans detail the amount of commodities WFP will purchase over the CSP, including nutritious crops from local sources; however, this indicator will measure what percentage of smallholders within the targeted group are actively contributing and increasing their production.

End of the project targets are, however, context-specific, and COs should take into consideration the following:

• Targets must be country-specific, realistic and based on sound assessments of targeted farmers in the early stage of the programme.

• Smallholders’ degree of familiarity/acceptability and capacity to produce the targeted nutritious crop(s); also, the variation in capacity among the targeted smallholders.

• Targeted smallholders’ access to credit, agricultural inputs, support from extension workers.

• Production potential of land: average lot size, access to irrigation, rainfall, soil.

Risk of shocks throughout the project's life, which could negatively affect agricultural production.

FREQUENCY OF DATA COLLECTION

Surveys should be conducted at least once a year to calculate follow-up values, in preparation of the annual country reporting exercise.

The timing will vary between countries based on agricultural harvesting seasons.

Data should be entered in COMET as soon as available and at least once a year, in preparation of the annual country reporting exercise.

INTERPRETATION

A high (or increasing) percentage of targeted smallholders reporting increased production of nutritious crops indicates that more smallholders are making the decision to cultivate the targeted nutritious crop and increase their production, due to any of the following:

• Incentives provided by new market opportunities to sell their production of targeted crops.

• Improved knowledge of the nutritional benefits of targeted crops and the desire to retain part of production for household consumption.

• Increased capacity to implement improved growing techniques or improved access to inputs.

A low (or decreasing) percentage of targeted smallholders reporting increased production of nutritious crops indicates that fewer smallholders are adopting the nutritious crop, and/or fewer are able to successfully increase their production, due to any of the following:

• Failure of any of the above success factors to occur (market incentives, knowledge, capacity).

• Negative shocks that may have prevented improvements in production.

• Unequal distribution of programme activities to targeted smallholders (elite capture), different starting points among different smallholders.

Smallholders having already maximized their production, making further improvements more difficult.

REPORTING EXAMPLE(S)

In Guatemala, a nutrition situation assessment has indicated that children and adolescent girls are not getting enough iron in their diets, two key micronutrients needed for good nutrition. At the same time, a new variety of bio-fortified beans, rich in iron, have become available. WFP is now working with smallholders in the Jutiapa District to increase production of this variety and its availability for consumption, including for WFP school feeding and safety net programmes.

Baseline and targets

• At the beginning of the five-year project, farmers’ organizations (FOs) in the Jutiapa District receive bio-fortified bean seeds and distribute these to their members. Each farmer holds an average of 2 hectares.

• While most of the smallholders have years of experience growing conventional beans, none have experience with the new variety, even though it has demonstrated high yields in a neighbouring district with similar agro-ecological characteristics. Therefore, each farmer has a baseline production of 0 tons.

• Given the context and scope of activities (in addition to seeds, regular visits and technical assistance from government agriculture extension agents, and community demonstration plots), targets are set based on the following criteria:

  • Adoption and growth in production may be slow in the early years because smallholders will need to monitor how the new varieties respond to local conditions, including pests, and learn how to manage them. Many farmers may wait to shift their bean production to this new variety until they see good results in the demonstration plot or from other members of the FOs.

  • WFP anticipates steady growth in production will not take place until after two growing seasons, beginning in year 3.

  • WFP anticipates relatively even growth in production across the smallholders.

Results and calculation

The example shows how to calculate the indicator for one farmer’s organization, Cooperative A, which is made up of 8 smallholder farming households (4 male-headed and 4 female-headed). This is for illustrative purposes – in reality, the FO would include many more smallholders. As anticipated by the CO, by year 1, smallholders are at first slow to adopt the new biofortified seeds.

By year 4, most smallholders in Cooperative A have been convinced of the production potential, market and nutritional benefits of bio-fortified beans and the programme is on track to meet its end line aggregated target.

By year 5, the end of the project, more progress has been made in increasing the adoption rates of farmers producing bio-fortified beans, but further increases in production have become difficult for some of the early adopters.

At the end of the project, it is also useful to calculate the indicator as a percentage increase over the baseline production (in this case, 0 tons)

Analysis

By the end of the project, Cooperative A has exceeded the CO set target.

• 87.5% of smallholders reported an increase in the production of biofortified beans.

• 75% of male smallholders reported an increase in the production of biofortified beans.

• 100% of female smallholders reported an increase in the production of biofortified beans.

Additionally, by year 5, Cooperative A is producing 24.2 tons of biofortified beans annually.

While not all smallholders in Cooperative A immediately committed to growing biofortified beans in year 1, due to the successful implementation of programme activities and good results demonstrated by early movies and the demonstration plot, by year 5, 87.5% of the targeted smallholders were growing biofortified beans and reporting an increase over the baseline year.

In this case, it may have been easier to achieve a high level of adoption of the biofortified beans due to smallholders having already been used to growing conventional beans. Additionally, since the seeds were a totally new input that farmers had not used before, increases over the baseline (zero) may have been easier as compared to a situation where smallholders may have already been producing 1 ton/ha of a targeted crop at baseline.

INDICATORS COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT THE SAME TIME

The following indicator must be reported along with this indicator:

• T.1 Number of people (Tier 1) receiving direct food/cash-based/commodity vouchers/individual capacity strengthening transfers (disaggregated by sex, age group, residence status, modality and activity) (SMS sub-activity)

In addition, as applicable, the following indicators may be reported along with this indicator:

• T.2 Number of people indirectly benefiting (Tier 2) from an asset, knowledge and capacity, commodities or services delivered through WFP programmes (SMS tag)

• F.3 Number of smallholder farmer aggregation systems supported by type of support

• T.7 Quantity, value and capacity of non-food items for which WFP facilitated access

• F.5 Number of meetings, workshops, fairs, events organized to facilitate market linkages

• F.6 Number of contracts/ commercial agreements facilitated

• F.7 Number of other value chain actors supported

• 95. Value (USD) and volume (MT) of smallholder sales through WFP-supported aggregation systems

• 29. Percentage of targeted smallholder farmers selling through WFP-supported farmer aggregation systems

• 108. Average percentage of smallholder post-harvest losses at the storage stage

• 10. Proportion of children 6-23 months of age who receive a minimum acceptable diet (MAD)

• 11. Minimum diet diversity for women and girls of reproductive age (MDD-W)

• 1. Food Consumption Score (FCS)

• 2. Food Consumption Score – Nutrition (FCS-N)

COMPLEMENTARY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

NA

DECISIONS DATA CAN INFORM

This indicator provides relevant information to monitor the relevance and effectiveness of supply-side capacity strengthening interventions targeted at the household level to improve the production of nutritious food. The indicator can be used for targeting purposes at the start of an intervention, to evaluate the capacity of the sample to produce nutritious food. The indicator can also be used to adjust programme design and implementation, to assess the production practices of targeted households over time and potentially adjust the package of capacity strengthening practices provided (trainings on growing techniques, access to inputs for nutritious food, social and behavioral change communication etc.).

For additional information see the “rationale” and “interpretation fields”.

VISUALIZATION

LIMITATIONS

• This indicator requires smallholders to accurately recall their annual production of a nutritious crop, which may not be the same as what they sold through farmers’ organizations or other WFP-supported aggregation systems if they have kept some surplus for their own consumption.

• The CO may decide it is necessary to disregard very small quantities of production (e.g., home gardens).

• The indicator measures production that may or may not ultimately enter markets or other WFP-supported programme platforms.

• The indicator does not give an indication regarding the consumption of nutritious foods.

FURTHER INFORMATION

SAMS Programme Guidance Manual (PGM)

For any further information, please contact HQ.SAMS@wfp.org