Promoting Pro-Poor Opportunities in Commodity and Service Markets (PrOpCom) is an innovative project funded by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID) to facilitate functionality and efficiency of Nigerian commodity and service markets in such a way as to assure these markets benefit the poor. It is implemented by SAII Associates Ltd/Gte, an associate company of Chemonics International Inc., a Washington, DC-based consulting firm.

PrOpCom’s goal is to improve livelihoods by facilitating growth and pro-poor outcomes in commodity and service markets and to contribute to the overarching (DFID/Nigeria) goal of poverty alleviation in support of NEEDS and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. PrOpCom will use a “Making Markets Work for the Poor” (M4P) approach to address the systemic reasons that prevent commodity and service markets from functioning effectively for the poor in Nigeria. In doing so, it will contribute to delivery of the vision for growth in the non-oil economy outlined in NEEDS. The project purpose is to support systemic change in markets on which the poor rely to produce pro-poor

• Enhanced incomes;
• Increased jobs;
• Improved access to markets;
• More options and choices; and
• Reduced risks.

PrOpCom emphasizes market-led development, linking market developments to policy reform. The programme contributes to removing constraints to efficient market operations and linking market actors to work together and serve each other on a sustainable basis. The programme addresses poor market functioning, with the objective of improving access and returns to the livelihood assets of the poor.

During the first two-year pilot implementation phase, PrOpCom focused on the rice value chain in Kano and South-western Nigeria, and began to build capacity of stakeholders within these value chains. In Phase III, the programme has expanded its activities beyond rice and now has 15 interventions spanning 5 markets & “themes”, including policy support, agricultural mechanization, agro-inputs and service markets such as enterprise training.