Agriculture, Food systems and Rural development

With over 50 years of experience, NIRAS has a proven capacity to successfully implement large, multi-sector programmes covering agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and rural development in challenging and fragile working environments

The marked inequality between living standards in rapidly growing urban centres and rural areas remains a challenge for sustained economic growth and political stability in many countries. Yet there are proven methods and tools that help unlock productive forces and create opportunities for increasingly well-informed rural communities.

Inclusive and environmentally sustainable agriculture-driven growth can significantly improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their families. Investments in climate-smart production, robust inclusive value chains and demand-oriented private sector development in agriculture contribute to rural transformation and facilitate a country's transition out of poverty.

NIRAS provides technical expertise for both crop and livestock production, from farm to table, combining consumers’ interests and agri-business into viable and sustainable value chains. We recognise the role of agriculture as a driver of inclusive and green growth, in particular through improving the efficiency of resource use, reducing environmental impact, and encouraging innovative technologies and digitalisation to improve productivity.

Agriculture investments are drivers of rural economic development, food security and stability.

Our land sector experts assist in ensuring tenure security and aim to encourage investment in productive land use.

When women gain land rights, households become more food secure, which in turn leads to better nutrition and learning results in school.

We work with smallholder farming systems, stimulating concrete contracting arrangements (e.g. outgrower schemes) to create a “pull effect” in market demand while streamlining the value chains to ensure a larger part of the income trickles down to the producer. Demand-oriented commercial farming attracts capital to remote rural areas, creates opportunity for rural employment while reducing pressure on over-used lands, and helps protect forests and watersheds.

NIRAS has extensive experience in successfully supporting rural policy and institutional reforms all over the world. We strengthen the capacity of ministries and public and private actors at all levels and support sustainable, long-term land use planning and creating enabling business environments for rural investments.

In addition, NIRAS engages in activities to improve food quality and safety standards worldwide, while our in-house food and beverage experts offer value additions to production through state-of-the art processing plants.

We have successfully implemented over 500 projects focused on all types of agriculture value chains and agribusiness development, from horticulture and dairy to high value agricultural crops such as macadamia nuts or shea butter, promoting e.g. social inclusion and rural employment, sustainable irrigation and soil management, climate smart and nutrition sensitive agriculture and investment stimulation for improved access to finance etc.

Services we can offer: