Chad is a country with a strong agropastoral focus, with approximately 79 percent of its population living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture, livestock farming, and related activities for their livelihoods. Despite the considerable potential of these sectors, their contribution to economic growth and food security remains limited due to multiple structural constraints, including insufficient access to market information. In 2021, the Chadian population was estimated at 17 million, 81 percent of whom were under 30 years old. Projections indicate that 4 million young people will be in the job market by 2025, and given the saturation of the civil service, agropastoral entrepreneurship could be a promising alternative for reducing the unemployment rate.

In 2021, the Chadian population was estimated at 17 million, of which 81 percent were under 30 years old. According to forecasts, 4 million young people will be in the job market by 2025, and given the saturation of the civil service, agropastoral entrepreneurship could be a promising alternative to reduce the unemployment rate.

However, their full participation in the development of value chains remains hampered by a number of factors, including a lack of access to reliable, up-to-date and relevant market information (product prices, distribution points, supply and demand, seasonality, transportation, regulations, etc.).

In this context, the project to strengthen innovation in youth and women's agropastoral entrepreneurship in Chad (RENFORT) aims to increase incomes and create decent jobs for women and young people. Its development objective is to promote viable and resilient youth and women's businesses that create jobs and are integrated into agro-forestry, pastoral, and fisheries value chains.

Indeed, the RENFORT project places innovation at the heart of its interventions, in order to exploit the opportunities linked to ICTs and to help alleviate the constraints faced by young people and women in rural areas. New technologies will improve the transparency, profitability, and efficiency of the agricultural, livestock, and fisheries value chains supported by the RENFORT project. The implementation of a Market Information System (MIS) in the form of a digital application will serve as an interactive platform for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information to agripreneurs.

The overall objective is to develop an inclusive and functional digital application of the Market Information System (MIS), enabling the promotion of informed business decision-making by actors in the agricultural, livestock, and fisheries value chains.

Innovation Strengthening Project in Agropastoral Entrepreneurship for youth and women in Chad (RENFORT).
1 - Target population : The Project aims to directly reach 82,000 poor rural youth and women, including 70 percent youth (30 percent young women and 40 percent young men) aged 15 to 35 and 30 percent women aged 36 to 50. Thus, in total, RENFORT will reach 60 percent of women. The number of indirect beneficiaries is estimated at 435,000 people. Through direct targeting mechanisms, the Project provides for a quota of 5 to 10 percent (between 4,000 and 8,000 people) of people living with a disability.

2 - Project intervention area: The Project will operate in the rural areas of nine (9) provinces: Lac, Hadjer Lamis, Chari-Baguirmi, Mayo-Kebbi Est, Moyen-Chari, Mandoul, Tandjilé, Salamat and Ndjamena. These provinces will allow, on the one hand, the exploitation of synergies and complementarities with the REPER and SD3C projects in the provinces of Hadjer Lamis, Chari-Baguirmi, Salamat and Lac; and on the other hand, the extension of IFAD interventions in the new provinces of Mayo-Kebbi East, Moyen-Chari, Mandoul and Tandjilé, to cover a large part of the central region of Chad and increase the impact.

3 - Goal: The goal of the Project is to contribute to increasing incomes and creating decent jobs for women and youth by strengthening the resilience of inclusive food systems in Chad.

4 - Objectives: The Project's objective is to promote viable and resilient youth and women's businesses, creating jobs and integrated into agropastoral and fisheries value chains in Chad.
5 - Components: The Project includes the following components: Component 1 – Development of profitable and resilient agro-businesses (micro, small and medium), Component 2: Improvement of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for youth and women, and Component 3: Coordination and management.

6 - Component 1: Development of profitable and resilient agro-businesses. Interventions will include: i) information, communication and awareness; ii) accelerating the development of existing micro, small and medium agricultural enterprises; iii) incubation of young agripreneurs; iv) training youth for agricultural jobs and their economic integration; v) development of income-generating activities, vi) adaptation and promotion of innovative digital solutions (e-extension and e-commerce, mobile payment, etc.); vii) development of agricultural digital start-ups.

7 - Within the framework of RENFORT, innovative direct and green financing mechanisms will be established to support and accelerate the development of businesses managed by youth and women. The project will finance the promotion of essential nutrition activities, including: i) production, processing and marketing of high nutritional value foodstuffs; ii) scaling up the local production of complementary foods based on cereals and legumes enriched with spirulina for children; iii) nutritional education campaigns; iv) functional literacy integrating digital solutions for youth and women.

8 - Component 2: Improvement of the agricultural entrepreneurship ecosystem. The entrepreneurial ecosystem will be strengthened by supporting execution and improving regulatory and institutional frameworks that favor youth and women's agricultural entrepreneurship, as well as by financing structural infrastructure related to production, market access, and renewable energies. To address constraints on access to land, water, and production and market access infrastructure, RENFORT will finance: i) investments in favor of land tenure security; ii) hydro-agricultural development of 500 hectares of small market garden areas; iii) fish farms and floating cages; iv) the setting up of four semi-wholesale markets, satellite collection centers, grouping and storage warehouses and market garden product conservation units; iv) the creation and equipping of processing platforms, v) the rehabilitation of 150 kilometers of rural roads serving production basins and facilitating market access.

9 - Component 3 will organize all the operational arrangements planned and detailed in the implementation manual, the administrative, accounting, financial and procurement procedures manual, as well as the monitoring-evaluation, communication and knowledge management manual. It will constitute the reference point for the documentation of results, performance and impact analysis in relation to the project development objective but also in view of the strategic objectives defined in the country strategic note.

Men over 36 years of age, heads of agricultural households, are indirect beneficiaries through their households or as actors in value chains. They will nevertheless be involved in several activities such as (i) negotiations for land tenure security; (ii) key infrastructure (wholesale markets, collection centers, storage facilities, access roads); (iii) improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem; and (iv) deploying digital solutions (e-vouchers, e-extended information, market and climate information systems, etc.). Others will serve as mentors and business coaches for the immersion of young agripreneurs.