MBABANE – The Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise on Monday, March 2, 2026, announced the rollout of a nationwide series of community leadership sensitisation meetings under the Smallholder Agriculture Productivity Enhancement and Market Access Project.
The programme, known as SAPEMP, is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development and is targeting selected Inkhundla and Imimphakatsi across the country’s four regions.
According to EWADE, the meetings are aimed at introducing SAPEMP to local leadership structures while strengthening stakeholder ownership at grassroots level before the full project rollout begins.
The project team expressed appreciation to community leadership and clarified that SAPEMP is a Government of Eswatini initiative implemented by EWADE with support from IFAD, the Green Climate Fund and other partners. Communities were briefed that SAPEMP is an eight year programme from 2025 to 2032 designed to address persistent agricultural constraints including low productivity, high post harvest losses, heavy food import dependence, climate vulnerability and environmental degradation.
Officials outlined that the project seeks to contribute to the sustainable reduction of rural poverty. Its objective is to increase smallholder production, improve household nutrition and boost incomes while building climate resilience through improved production systems, stronger market access and enhanced institutional service delivery.
Three main components of the programme were presented to community leaders. These include Production and Climate Resilience, Market Access and Finance, and Project Management. The target beneficiary groups were also detailed, among them production oriented farmers, near poor households, environmentally vulnerable households, poor households and youth entrepreneurs.
Community leaders across the regions welcomed the initiative and acknowledged their role in mobilising farmers, supporting inclusive participation, ensuring transparency and helping to resolve issues at community level.
EWADE said the engagements have strengthened stakeholder understanding of SAPEMP’s scope, financing and implementation approach, laying the groundwork for beneficiary identification and the subsequent rollout of the project in rural communities.
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