Every operation will involve both men and women. Women will be assisted to be able to participate fully through training and provision of micro-credit. As post post-harvest rice losses are a function of complex interactions between men and women farmers on one side and the technologies they employ, on the other, the involvement of both men and women in the sensitive operations will be indicators that gender relations concerns are appropriately addressed.

Great importance will be attributed within this project to information dissemination, communication activities and replication. An integral part of this component is the facilitation of MDA and other community-based organisations' involvement in all project activities which will be achieved through capacity building and dissemination of information on lessons learned and best practices. This sub-component includes activities related to the local project coordination and management, M&E activities and the involvement of stakeholders in project activities and demonstrations. It ensures the effective project implementation and coordination. It includes mechanisms and activities designed to: ? facilitate and foster synergies between the farmers and rice traders and ensure that the MDA partnership as a whole is implemented in parallel; ? MDA will ensure community ownership of the postharvest project implementation processes; ? MDA will ensure practical reforms in participating communities, through the use of existing and well established project structures and mechanisms as well as local knowledge; ? MDA will ensure that a resource mobilization strategy/financing mechanism is developed; ? ensure effective monitoring and evaluation throughout the lifespan of the project; ? strengthen public awareness (with particular emphasis on NGO networks) and support NGO participation in the implementation of the project; ? make use of Information/Communication and Replication Strategies as well as Knowledge Management products to influence policy changes in participating communities.

Improved infrastructure accessible to all will enable us to engage more people in the community and also enable us to engage in inter-regional marketing and product improvement. This will lead to the integration of segmented markets into a large chiefdom or regional level market. If marketing is activated, this in turn will stimulate further innovations in inland valley swamps rice production. We hope to establish a farmers? cooperative as marketing agents, but the cooperative will not be limited to marketing. It will provide a number of services to farmers and rice traders such as exchange of farming knowledge, extension of new technologies and education or officially supported loans.

The project will establish a platform for the rice farming community to access, share, discuss, and update the location specific rice knowledge in local languages! Farmers and rice traders will receive training on many operations including parboiling, drying and determination of moisture contents for both milling and storage of un-milled crop. Farmers will receive assistance in weed management etc. the project will be evaluated based on the objectives and activities implemented but really on the outcomes. The project must change the lives of rural people. The project will reach every farmer and rice traders Reach and involving every single employee by broadcasting information on radio and in regular meetings.