Programme development, funding and implementation for the largest British organisation supporting disability, Leonard Cheshire. Its income of £155m supports programmes in the UK and 55 other countries.The programme helped businesses, led by disabled people in London, survive difficult trading conditions, improve their financial health, prepare for and achieve business expansion mentored by a small team of specialist Business Advisers. Also development of strategy for national implementation.

Programme development for Cranfield School of Management. Developing Terms of Reference and funding proposals for feasibility studies and training programmes, including brokerage of expertise to assist UK and multi-national companies (various sectors: agricultural engineering, marine engineering, renewable energy, textiles, civil engineering, catering &c) expand internationally (various countries: Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, India, South Africa) through joint ventures. Successful sourcing of European Union £10m+ funding (ECIP, JOPP, JEV, TACIS) through EC Accredited Financial Intermediaries in the UK and Europe.

IDG’s agricultural economist, Dr Lawrence McCrystal, was one of the founders of the Africa Co-operative Action Trust (ACAT) over 20 years ago which has the vision of assisting the people of Africa to achieve self-sustainability of which food security would be one of the outcomes. The focus is the rural indigent/disabled (often as a result of HIV/AIDS) poor. The models developed have included elementary agricultural training, micro-lending, small-scale agricultural input supplies, people- orientated leadership and skills training and mentoring, and establishing of area co-operative leadership groups to oversee the continuation of the work through locally developed and trained leadership. The models are now in operation in various parts of South Africa, Swaziland, Burundi with new operations recently started in Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Uganda.
People come from all over Africa to the courses that ACAT conducts in KwaZulu-Natal and its training materials are widely used, including in peri-urban areas.
In addition, in his consulting work and the agricultural development company, Agrifica, there have been, over the past 12 years, many involvements at various levels with many African countries.

An ongoing Pro-Rural Poor Programme to assist the rural population towards sustainable livelihoods and, in so doing, to escape poverty. The programme includes training and mentoring in entrepreneur development, sustainable agriculture, healthy living, setting up community development structures as well as adult basic education and training modules.

Outside South Africa a partnership model is adopted, in co-operation with groups in each country, to roll out the programme, with support from the South African operation.

Funding for Pro- Rural Poor Programmes varies from country-to-country and includes:

• Body Alive Ministries International
• Tear Fund (UK and Netherlands)
• Anglo American Corporation
• Wesbank (South African)
• Van Den Heerik
• Empower Global
• EED (Germany)

Initiated and managed small-scale farmer co-operative programmes in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and started the mapping of the Zambezi river basin in Mozambique with a view to small-scale farmer settlements with a subsidiary of Field Industries, a South African company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

In Benue State, Agrifica initiated a commercial farming enterprise used as a base both for commercial and demonstration purposes. The object with the latter was to demonstrate and train/mentor surrounding small scale farmers on how to grow crops using appropriate technologies so that they could not only feed their families (vegetables, fruit, etc) but have surplus crops to sell. In this case the commercial crops included soyabeans as there was an oil mill nearby.
This model was also adopted in Ondo State and other areas.

A training programme introducing soya cultivation for small-scale farmers.

Assisting an Irish manufacturer to set up an evaporative air conditioning equipment production facility.

Assisting a Cameroon company to produce an expansion plan based on technical innovation for its ICT operation in sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Malawi, Tanzania).

Assisting a British agronomy company to establish a farm to cultivate vegetables under centre-pivot irrigation for the first time in Gambia. Project management including identification of suitable land and farmer, negotiation of rent, assessment of business model and development of marketing strategy

A fruit farming project, including small-scale plot dwellers, initiated by Agrifica.

Hotel development project was widened to include supplies to the hotel by small- scale producers who were to be trained/mentored into the supply chain.

Assisting Kenyan farmers to diversify and re-finance. Persistent adverse fluctuations in commodity prices (wheat and maize) precipitated need to diversify. Initial feasibility study of charcoal substitution using compacted Boma Rhodes grass. Finding: not feasible. Re-financing project culminated in successful proposal to East African Development Bank for $500,000 loan. Feasibility study of farm scale biodiesel production to achieve fuel independence. Finding: feasible.

A project for the European Commission to support to a grain farm located in Western Kenya. To maintain profitability, the farm has developed the production of new cereals and has built a bio-fuel production unit, to ensure its self-sufficiency in fuel. Surplus cereal production is re-sold on the local market. This exemplary success could be reproduced locally or within the region, for obvious reasons of energy economy, in countries that do not have their own energy resources. The intervention took place in the context of a steep hike of fuel prices. Support consisted in funding a feasibility study for the production of bio-fuel at the scale of an individual farm. The study identified potential investments in Canola production, on land unsuited for staple food production.

A project for the European Commission to enhance the capacity of Intermediary Organisations in the agriculture sectors of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to improve the competitiveness and the international recognition of the products of farmers. The objective is to so capacitate the selected IOs that they in turn can help their farming and agribusiness members to become sustainably competitive in their domestic and international markets, in terms of productivity, quality, pricing and marketing.

People from Liberia attended an ACAT training course in South Africa and on their return to Liberia, implemented what they had learnt regarding sustainability as people and in respect of food production. A follow-up visit was made to assist them, as well as continuing use of ACAT’s training materials and other contacts.

A dairy project in which economic-sized dairy units were allocated to emerging farmers with oversight, processing of the milk and marketing by a central business unit.

Assisting an Irish manufacturer to set up a sugar cane trailer production facility. Project management including identification of local partners and suitable land for factory, negotiation of rent, facilitation of joint venture agreement and incorporation of joint venture company, appraisal of professional advisers (accountant, lawyer etc), assessment of business model and development of marketing strategy

A programme supported by the Tanzania Investment Bank and private funding to upgrade the quality of the cattle herd, ranching, abattoir and feed crops of the small-scale farmers. In the process of being set up.

An integrated cattle ranching, feed crop growing, abattoir and marketing project, supported by Zambian banks and private funding, is in the planning stage. The upliftment of surrounding small-scale farmers to economic viability will be included.

Strategic marketing study for Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation on development of services to members including appraisal of sector priorities in member countries and identification of development initiatives and potential co-financing sources

Senior business adviser providing support to London businesses opening subsidiaries and establishing trade in agriculture, technology and media in China 2006-present

Consultancy to VIET DELTA GAP programme 2011-12 on crop quality assurance, international trade and enterprise

Consultancy to the Asian Development Bank’s CENTRAL MEKONG DELTA CONNECTIVITY project 2011-12 on integration of regional development and enterprise priorities

Consultancy to Vietnamese investors on in-country investment in growth sectors including agriculture.

2005-8 Advisor to Mekong Delta Development agencies 2009-11, including agricultural quality assurance, enterprise training and business links between small farmers, food processing and forestry SMEs in Vietnam and the diaspora in Prague and London

Team leader and senior business advisor for EU/VIETNAM CREATIVE AND IT TRADE AND INVESTMENT FAIR in Ho Chi Minh City April 2006

Consultancy for linked enterprise training of Vietnamese rural and urban SMEs in association with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry through EU ASIA INVEST

Senior business adviser on a range of UKTI international trade with Vietnam and China advisory services 2005-8 including capacity development for in-country suppliers LONDON-VIETNAM BROKERAGE SERVICE developing supply and value chains linking London food wholesalers and retailers, and furniture and textile designers, with agricultural and craft SMEs in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Regional development initiatives for the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organisations (CANTO). Tasks: management of two projects – the development of a regional web portal for the Association; the conduct of a regional radio spectrum management study – involving project planning; liaison with the regional inter-governmental body, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union to develop the framework for a collaboration with CANTO on the latter project.

An ongoing Pro- Rural Poor Programme to assist the rural population towards sustainable livelihoods and, in so doing, to escape poverty. The programme includes training and mentoring in entrepreneur development, sustainable agriculture, healthy living, setting up community development structures as well as adult basic education and training modules.