Noting that local demand, beyond basic food needs, was limited and that only exports would allow Zambia to raise the incomes of its rural population, MATEP aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of small- and medium-scale agriculture and natural products producers and processors under Zambia’s 2004-10 Country Strategic Plan. The project sought to achieve a raise in exports93 from a USD 405 million baseline to a USD 600 million target by providing better access to markets, production technologies, finance and business development services (BDS), and through initiatives to improve the enabling environment and reduce barriers to trade and investment. Within this framework, a finance component was established in the form of a USD 2 million investment fund managed by the Zambia Agribusiness Technical Assistance Centre (ZATAC), in order to provide credit for small and medium-sized enterprises and ultimately help those enterprises access formal sector credit. The medium-term facility was designed to promote increased access to commercial financial markets for MATEP clients by transferring both the loan and the risk to commercial lending institutions, such as commercial banks, within the tenure period of the loan.