This project, sponsored by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock, was launched in July, 2008 for implementation in 26 districts nationwide. The project particularly focuses at a) increasing agricultural productivity b) augmenting food security through sustainable livelihood programmes c) reducing poverty levels through expanded farm and non-farm activities d) empowering small farmers through the establishment of self-managed VOs backed by appropriate laws and regulations that would enable them to manage their resources efficiently and e) building sustainable financial mechanisms to channel small farmers own resources as well as external investment into the small farmers agricultural sub-sector. Implementation of the social mobilization component of this project (i.e. formation of Farmer Associations (FAs) and Cooperative Village Organizations (CVOs)) has been undertaken by RSPN in partnership with 6 member RSPs under a contract with MINFAL. PRSP has been subcontracted the implementation of this component in 358 villages of Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Sialkot districts as identified by MINFAL. This intervention has been planned for four years (from 2008 to 2012) at a total of cost of Rs.118.202 million. For implementation purposes, a Project Support Unit (PSU) has been set up in Lahore by PRSP along with 10 Social Mobilization Units (SMUs) (2 in each project district) in 2008. The Regional General Managers and District Managers are responsible for supervising the SMUs that overlook the formation of FAs, VOs and assist in the VOs’ registration as CVOs. The SMUs are also responsible for the provision of CMST and Revolving Fund Management Training (RFMT) to the FAs and CVOs. In addition, the Programme also monitors the revolving fund of each CVO.