The Ministry of Agricultural Development (Government of Nepal) is implementing the Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade (PACT) with assistance from the World Bank Group. Initiated in 2009, it aims to improve the competitiveness of smallholder farmers and agribusiness within selected commodity value chains. It does this through provision of a Competitive Matching Grants Scheme (CMGS). Athena is conducting an independent assessment of the grant matching scheme with the objective of identifying strengths, gaps and inefficiencies of the current structure. It will also assess the operations and include a thorough assessment of various components of CMGS. This includes beneficiary selection, grant allocation and disbursement processes. Athena's approach also encompasses a structural and portfolio analysis of the CMGS support sub-projects based on primary data. Finally, it will assess the drivers and incentive mechanisms of key ecosystem stakeholders.