Post on 17-Jan-2016
Securing livelihoods, land and natural resource rights through partnerships between small-scale farmers and outside investors: Lessons from IFAD
Steven Jonckheere
International Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentLand and Poverty Conference, World Bank, March 2014
Context
Renewed interest in
agricultural investment
Large-scale acquisitions of
farmland
Polarised debates about “land grabbing”
Alternative ways of structuring agricultural
investments
IFAD and agricultural investments
• Identifying private-sector models that strengthen land and natural resource rights and boost agricultural development & introducing project models with private-sector investment
• Key principles:- Smallholder family agriculture is a business- Overcoming gender inequalities and empowering
women- Land is fundamental to the lives of poor rural people- Deepening engagement with the private sector
Assessing value sharing
• Economic viability is a precondition for agricultural investments to benefit the local population
• Focus on the way in which business models share value between the business partners
• Four closely interlinked criteria
Value sharing
Ownership
Voice
Risk
Reward
Examples from IFAD supported projects
Swaziland – Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project
Business model
- Sugar cane- Nucleus estate & contract farming- Smallholders, Ubombo Mill & Government
Ownership - Ubombo (nucleus, shares)- Smallholders (land sharing, farmer companies)
Voice - National (SSA)- Mill (mill group committee)- Farm (farmer company)
Risk - Smallholder (production, rejection, price)- Ubombo (marketing, price)
Reward - Smallholder (income,services, food security, paid jobs)- Ubombo (supply, sales, co-investment)
São Tomé & Principe - Participatory Smallholder Agriculture and Artisanal Fisheries Development Programme
Business model
- Organic and fair-trade cocoa- Contract farming- Smallholders, Kaoka, CaféDirect & Government
Ownership - Smallholders (land distribution, cooperatives)- Companies
Voice - Associations and cooperatives- Forum for community needs
Risk - Smallholder (production, rejection, post-harvest)- Companies (quantity, quality, market)
Reward - Smallholder (sole buyer, income, services, self-esteem)- Companies (supply, sales)
Lessons learned
• No single model emerges as the best possible option• Willingness of the company to engage with more
inclusive business models as a genuine economic component of their business
• Negotiating power of smallholders- Security of local land rights (engaged in agriculture production
directly/agricultural production carried out by agribusiness)
• Smallholders’ access to information• Monitor impact at household level• IFAD’s role
- Act as broker and facilitator- Strengthen the capacity of host governments and smallholder
groups to negotiate and manage contracts with agribusiness- Policy dialogue and knowledge sharing