Examining Privately-led Extension Approaches Targeting Smallholder Farmers in Developing Countries:...

Examining Privately-‐led Extension Approaches Targe9ng Smallholder Farmers in Developing

Countries: Preliminary Findings* Miguel I. Gómez, Cornell University

Benjamin Mueller, University of Illinois Mary Kate Wheeler, Cornell University

A Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services Event Washington D.C., June 2 2015

* The authors are grateful to Romane Viennet, Maria Jones, Oliver Ferguson, Cayla Mar>n, Andrea Bohn, and Paul McNamara for their valuable contribu>on to this work.

Outline

1.  Context and justification

2.  Research Approach

3.  Preliminary results

4.  Key takeaways and questions

•  Rapid transformation in agri-food industries has generated global supply chains capable of linking small farmers in to high value markets (Reardon et al. 2009)

•  Declining role of public programs to support small farmers

through research and extension (Anderson and Feder 2004) •  Public, private and civil society actors share an interest in

understanding how global changes in food value chains and public services affect smallholder farmers (Gomez et al. 2011)

Context

Context: Dynamic forces shape the provision of extension services:

New extension arrangements, delivery modes and services

New agri-food supply chains can link small

farmers to high value markets

Reduced funding and political

have weakened public extension

systems

Evolving definition of

“extension and advisory services"

Rising consumer demand for food

safety, quality and traceability

Motivation

•  Over 400 million farmers operate on less that 2 hectares of land (Nagayets 2005)

•  Almost 75% of the world's poor are subsistence farmers (Huivo, Kola and Lundström 2005)

•  Smallholder agricultural systems are increasingly managed by women (Saito et al. 1994)

•  Agriculture is "a driver of growth and poverty reduction” in rural areas (World Bank 2007)

•  Modern value chains offer opportunities to meet consumer demand while addressing development goals (Reardon et al. 2009)

Critical Questions

§  Can private sector activities in developing countries reduce poverty and food insecurity by improving conditions for small farmers?

§  How do new arrangements involving the private sector influence provision of information and advisory services to small farmers?

§  How might partnerships among public, private and civil society actors support private sector engagement with small farmers while ensuring that development objectives are realized for all?

1.  Characterize emerging extension models led by private organizations, including their objectives, strategies, tactics, and outcomes.

2.  Use the findings to identify important features of successful extension programs that involve both private sector actors and small farmers.

Research Objectives

Contribution

Previous conceptual work has focused on: •  Extension as a public vs. private good •  Changing role of government in supporting extension •  Private company motivations to engage with small

farmers

Case studies document successes/challenges to privately-led extension programs Our empirical approach complements previous work by comparing private sector extension models across regions and sectors

Methodology

Survey Design Implementation

•  Contacted over 400 organizations by email

•  Posted announcements on MEAS and GFRAS websites

•  Analysis based on 78 completed

surveys

•  Received 101 completed surveys to date

Survey Components: 1.  Organizational structure

2.  Partnership arrangements

3.  Extension activities

4.  Extension educator training

5.  Objectives & outcomes

6.  Open-ended questions: •  Mission statement •  Keys to success •  Barriers to success •  Future opportunities •  Financial sustainability •  Scaling up

Results: Organizational Characteristics

45%

37%

7%

5% 5%

1%

Organiza9onal Type Private Business

Non-‐profit Organiza9on

Farmer Based Organiza9on

Social Enterprise

Research Ins9tu9on

Public Organiza9on

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Africa Asia & Pacific Islands

La9n America & Caribbean

Organiza9onal Type by Region


28%

47%

25%

Organiza9onal Scope

Sub-‐na9onal

Na9onal

Interna9onal 0

5

10

15

20

25



Organiza9onal Scope by Region


0

5

10

15

20

25



Value Chain Role by Region

13%

21%

30%

36%

Value Chain Role Upstream: supplier to farmers

Downstream: buyer of farm products

Both upstream and downstream

Suport: provider of other services

Results: Partnership Arrangements

Yes 69%

No 31%

Public Private Partnership (PPP)

0

10

20

30

40

50



PPP by Region

Yes No

Public

NGO FBO

Private (For Profit)

2

3 11

20

2 4

1 8

4 2 1


Institutional Arrangements for Implementation §  No examples of shared

public-private implementation without NGO or FBO involvement.

§  High representation of private-only implementation strategies

§  High heterogeneity in implementation strategies


Institutional Arrangements for Funding Public

NGO FBO or Farmer Fees

Private (For Profit)

5

3 9

12

2 8

7 6

12 2 3 3

§  More public-private collaboration on funding compared to implementation

§  About half of partnerships are completely funded by private sector

Results: Extension Activities

-‐ 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000

Africa


Asia & Pacific Islands

# Farmers

Total Extension Reach


0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

printed handouts

moble phones (tex9ng, apps)

radio

print media (newspaper, magazine)

internet (blogs, websites)

email

television

social media

Prevalence of Communica9on Technologies

Results: Extension Educator Training

Educa-on Level 1 = Primary School 2 = Secondary School 3 = Technical/Voca9onal 4 = College 5 = Graduate School

1

2

3

4

5



Educa-

on Level

Average Educa9on Level by Region


Training Frequency 1 = Rarely 2 = Annually 3 = Monthly 4 = Biweekly 5 = Weekly

1

2

3

4

5



Training Frequ

ency

Average Training Frequency by Region


1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

agronomy & produc9on

communica9on and adult educa9on

sustainable agriculture & natural resource management

community organizing

business management & entrepreneurism

working with marginalized groups

research skills

Average Importance of Extension Educator Skills 1 = low; 2 = medium; 3 = high

Results: Evaluation & Outcomes

45%

44%

5% 6%

Internal vs External Evalua-on

programs are evaluated internally both internal and external

programs are evaluated externally other

29%

21%

50%

Evalua-on Process

formal evalua9on process

informal evalua9on process

both formal and informal

92% of respondents indicate that evalua9on includes farmer feedback


1 2 3 4 5

increase produc9vity

reliable supply of agricultural product

increase product quality

increase market access for farmers

promote technology adop9on

improve quality of life for farmers

improve farm business management

improvements for marginalized groups

reduce poverty

Average Performance Scores by Region 1 = poor; 5 = excellent

Africa

Asia & Pacific Islands La9n America & Caribbean


1 2 3 4 5

increase produc9vity

reliable supply of agricultural product

increase product quality

increase market access for farmers

promote technology adop9on

improve quality of life for farmers

improve farm business management

improvements for marginalized groups

reduce poverty

Average Performance Scores by Organiza-onal Type (1 = poor; 5 = excellent)

Private Business or Social Enterprise

NGO or FBO

Results: Preliminary Observations from Econometric Models Associa9on between Extensions Tac9cs and Outcomes

Type of Outcome Extension Tac-cs

Increased produc9vity Financial services (++); farmer-‐to-‐buyer networking (+)

Improved product quality Financial services (++); farmer-‐to-‐buyer networking (++); business development (+); informa9on and communica9on technologies (+)

Increased market access Financial services (++); strengthen producer groups (+)

Improved livelihoods ?

Alleviate poverty Farmer field schools (+)

Improve env. management Demonstra9on plots (+); farmer field schools (+)

Build management capacity Lead farmer approach (+)

Results: Extension Mission Common Elements:

• Market access: commercialization, farm business management

• Productivity: technical assistance, traditional extension approaches

• Social objectives: health & safety, food security & nutrition, prevent child labor

• Environmental objectives: sustainable natural resource management

• Innovation: technology transfer, applied research, ICTs

• Collaboration: PPPs, organizational development, farmer cooperatives

Results: Extension Mission Common Elements:

• Market access: commercialization, farm business management

• Productivity: technical assistance, traditional extension approaches

• Social objectives: health & safety, food security & nutrition, prevent child labor

• Environmental objectives: sustainable natural resource management

• Innovation: technology transfer, applied research, ICTs

• Collaboration: PPPs, organizational development, farmer cooperatives

Most extension efforts have multiple, overlapping objectives

Results: Keys to Success #1: Participatory & Contextual Approach

•  Builds trust and long-term relationships with farmers

•  Responsive to local conditions and farmer concerns

•  Develops long-term institutional partnerships

•  Emphasizes local staffing

•  Encourages two-way knowledge sharing

Results: Keys to Success #1: Participatory & Contextual Approach

•  Builds trust and long-term relationships with farmers

•  Responsive to local conditions and farmer concerns

•  Develops long-term institutional partnerships

•  Emphasizes local staffing

•  Encourages two-way knowledge sharing

“There is not any extension model that we can transfer from somewhere else. We should develop the model according to the social, institutional,

technical, economic, infrastructure, etc. situation of the region. We should try to use resources of the region as much as possible but in an effective

way. Participation, transparency at all levels.”

Results: Other Keys to Success

•  Technical assistance is embedded in the structure of the supply chain

•  Extension activities use existing nodes of connection and communication channels to reach farmers

•  Extension arrangements go beyond a single cash crop to support holistic farm management and opportunities for diversified production

•  Integrated extension activities address challenges along the entire value chain

•  Consistent metrics and methods for evaluating success are shared across organizations, sectors and industries

Results: Barriers to Success

Top 3 Reported Barriers

1. Lack of financial resources

2.  Inadequate extension coverage

3. Low literacy and education levels among farmers

Results: Barriers to Success

Top 3 Reported Barriers

1. Lack of financial resources

2.  Inadequate extension coverage

3. Low literacy and education levels among farmers

“We in the past had support from various international donors, but these programs only run for about three years, and then it stops. And

that is the main challenge that we have. You cannot switch development on and off like a switch. So we need longer-term

partnerships and financial support from other role players.”

Results: Other Barriers to Success

•  Lacking coordination: duplication of efforts, poor communication, conflicts between public and private organizations

•  Extension is overextended with too many responsibilities

•  Land tenure issues

•  Gender bias against women

•  Approaches that exclude the poorest farmers

•  Corruption/bad business practices

Results: Future Opportunities

Nodes of Connection •  Existing nodes of connection can be leveraged to reach farmers •  Extension activities can provide information (market intelligence)

about the needs of small farmers to private suppliers •  Private suppliers can use CRM processes to gather metrics for

tracking extension success Other Reported Opportunities

•  Modern communication technologies •  Local processing, value-added products •  Better metrics and tracking

Key Takeaways

Multifaceted nature of extension •  Multiple objectives and multiple approaches are

common, regardless of region or organizational type

Extension priorities •  Production-oriented goals tend to be prioritized (e.g.

productivity, supply reliability Institutional arrangements

•  Heterogeneous arrangements for funding and implementation include single-actor and multi-actor models

•  More public-private collaboration in funding than in implementation

Self-assessment of outcomes •  More progress toward achieving farm-level goals

related to production and market access •  Less progress toward achieving social (e.g. poverty

alleviation) or environmental goals •  More progress in Asia and the pacific than in Africa and

Latin America

Extensions tactics and keys to success •  Provision of financial services appear to substantially

advance several goals •  Participatory approaches are mentioned as key to

success, but showed limited impact on outcomes

Key Takeaways

Thank you for your amen9on! Ques9ons? Comments?

Miguel I. Gómez ([email protected])

Benjamin Mueller ([email protected])

Examining Privately-led Extension Approaches Targeting Smallholder Farmers in Developing Countries:...

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