Linking Smallholder Farmers to Growth

MarketsInter-regional design workshop

for a Global Partnership Programme

11-15 September 2006Cairo, Egypt

A sense of history …

• Where did your road to Cairo start?

Questions I want to try and answer

• What is GFAR?• What is a Global Partnership

Programme (GPP)?• How has the Linking Farmers to

Markets initiative evolved?• The principles, potential products,

and governance of a GPP

What is the Global Forum on Agricultural Research?

• Multi-stakeholder platform

• Agricultural Research for Development• Poverty, food security and environmental

degradation

FORAGROFORAGROThe AmericasThe Americas

FARAFARASub-Sahara AfricaSub-Sahara Africa

APAARIAPAARIAsia-Pacific Asia-Pacific

AARINENAAARINENANear East and North AfricaNear East and North AfricaEFARDEFARD

EuropeEuropeCACAARICACAARI

Central Asia and the CaucasusCentral Asia and the Caucasus

What is the Global Forum on Agricultural Research?

Why Global Partnership Programmes?

• Complexity of the challenges that we face in achieving multiple objectives of agricultural and rural development

• The need for systems perspectives to problem solving

• The recognition that no one institution or organization has all the skills or capacity to achieve the impact required

• Globalization provides us with opportunities for exchanging information, sharing experiences and accelerating processes of co-innovation

What is a Global Partnership Programme?

• Development-oriented collaborative efforts • Address strategic agricultural research for

development issues of global relevance• Build on and add value to on-going activities at

different levels (local, national, global)• Jointly developed, carried out and owned by a

set of diverse stakeholders• Are a priority for two or more of GFAR’s regions

A GFAR mechanism to promote and learn about building and sustaining multi-stakeholder partnerships

The strategic issue: How to link smallholder

farmers to growth markets?

• Smallholder farmers need to produce food and generate income

• Rapidly changing market environment – new opportunities, many obstacles

Source: Practical Action

From Consultations to a “Global Partnership Programme”

• 2001-2002: Regional consultations on post-harvest technology and marketing – FAO-GFAR

• 2003 October: Global Strategic Framework, Rome – FAO-GFAR-PhAction

• 2004 December: Regional Forums recommend exploration of GPP

• 2005 December: GFAR Steering Committee request GPP formulation

Exploration of common areas of interest

• Asia-Pacific– Expert consultation.

Dec. 2004

• W. and N. Africa– Workshop. March

2005

• L. America– Conference. April

2005

• Africa– General Assembly.

June 2005

• High Value Products– Workshop. Oct 2005

Asia-Pacific: APAARIAsia-Pacific: APAARI

W. Asia & N. Africa: AARINENAW. Asia & N. Africa: AARINENA

Common cross-regional issues

• Self-sufficient, subsistence farming or the ‘family agriculture’ sector not adequately supported by R&D

• Market orientation and access is vital for income generation and resource conservation

• Adding value, differentiation and diversification are important strategies

• Demand-oriented extension and market facilitation services lacking

• Biophysical and post-production research has to become more market and enterprise oriented

• Engagement and partnership with the private sector is key

Small-scale farmersorganised and fullyintegrated into a

supply chain

Small-scale farmersorganised,

adding value and diversifying products

Moving from subsistence to greater commercial orientation

Small-scale farmers organised to sell

product collectively

Early stage

Developing

Mature

Individualsmall-scale farmers

selling surplus into market

Landlessand

otherswith few capitalassets

Subsistence

Sale of labour or provision of services

Access to markets and technology

Level of organization

We are not starting from zero

• Many experiences to build on

• We know what needs to be done

• How do we move from islands of success to ‘oceans of impact’?

Lishe Trust, Lushoto, Tanzania

Cassava drying cooperatives, Colombia

Developing regional proposals – the ad hoc working groups

• February – WANA in Al Ain

• June – Asia-Pacific in Bangkok

• July – Sub-Saharan Africa in Nairobi

• July-August – Latin America through e-dialogue

Al Ain 02-06

Bangkok 06-06

What are our challenges this week?

• Identify common cross-continent opportunities and constraints that can be better tackled in partnership

• Develop a vision of the future and the GPP’s specific contribution to achieving this vision

• Define strategic areas of intervention where learning, sharing and working together will make us more effective

• Develop a well focused and concrete GPP proposal that is convincing and doable

Building partnerships is not easy

• Belief• Commitment• Passion

They require:

Basics principles of Linking Farmers to Markets GPP

• Beneficiaries• Partnership• Involvement and

ownership of stakeholders

• Complementarity• Adding value• Execution at the

appropriate level Harvesting watercress in Vietnam

We have building blocks• Much experience and many ‘islands of

success’• Other important regional/global initiatives:

– Research • Regoverning Markets• Empowering Producers in Markets: IFAP-ECART-IFAD• Making Markets Work Better for the Poor: DFID• Linking Smallholders to High-Value Markets: Univ.

Guelph and World Bank

– Partnerships• Global Horticultural Initiative• Other GPP – PROLINNOVA, Underutilized Species, Non

Timber Forest Products• Global and regional ARD information systems (RAIS)

– Development programmes/projects• World Bank, IFAD and other loan agency projects on

value chains• Gates Foundation programme on value chains

What are the potential products of the

programme?• Information for better decision

making• Good practice guides and tools• Better partnership processesBetter partnership processes• Capacity built of farmers,

development facilitators, researchers• Policy options for governments and

the private sector

Basic elements of the Global Linking Farmers to Markets

Partnership Programme

• Participation of Asia-Pacific, WANA, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

• A time horizon of at least 10 years

• Governance– Global and/or regional steering

groups

– International support team of 3-4 institutions

2006 – a key year

Establishment of governance

mechanism and initial activities

Further exploration with

donors

Identification of international support team

members

Submission to Program and

Steering Committees of

GFARDecember 2006

Project formulation workshop

September 2006

Establishment of ad hoc working

groups

Seed resources

Expressed donor interest

• DFID – CSOs and farmer empowerment to engage in markets

• IFAD – partnerships among supply chain actors and among service providers

• CIDA – linking farmers with the private sector

• Italy – small and medium rural enterprises

• Rockefeller – competitive grants for linking farmers to markets (Africa)

Comparison matrix

Africa Asia-PacificWest Asia and North Africa

Latin America and Caribbean

Policy development Policy instruments for promoting linkage of family farming with markets.

Learning alliances on best practices for integrating farmers into value chains

Competitive and equitable supply chains – organic focus

Utilization and enhancement of organic agriculture

Institutional strengthening & capacity building

Market orientation for the commodity networks

Greater capacity for innovation in peasant farming oriented towards improving market access

Fostering networks and information

Market oriented private extension services

Pilot innovation extension and technology transfer

Market information and linkage services

Better understanding of national and international markets and greater access of peasant economy products to those markets