Dear all,
New input received on topic #4 "How small farms address future challenges”
Q4.2/6 - Question “4.2 To cope with these future challenges, do small farms require new innovations and adaptation techniques? And if so, which?"
There have been some interesting responses to Question 4.2 (To cope with future challenges, do small farms require new innovations and adaptation techniques), but I think it’s important to extend the discussion about
smallholders and innovation to also include a) innovation in policy-making for smallholders, and; b) innovation in the development of alternative business models for smallholder inclusion in value chains.
There are numerous examples and it would be great to hear some practical experiences of what is working well – and also less well.
One approach I’m particularly interested to hear more about is the hybrid concept of ‘Productive Alliances’ that has been promoted by the World Bank in Latin America for linking smallholders, buyers and the public sector
in order to improve smallholder access to major markets.
A Productive Alliance (PA) involves three core agents: 1) a group of smallholder producers; 2) one or more commercial buyers, and; 3) relevant organisations / agencies in the public sector. These three agents are connected
through a joint “Business Plan” which describes: i) the necessary productive investments and infrastructure of the co-operating smallholders; ii) the specific needs of the smallholders for technical assistance and services, and; iii) the specific actions /
business developments that will be implemented to upgrade smallholder productivity and strengthen their skills to build long-term linkages with domestic and export markets.
Within the strategic framework of a Business Plan two types of “productive alliance” can be developed in a complementary way: a) a horizontal alliance among the smallholders, and/or; b) a vertical alliance between the
smallholders and the buyer(s).
The basic concept of the Productive Alliance approach is innovative and simple and goes beyond classical business models to forge a functional partnership between producers, buyers and public agencies with the specific
objective of harmonising public services and commercial interests to improve smallholder productivity and market integration. The key – and distinct – feature of the Productive Alliance is the commitment to channelling available public and private financing
to support the commercial efforts of smallholders.
.. Which is a follow-up on Winnona’s question: "How can farmers address issues of human relationships that impede cooperation? - the need for trust-building and trustworthiness,
care for the common good, justice, transparency, open and fair consultation, etc etc ?
Does lack of addressing these issues stymie the best intentions and progressive initiatives? Are some places finding ways to address this? Is there a success story?”
To which Praveen replied: I also face same problem. Farmer never trust us (“outsiders”). They feel their experience is so elaborate that they know everything around "agricultural knowledge". Timing, cooperation and
sharing resources are very difficult to achieve. We never impart soft skill and knowledge cooperation, in our daily life (so why would we do this in our professional life?).
I do believe within span of 2 to 3 years these skill will be available in each village.
Winnona asks: "How can farmers address issues of human relationships that impede cooperation? - the need for trust-building and trustworthiness, care for the common good, justice, transparency, open and fair consultation, etc etc ?
Does lack of addressing these issues stymie the best intentions and progressive initiatives? Are some places finding ways to address this? Is there a success story?”
To which Paul and Edwin reply: "Thanks for your questions, Winnona. There may be differences around the world or even within the same country how small-scale producers behave, so I am not going to over-generalise. However, I think there must be similarities
between regions, and developing cooperation is certainly going to be a major issue in farmers coming together to solve their problems. In the very rural areas, trust among producers may be high due to the strength of existing relationships between families.
This relationship may be lacking in urban areas where producers may come from different ethnic background or level of knowledge may be quite divergent.
This is where sociologists need to be involved and most government departments of agriculture or rural development would have such specialists. Yes, there are success stories, reading the response to the other topics. In Nigeria, for example, there is
a government/farmer project called Fadama (coined from areas that hold water and forage longer into the dry season). The Fadama project brings farmers (mostly crop producers) together, in order to facilitate government support. Such farmers may not necessarily
produce together but it an avenue for sharing information and possibly creation of cooperative farming and/or learning from one another. To the best of my knowledge, the process has not extended to the area of poultry production but that sector can certainly
learn from the crop producers. It would be easy for animal producers to operate as cooperative but from different production sites. There is certainly a need to develop trust and clearly define the roles of members (to avoid the starvation of the proverbial
public cow). Overall, I think government support of the development of these structures will be important. In other areas, it may just be enough for enlightened producers to initiate the network."
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