Hi everyone,
While we're getting A LOT of input on the e-conference, one specific topic receives less attention than the others - Topic #5 on food businesses.
So, as we’re going into the last days of the e-conference, could I kindly ask you for your focus on:
Topic #5: "The importance of food businesses to small farms"
From my own perspective, at particular important topic, as I have seen how food businesses (either in the input - selling to farmers, on the production - such as mechanical services - or on the output - buy from farmers,
re-sellers, transporters, processors,..) are often what makes the different between “subsistence farming” and “farming, as a business, generating extra income for the farmers”…
There are the two questions on this topic:
5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses.
5.2. Do food businesses in your region play an important role within the food system? How? Please provide specific examples.
To help you, here is the input we have received this far on this topic (and further down, you can find the input from the SALSA team):
Q5.1/1 and Q5.1/2 - Input on “Question 5.1: What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food
businesses.”
In the northern Tanzania entrepreneurs have taken advantage of farmers produce and added value after-sales in local markets or export to neighbouring countries.
Banana, vegetables, maize, potatoes, rice are the main crops transformed into food. Farms' production depending on the strength of farmers, ability to produce and availability of resources to produce them. In my region,
sales of vegetables, maize, bananas, cassava/ cassava flour and potatoes is considered as small businesses. These can be found in streets of the town, small markets and farmers markets.
I (relate) small food businesses (also to the) collection of various crop mostly consumed, whether with value added or with no value added (services).
(It may also include also) food that (people) make in (their) own kitchen and sell it in small markets, restaurants, (on the road or via other means such as) mobile (sales points) such as bike, bicycles, or even in farmers
markets.
There is growing trend of vertical cooperation, wherein, the processors, retailers and exporters are helping farmers grow food and other cash crops of required quality, often supporting small farmers with technical know-how,
inputs and infrastructure.
Recently we visited an entrepreneur in North Indian state (Uttar Pradesh), who was supporting a group of about 2000 small scale farmers growing mint crop as certified organic for export of organic mint oil to US & EU. These
farmers were also producing cereals & pulses organically to be procured by him. It is just because of the support from this entrepreneur, they could convert to organic production & earn price premiums.
The vertical cooperation appears to increase in future to meet the requirements of market especially on quality front. India has the largest number of organic producers in the world, who are basically small scale producers. Most of their organic products
are put into organic value chains by entrepreurs and exporters. India's export of organic products worth about 300 Million USD (http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/organic/Organic_Products.htm)
has been contributed by mostly small scale producers.
Also, in domestic markets, Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of organic certification is promoting cooperation among farmers. The PGS certification is being promoted by Indian Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare among the clusters or groups
of farmers. The organic food production is paving the way for both vertical and horizontal cooperation.
A large majority of small farmers are actually informal family businesses. They are farm businesses with all kinds of agricultural activities (including arboriculture, livestock - sheep, goats, cows, but all in smaller
amounts). The problem these business have, is the lack of a commercial license (“Patente”). On the other hand, as they also represent smaller commercial activities (and smaller business figures), they are exempted from taxes.
These “small businesses” are defined by specific criteria (business turn-over, number of people employed,..). Many of these small farm business are family-run with workers not being paid an actual wage (as they are family
members).
I am Solange Umutoni, a masters candidate in science of Agriculture and Applied economics. I am from Rwanda.
What I call "small food businesses" are businesses retailing processed commodities, selling food products directly from the farm at the market and restaurants services without food complex processing industries.
Here in Rwanda, the food market includes what is being grown locally and some imported commodities. The locally grown commodities are Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, rice, beans, various vegetables (Cabbages, green beans, red and green pepper,
carrots, …..), various fruits( tomarilo, passion fruits, mangoes, avocadoes, pineapples,…..) and cash crops (tea, coffee and pyrethrum).
5.2/1 - Question: “5.2. Do food businesses in your region play an important role within the food system? How? Please provide specific examples.
Yes, (in Morocco), food businesses play a strategic role in the food system:
- Collection of produce e.g. collection of milk, argan oil or olive oil from small farmers, and the redistribution/resale of these products
- A lot of food businesses are organized in cooperatives, where e.g. producer groups can work together, to decide on markets and prices.
From Eliot Gee, writing on behalf of the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project (BFN), from Bioversity International HQ in Rome. (
http://www.b4fn.org )
Our project (BFN) works with local producers in Brazil, Kenya, Turkey, and Sri Lanka to promote cultivation and consumption of indigenous species. Many farmers face difficulty receiving a fair price for their crops and have only limited access to the market.
However, there has been considerable success connecting schools, hospitals, social programs, and other organizations with local procurers to provide a fair price and reduce the costs of shipping and storage. Below are two examples of small business strategies:
For Kenyan farmers in Busia County, Home Grown School Feeding has been particularly effective at granting a fair price for leafy vegetables (in fact cutting procurement costs for the school as well) with the added benefit of supplying fresh and healthy
meals for students (nutrition analysis has demonstrated the higher benefits of many indigenous crops such as bambara nut or finger millet).
In Sri Lanka, women have initiated a market outlet business called “Hela Bojun” which empowers them as primary breadwinners for their families while sharing traditional cooking techniques (it is also popular on TripAdvisor).
These different approaches to sustainable value chains keep produce within the local economy and help with conservation efforts, invigorating communities at multiple levels. A challenge is building capacity at the wider regional and national level through
policy that explicitly recognizes the value of these initiatives and supports futher market opportunities or partnerships with social programs and other vulnerable populations.
The importance of food businesses for small farmers, is that enable a direct sales from the farmer to the buyer. The farmers have a direct hand in the price negotiation and the farmer
can seek for a market of the produce, before the actual harvest. This ensures that there will be no losses because of the perishability of the produce.
IF IT CAN HELP - here is the input from the SALSA team on this topic (Excerpt from the background document):
Topic #5: The importance of food businesses to small farms
In the SALSA Analytical Framework (2017), food businesses are defined as processors, distributors and retailers. A particular interest of the project is the type of relations which these businesses have with small farms and the wider regional food systems,
and the role they play in the viability and development of small farms.
Small food businesses may actually also play an important role for food and nutrition security, as they can be a significant partner with small farms (SDG Compass, 2015). Within agri-business value chains, there is a wide range of activities. These can
include input supply, farmer organizations, farm production, post-harvest handling, processing, provision of technologies, grading criteria and facilities, cooling and packaging, post-harvest local processing, storage, transport, finance and information feedback
from markets (Norton 2014).
Small food businesses may also source or sell globally, and thus be in large part disconnected from regional systems of production, but they may still be of interest for their connections to local farmers.
Connections between small farms and small food business can take place in the context of both market transactions and informal non-monetary exchanges based on reciprocity, barter, parental relations etc., thus encompassing activities beyond what is meant
strictu senso by "business".
The data collected so far in the SALSA project shows that the role of small food businesses in the regional food systems, and their contribution towards the resilience of small farms, differ a lot between regions and products. In some regions, these small
food businesses do not exist, and therefore play no role. In other regions, it is possible to observe different types of small food businesses. Some are within or alongside the farm, where farmers sell both their own raw and processed products and products
obtained from other local farmers; other small farm businesses buy products directly from farms and then process and sell them; others buy through intermediaries who have already processed farm-sourced products.
Thank you all for your help,
Peter
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