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Value chains and producer organisations
The growing demand for food, the rise of international specialty value chains such as those for organic and fair trade products, and the renewed interest in bio-fuels in response to the ongoing energy crisis, have opened up opportunities to enhance the participation of agricultural smallholders in global markets. As service providers and advocacy networks, producer organizations can play an important role in strengthening the position of farmers and local producers in global value chains.
That development agencies are acknowledging the importance of producer organizations (POs) goes hand in hand with the increasing attention placed on the value chains (or supply chains) that connect farmers with consumers. Such value chains demonstrate the interrelatedness of the production, transportation, processing and marketing of farm products. Improving the coordination of activities of different actors (such as firms) in the chain can reduce transaction costs, help guarantee product quality and safety, and enhance the design of marketing strategies. Producer organizations are considered instrumental in increasing the value generated throughout the chain, such as by ensuring that the quality of products is in line with the standard demanded. They can also mobilize support from other stakeholders and can help farmers negotiate a fair share of the total profit generated.
Featured Article
Building competitiveness in Africa's agriculture: a guide to value chain concepts and applications
Using
real examples, mostly from African countries, this book reviews and illustrates a range of
concepts, analytical tools, and methodologies centered on the value chain that can be used to
design, implement, and evaluate agricultural and agribusiness development initiatives that strive
to enhance productivity and competitiveness.
- Search Terms:
- analytical frameworks
- rural development
- casestudies
- africa
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Recent Articles
Guest Column: Contract farming can work
26 March 2012
Improving the bargaining power of small farmers
Recent years have seen an upsurge in large-scale land purchases by foreign investors, which can lead to peasant evictions and social upheaval. But less attention has been paid to the parallel rise in contract farming arrangements, which can also endanger the rights of smallholders and contribute to the disempowerment of farmers within the food system. However, contract farming is a market-based approach that can work – provided that it is underpinned by respect for human rights, a focus on the right to food and strong institutional supervision.
MoreEmpowering women pays
26 March 2012
The importance of women in Ghanaian cocoa
As support for agriculture climbs up the policy agenda,
the spotlight is increasingly focused on smallholder farmers. But one dimension of this is still
being regularly overlooked – the role of women on smallholder farms. Markets for agricultural
commodities are increasingly linked to the value chains of large food manufacturers and
retailers.
What future for Vietnamese bamboo?
25 March 2012
Government intervention – essential for an enabling environment
In
eastern China, thousands of smallholders generate substantial incomes from bamboo. But across the
border in Vietnam where conditions are, if anything, more favourable, smallholders are moving out
of bamboo. An opportunity will go to waste here unless local authorities take the initiative.
LenCD case stories database
24 March 2012
Case stories are an important and accessible way of
sharing experiences and learning lessons. Many organisations publish case stories on their
websites, but finding these stories has always required a good deal of research.
LenCD (Learning Network on Capacity Development), has been building up an index of case stories including material from the United Nations Development Programme, the Task Team on South–South Cooperation, SNV, the World Bank Institute, ECDPM, and other sources.
More than 500 case stories have now been catalogued and are searchable by country and by keyword on www.lencd.org/case-stories.
MorePolicy: The price of empowerment
24 March 2012
Fair trade competes with other certification brands
Over
the last couple of years, certification brands of coffee have steadily increased their volume of
sales in Northern consumer markets, with an ever broader portfolio of products. On the face of it,
this appears to be good news for groups of small producers who sell their coffee through these
certification schemes. However, the growth figures are significantly lower for the brand that is
most committed to working with farmers organisations, the Fair Trade Labelling Organizations (FLO),
also known as Fairtrade International, which brings together 25 fair trade initiatives from around
the world.
Policy: The woes of rural wage labour
24 March 2012
The limitations of inclusiveness
Smallholder agriculture is back on the global
policy agenda. This is because of the growing demand for food and because the livelihoods of
billions of people depend on small farms. However, farm wage labour remains largely ignored.
Other Topics
Essential Readings
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Capacity.org issue 34 (August 2008) Producer organizations and value chains
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Duncan Mwesige (2010) "Using Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Capacity Development in an Agricultural Value Chain in Uganda" in: Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 180-193
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Vermeulen, S., J. Woodhill, F. Proctor and R. Delnoye (2008) Chain-wide learning for inclusive agrifood market development: A guide to multi-stakeholder processes for linking small-scale producers to modern markets, IIED/WUR
