Linking Smallholder Farmers to Growth Markets

1. Linking Smallholder Farmers to Growth Markets Inter-regional design workshop for a Global Partnership Programme 11-15 September 2006 Cairo, Egypt

2. A sense of history … • Where did your road to Cairo start?

3. 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

4. What is the Global Forum on Agricultural Research? • Multi-stakeholder platform • Agricultural Research for Development • Poverty, food security and environmental degradation

5. What is the Global Forum on Agricultural Research? AARINENA Near East and North Africa EFARD Europe CACAARI Central Asia and the Caucasus FORAGRO The Americas APAARI Asia-Pacific FARA Sub-Sahara Africa

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Exploration of common areas of interest Asia-Pacific: APAARI • 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 W. Asia & N. Africa: AARINENA

11. 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

12. Moving from subsistence to greater commercial orientation Small-scale farmers organised and fully integrated into a supply chain Level of organization Mature Small-scale farmers organised, adding value and diversifying products Sale of labour or provision of services Developing Small-scale farmers organised to sell product collectively Landless and others with few capital assets Early stage Individual small-scale farmers selling surplus into market Subsistence Access to markets and technology

13. 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

14. 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 Bangkok 06-06 Al Ain 02-06

15. 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

16. Building partnerships is not easy • Belief • Commitment • Passion They require:

18. 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

19. 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

20. What are the potential products of the programme? • Information for better decision making • Good practice guides and tools • Better partnership processes • Capacity built of farmers, development facilitators, researchers • Policy options for governments and the private sector

21. 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

22. 2006 – a key year Establishment of ad hoc working groups Submission to Program and Steering Committees of GFAR December 2006 Further exploration with donors Project formulation workshop September 2006 Identification of international support team members Seed resources Establishment of governance mechanism and initial activities

23. 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)

25. Comparison matrix