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Research Workshop on Collective Action and Market Access for Smallholders

October 2, 2006

October 2-5, 2006, Cali, Colombia

Summary of Findings

The opportunity for smallholders to raise their incomes from agricultural production, natural resource management and related rural enterprises increasingly depends on their ability to compete in the marketplace. Not only are they competing with fellow farmers, they are also more and more in competition with farmers from overseas and agribusiness sectors in national and international markets. To maintain their position in the market, farmers need to be better organized, have access to new technologies and tap into new information systems, particularly if they are to tap into the new opportunities for high value markets.

One of the key issues that research, public and private sector, and civil society development projects and programs are addressing is to strengthen the ability of agricultural producers to organize themselves to compete on local, national or even international markets, and to help them invest in value addition and marketing of their produce.

This research workshop aimed to enhance the conceptual and empirical understanding of the role of collective action institutions (e.g. rules and norms, producer organizations, cooperatives, etc.) in improving market access for the rural poor.

Given coordination failures in rural markets, due to the vacuum left by the lack of effective state involvement and the underdevelopment of the private sector in areas with limited market infrastructure, the workshop will highlight the need for alternative institutional or non-market arrangements. Of special importance is the question how collective action can contribute to remedy the existing inefficiencies, coordination problems or barriers to contract formation. To accomplish this, the workshop will assess the extent to which collective action for improving market access for the oor has contributed to intensification of production, adoption of new technologies, diversification of income, improved
market participation and poverty reduction.

While focusing on these general aspects, the workshop also examined the diverse opportunities and constraints that different groups of producers and traders such as indigenous communities, women groups, farmer cooperatives, and others face in organizing to increase their market shares.

The workshop papers addressed these overall concerns and at least one of the following themes:

  • Collective Action to access which markets? Farmers groups are not a silver bullet; there are instances where they work well and others where they are not effective. This theme will focus on how organizing producers to gain market access may differ with respect to the scale of the markets.
  • Collective Action for which types of products? Papers establish possible alternative roles for collective action in relation to different product types and clarify how collective action could be a suitable strategy to increase the market share of smallholders in alternative markets.
  • How to organize producers? Who organizes producers? Papers reflect on the questions of how producers and traders may self-organize or be assisted to organize themselves and the role for government, private sector and NGOs in facilitating these processes.

Papers presented at the conference are currently undergoing revision to be released as CAPRi Working Papers. The versions presented at the conference are accessible below as drafts not for citation, since revisions are expected.

Farmer Groups Enterprises and the Marketing of Staple Food Commodities in Africa

Jonathan Coulter. CAPRi Working Paper 72. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

Making Market Inofrmation Services Work Better for the Poor in Uganda

Shaun Ferris, Patrick Engoru, and Elly Kaganzi. CAPRi Working Paper 77. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2008.
Full Text

Milk Market Access for Smallholders: A Case of Informal Milk Trader Groups in Kenya
by J. Sinja, L. Njoroge, H. Mbaya, H. Magara, E. Mwangi, I. Baltenweck, D. Romney, and A. Omore
Full Text (PDF 584K)

Fluctuating Fortunes of a Collective Entreprise: The Case of the Agroforestry Tree Seeds Association of Lantapan (ATSAL) in the Philippines

Delia Catacutan, Manuel Bertomeu, Lyndon Arbes, Caroline Duque, and Novie Butra. CAPRi Working Paper 76. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2008.
Full Text

A Farmers Company for Better Price: Case of Chandrika Wewa Farmers' Company, Sri Lanka
by Deeptha Wijerathna and Samyuktha Varma
Full Text (PDF 553K)

African Leafy Vegetables Evolves from Underutilized Species to Commercialized Cash Crops for Poor Urban and Peri-Urban Women Farmers in Nairobi
by Stanley Mwangi
Full Text (PDF 312K)

Role of Local Institutions in Linking Small Ruminant Producers to Market
by Malika Abdelali-Martini, Aden Aw-Hassan, and Hisham Salahieh
Full Text (PDF 462K)

Collective Action for Small-Scale Producers of Agricultural Biodiversity Products

Froukje Kruijssen, Menno Keizer, and Alessandra Giuliani. CAPRi Working Paper 71. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

Collective Action and Marketing of Underutilized Plant Species: The Case of Minor Millets in Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, India

Guillaume P. Gruère, Latha Nagarajan, and E.D.I. Oliver King. CAPRi Working Paper 69. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

Linking Collective Action to Non-Timber Forest Product Market for Improved Local Livelihoods: Challenges and Opportunities

Heru Komarudin, Yuliana L. Siagian, and Ngakan Putu Oka. CAPRi Working Paper 73. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

Collective Action for Innovation and Small Farmer Market Access: The Papa Andina Experience

André Devaux, Claudio Velasco, Gastón López, Thomas Bernet, Miguel Ordinola, Hernán Pico, Graham Thiele, and Douglas Horton. CAPRi Working Paper 68. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

The Role of Public-Private Partnerships and Collective Action in Ensuring Smallholder Participation in High Value Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains

Clare Narrod, Devesh Roy, Julius Okello, Belem Avendaño, Karl Rich. CAPRi Working Paper 70. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

Sustaining Linkages to High Value Markets through Collective Action in Uganda: The Case of the Nyabyumba Potato Farmers

Elly Kaganzi, Shaun Ferris, James Barham, Annet Abenakyo, Pascal Sanginga, and Jemimah Njuki. CAPRi Working Paper 75. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2008.
Full Text

Farmer Organization, Collective Action and Market Access in Meso-America

Jon Hellin, Mark Lundy, and Madelon Meijer. CAPRi Working Paper 67. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2007.
Full Text

The Role of Collection Action in Overcoming Barriers to Market Access by Smallholder Producers: Some Empirical Evidence from Northern Vietnam
by Ma. Lucila A. Lapar, Vu Trong Binh, Nguyen Tuan Son, Marites Tiongco, Mohammad Jabbar, and Steve Staal
Full Text (PDF 215K)

Collective Action Initiatives to Improve Marketing Performance: Lessons from Farmer Groups in Tanzania

James Barham, and Clarence Chitemi. CAPRi Working Paper 74. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2008.
Full Text

Social Capital and Organizational Structure in Colombian Enterprises
by Carolina González, Nancy Johnson, and Mark Lundy
Full Text (PDF 289K)

The Emergence of Farmer Field School Networks in Eastern Africa
by James Okoth, Arnoud Braun, Robert Delve, Habakkuk Khamaala, Godrick Khisa, and Julianus Thomas
Full Text (PDF 209K)

Rural Institutions and Producer Organizations in Imperfect Markets: Experiences from Producer Marketing Groups in Semi-Arid Eastern Kenya.
Bekele Shiferaw, Gideon Obare, and Geoffrey Muricho. CAPRi Working Paper 60. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2006.
Full Text

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