SSA Contribution to the GPP on LFM Concept Note Title:

1. SSA Contribution to the GPP on LFM Concept Note Title: Strategic Partnerships in SSA to Facilitate and Respond to the Demand by Smallholder Farmers and Agro-Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Market Access Representatives 1. Andrew Temu-Sokoine University, Tanzania 2. John Jagwe-IITA-FoodNet, Uganda 3. Adrian Mukheibi-KACE, Kenya

2. Background: SSA Agriculture, Marketing and Trade CHARACTERISTICS AND CHALLENGES • Agriculture is crucial for poverty reduction in SSA • Smallholder agriculture is predominant • Key Features: small scale, traditional, low inputs & technology use • Yields and incomes per unit of land are very low • Inadequate investments in research and development • Weak links between R&D and Extension, and users, processors, etc. • Underdeveloped infrastructure: roads, energy, communication • Constrained domestic markets, low purchasing power • Asymmetrical information in agricultural produce markets • Low quality of products – loss control inadequacies and lowly enforced standards • Marketing Reforms that aimed at ‘getting prices right’ have done little towards broad based improvement of the welfare of farmers. Major efforts are needed to get ‘Markets Right’.

3. Background: SSA Agriculture, Marketing and Trade • MARKET LINKAGE OPPORTUNITIES • Development of effective services for the post-harvest sub-sector. E.g. • Financial services, business skills development, technology • Farmer associations with demonstrable effectiveness of ‘pooling’ • Tapping on information technology innovations [ICT for Marketing] • Developing and making use of market opportunities: • Tapping on the high rates of urbanization • Adding value to products, niche markets (organic, convenience food) • High quality and under-utilized traditional staple crops • HVP: nutraceuticals and broad range of traditional products • Policies to help local produce face fair competition with imports • Improving links: farms & post-harvest processing systems • Diverse range of post harvest technologies: Key:Storage, drying, recycling, & waste management technologies

4. 8 PRIORITY R&D TO HELP SS FARMERS ACCESS MARKETS 1. Promoting market-oriented and privatized extension services. 2. Developing market information services. 3. Enhancing relationships between producers and purchasers Advancing good practices, learning (and co-innovation) using a learning alliance approach. 4. Building partnerships for supply chain development (R&D-PS). 5. Promoting demand driven and private BDS delivery. 6. Capacity building for farmer organizations at various levels 7. Undertaking Ph Research and facilitating a forum for E.C and S. Africa 8. Overcoming non-tariff barriers to trade , moving from isolated country cases to regional negotiations

5. Strategic Partnerships in SSA to Facilitate and Respond to the Demand by Smallholder Farmers and Agro-Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Market Access Vision • Well-organized and commercially oriented farmers and agro-entrepreneurs enjoying a sustainable high standard of living. Mission • To create strategic partnerships that will facilitate and respond effectively to smallholder farmers and agro-entrepreneurs demand for sustainable market access Objectives • Through partnerships, develop regional capacity to undertake research, training, and outreach in policy reform and institutional innovations for linking farmers to markets. • Identify policy measures that promote pro-smallholder institutional innovations in agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa; specifically focusing on linking farmers to markets. • Build learning alliances for the understanding of conditions in agricultural markets, catalyze and promote research-based policy reforms and institutional innovations in those markets that farmers ought to be linked to. • Design and oversee implementation of proven grassroots initiatives that enhance linkages between smallholder farmers and markets.

6. Strategic Partnerships in SSA to Facilitate and Respond to the Demand by Smallholder Farmers and Agro-Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Market Access Three Sub-Themes Built Upon Success Stories and a Proven Methodology Sub-theme 1 [MILS] • Market information and linkage services. Sub-theme 2 [MOPE] • Market-oriented and privatized extension services. Sub-theme 3 [LABP] 3. Creation of learning alliances to identify and promote best practices and approaches for facilitating farmer integration into value chains.

7. Sub-theme 1: Market Information and Linkage Services. Premise justifying the proposed R&D • Improved marketing information systems enhance agricultural marketing in a sustainable way • Information Communication Technology (ICT) has a significant role where farmers are not integrated in national, regional and international markets MILS Success Stories • IITA-FOODNET Uganda • Collation, compilation and dissemination of mkt. Info • Radio broadcasts, nine stations (12 programs), ‘price’ being key information • KACE – Kenya [1997] • Markets and trade information • Radio broadcasts, SMS, Internet websites, e-mails on mkt. information • Empowers smallholder farmers, traders, exporters and importers • Serves both agricultural output and inputs markets • Operates virtual and physical trading floors • Bridges digital divide btn. rural production base and urban consumer markets • Operates commercially and sustainably: fees on bids, commissions on transactions • MACE – Malawi [2004] • Markets and trade information along the KACE’s private sector model • An example of scaling-out, lessons from Kenya adapted & practiced • Aims at improving markets for resource poor farmers • Centred on price and trading information for SS farmers

8. Sub-theme 1: Market Information and Linkage Services.Objectives, Methods and Activities • WORK AT MACRO, MESO AND MICRO LEVELS • MACRO – POLICIES AND STRATEGIES • Carry out research on policies, laws, by-laws and regulations and the development of ICT for agricultural marketing • Sensitize policy makers • Technical inputs in developing favorable legal and regulatory frameworks • Engage in learning alliances to exchange knowledge and skills • MESO – INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL (ORGANISATIONS AND RULES) • Research on effective organizational arrangements for MILS • Adapt tested and proven MILS to a broad range of commodities • Build technical capacity on MILS by learning and transferring experiences • Awareness creation amongst hard science and policy researchers regarding ICT • MICRO – PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OPERATIONS • Identify and work with grassroots institutions that portray/manifest evidence of potentials for advancing MILS at farmer organizations levels • Build capacities of such organizations in the areas of MILS and position them at levels to impart relevant MILS skills to farmers, other farmer organizations and agro-enterprises. Lead Organisation: KACE Kenya, IITA/FOODNET, and MACE Malawi Scaling out to other produce beyond grain in Kenya and Uganda Scaling-up and out to Tanzania, Ethiopia, West and Further Southern Africa

9. Sub-theme 2: Market-oriented and privatized extension services. Premise justifying the proposed R&D • Past public sector extension targeted principally primary production. • a vacuum in extension service provision to other areas in supply chains • E.g. support to agro-enterprises such as input suppliers, agro-industry and post harvest, value adding, entrepreneurs. • This has hindered the smallholder agricultural performance in terms of gross production, marketed output and gross value • Sub-theme 2 aims to close this gap by promoting professional service provision from the private sector and targeting the supply chain in totality.

10. Sub-theme 2: Market-oriented and privatized extension services. • MOPES SUCCESS STORIES • Kenya GT Initiative: Production, value addition, & marketing of mangoes • focuses on input supplies, • private extension services, • bulking and quality control through collection centers, • value addition and market linkages to different segments, • SUCCESS FACTOR: MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL TEAM WORK • Public-Private, Research, Commercial, Production and Marketing • KGT, ICIPE, KARI, Bayer East Africa, Kevian • SACRED Africa’s Cereal Banks Initiative • Base Marketing Movement focussing on cereal banks • Working with communities to set-up cereal banks whereby farmers buy shares • Trained farmers on group development, marketing skills etc • Supported by group loans for stocking grains • Linkages with major processors, factoring [discounting] • SUCCESSES • Better farmer prices, assured markets even at off-season periods • Micro-level nature of intervention

11. Sub-theme 2: Market-oriented and privatized extension servicesObjectives, Methods and Activities Objectives and actions. i. Promote cost effective, accessible and sustainable extension service ii. Facilitate paradigm shift on extension services along the supply chain iii. Institutionalization of commercial extension service provision Approach -Thorough understanding of a sub-sector and its dynamics in a locality. -Demand driven and beneficiary led -It should have clear accountability mechanisms -It should have in-built cost sharing mechanisms for sustainability -It should support pluralism in service delivery -It should have decentralized decision-making --participatory planning, and implementation with the beneficiaries Lead Institutions: Kenya Gatsby Trust and SACRED Africa

12. Sub-theme 3: Learning Alliances to Identify and Promote Best Practices for Integrating SHF in Value Chains (LABP) Premise justifying the proposed R&D • Recognition of the importance of strengthened market linkages • Past approaches championed production-based approaches • Inadequate understanding of the importance of links in the value chain • ‘Value chains’ and ‘market linkages’ experiences have had only • limited dissemination and • capacity building components. • “Reinventing the wheel” & hence repeating past mistakes is inevitable • Needed are: Mechanisms to broaden ownership of the process and develop a wide consensus among practitioners regarding the best practices and approaches to facilitating market access within a given context.

13. Sub-theme 3: Learning Alliances to Identify and Promote Best Practices for Integrating SHF in Value Chains (LABP) Objectives and actions. To institutionalize a process for bringing research and development agencies together to learn from each other and identify best practices for linking farmers to markets. Approach • Conducting assessments of existing interventions and stakeholders • Collating a resource database/library of information on knowledge and skills innovations, products, processes that are effective in linking farmers to markets. • Identify skills gaps and generate learning topics to fill those gaps. • Structuring and designing leaning processes • Implementing learning and knowledge sharing activities • Dissemination and implementation of lessons learned, including policy analysis and advocacy to change the macro & meso environment

14. SSA-LFM Learning Alliances: The Process Cycle

15. Lead and Catalyst Institutions 1. AT Uganda, 2. CIAT

16. Thankyou for Listening