Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Improving market access and agricultural productivity growth in Africa: what role for producer organizations and collective action institutions?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Food Security Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The history of producer organizations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a mixed one. In the past, producer organizations often failed to provide desired services due to dependence on government support, which led to heavy political interference as well as internal leadership and managerial problems. However, the hasty retreat of the state following adjustment and market liberalization reforms left an institutional void that the private sector has failed to fill. This study reviews the role that producer organizations can play, and the challenges they face in improving access to markets and technologies for enhancing productivity of smallholder agriculture in SSA in the post-adjustment era. The paper critically examines the evidence for improving access to markets, information and technologies, and the conditions that facilitate the success of producer organizations in providing such services. Emphasis is on the characteristics of user groups, institutional arrangements, governance mechanisms, types of products (staples, perishables and other commodities), and the role of the public and private sector service providers. We conclude that while recent experiences are mixed, good governance, more homogeneous and optimal group size, transparency and market orientation can enhance the role of producer organizations in improving access to markets. However, ideally these organizations need to prioritise agribusiness opportunities over social welfare objectives even though this may mean that some households are unable to take advantage of them. Donors and governments have important roles to play in stimulating the emergence and development of economically viable and self-sustaining producer organizations. The private sector is also critical in terms of providing producer organizations with financial and business development services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Contract farming may not necessarily require farmer organization and collective action. Contracts can be with individual farmers. In situations where contracting with individual producers is profitable, it may provide an alternative route to enhancing access to new technology, inputs and output markets without collective action. However, contractors may also facilitate collective action to ensure sufficient and consistent supply of high quality produce or preferentially deal with organized farmers to reduce their transaction costs. This indicates that in some cases contract farming and producer organizations can be complementary.

  2. The percentages are based on the average prices received by both groups (members and non-members) because separate price data for the two categories of farmers were not available in the source reference.

References

  • Ajayi, A. O. (2006). An assessment of farmers’ willingness to pay for extension services using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM): the case of Oyo State, Nigeria. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 12(2), 97–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, C. B. (2008). Smallholder market participation: concepts and evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. Food Policy, 33(4), 299–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berdegué, J. (2001). Cooperating to compete—associative peasant business firms in Chile. PhD Thesis, Wageningen University.

  • Berdegué, J. (2002). Learning to beat Cochrane’s treadmill. Public policy, markets and social learning in Chile’s small-scale agriculture. In C. Leeuwis & R. Pyburn (Eds.), Wheelbarrows full of frogs: Social learning in rural resource management (pp. 333–348). The Netherlands: Assen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, T., & Spielman, D. (2009). Reaching rural poor through rural producer organizations? A study of the agricultural marketing cooperatives in Ethiopia. Food Policy, 34(2009), 60–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, T., Taffesse, S. A., & Gabre-Madhin, E. (2008). Impact of cooperatives on smallholders’ commercialization behaviour: evidence from Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics, 39, 147–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Best, R., Westby, A., & Ospina, B. (2006). Linking small-scale cassava and sweetpotato farmers to growth markets: experiences, lessons and challenges. Acta Horticulturae, 703, 39–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chirwa, E., Dorward, A., Kachule, R., Kumwenda, I., Kydd, J., Poole, N., et al. (2005). Walking tightropes: supporting farmer organizations for market access. Natural Resource Perspectives, Number 99.

  • Coulter, J., Goodland, A., Tallontire, A., & Stringfellow, R. (1999). Marrying farmer cooperation and contract farming for service provision in a liberalising sub-saharan Africa. Natural Resource Perspecitves No. 48, November 1999. ODI.

  • Davis, K., Franzel, S., Hildebrand, P., Irani, T., & Place, N. (2004). Extending technologies among small-scale farmers in Meru, Kenya: ingredients for success in farmer groups. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 10(2), 53–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Janvry, A., Fafchamps, M., & Sadoulet, E. (1991). Peasant household behaviour with missing markets: some paradoxes explained. The Economic Journal, 101, 1400–1417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devaux, A., Horton, D., Velasco, C., Thiele, G., Lopez, G., Bernet, T., et al. (2009). Collective action for market chain innovation in the Andes. Food Policy, 34, 31–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Gregorio, M., Hagedorn, K., Kirk, M., Korf, B., McCarthy, N., Meinzen-Dick, R., et al. (2011). Property rights and collective action for poverty reduction. In E. Mwangi, H. Markelova, & R. Meinzen-Dick (Eds.), Collective action and property rights for poverty reduction: Insights from Africa and Asia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorward, A., & Kydd, J. (2004). The Malawi 2002 food crisis: the rural development challenge. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 423, 343–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorward, A., Kydd, J., Morrison, J., & Poulton, C. (2005). Institutions, markets and economic development: linking development policy to theory and praxis. Development and Change, 361, 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Echánove, F., & Steffen, C. (2005). Agribusiness and farmers in Mexico: the importance of contractual relations. The Geographical Journal, 171(2), 166–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabre-Madhin, E. Z. (2001). Market institutions, transaction costs, and social capital in the Ethiopian grain market. IFPRI Research Report 124. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.

  • Gehlhar, M., & Regmi, A. (2005). Factors shaping global food markets. In A. Regmi & M. Gehlhar (Eds.), New directions in global food markets (pp. 5–17). United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 794.

  • Gruere, G., Nagarajan, L., & King, O. E. D. I. (2009). The role of collective action in the marketing of underutilized plant species: lessons from a case study on minor millets in South India. Food Policy, 34, 39–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, A., Mytelka, L., & Oyeyinka, B. (2005). Innovation systems: Implications for agricultural policy and practice. ILAC Brief 2. Rome: IPGRI.

  • Hellin, J., Lundy, M., & Meijer, M. (2009). Farmer organization, collective action and market access in Meso-America. Food Policy, 34(2009), 16–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchens, R., Elliot, D., & Gibson, A. (2004). Making business service markets work for the poor in rural areas: a review of experience. Springfield Centre, Durham, UK. www.springfieldcentre.com.

  • Holloway, G., & Ehui, S. (2002). Expanding market participation among smallholder livestock producers. ILRI Socio-economic and Policy Research, Working Paper 48. International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

  • Hulme, D., & Shepherd, A. (2003). Conceptualizing chronic poverty. World Development, 3(3), 403–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hussi, P., Murphy, J., Lindberg, O., & Breneeman, L. (1993). The development of cooperatives and other rural organizations. Technical Paper No 199. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayne, T. S., Govereh, J., Mwavumo, A., Nyoro, J. K., & Chapoto, A. (2002). False promise or false premise? The experience of food and input market reform in Eastern and Southern Africa. World Development, 3011, 1967–1985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jera, J., & Ajayi, O. C. (2008). Logistic modelling of smallholder livestock farmers’ adoption of tree-based fodder technology in Zimbabwe. Agrekon, 47(3), 379–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, N., Ravnborg, H. M., Westermann, O., & Probst, K. (2002). User participation in watershed management and research. Water Policy, 3(6), 507–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaganzi, E., Ferris, S., Barham, J., Abenakyo, A., Sanginga, P., & Njuki, J. (2009). Sustaining linkages to high value markets through collective action in Uganda. Food Policy, 34, 23–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassie M., Shiferaw, B., & Muricho, G. (2011). Agricultural technology, crop income, and poverty alleviation in Uganda. World Development. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.04.023.

  • Kelly, V., Adesina, A., & Gordon, A. (2003). Expanding access to agricultural inputs in Africa: a review of recent market development experience. Food Policy, 284, 379–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Key, N., & Runsten, D. (1999). Contract farming, smallholders, and rural development in Latin America: the organization of agroprocessing firms and the scale of outgrower production. World Development, 27(2), 381–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kherellah, M., Delgado, C., Gabre-Madhin, E., Minot, N., & Johnson, M. (2000). The road half travelled: Agricultural Market Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Food Policy Report. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACR621.pdf.

  • Klerkx, L., Hall, A., & Leeuwis, C. (2009). Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer? International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 8(5/6), 409–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kranton, R. E. (1996). Reciprocal exchange: a self-sustaining system. American Economic Review, 864, 830–851.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristjanson, P., Okike, I., Tarawali, S., Singh, B. B., & Manyong, M. V. (2005). Farmers’ perception of the benefits and factors affecting the adoption of improved dual-purpose cowpea in the dry savannas of Nigeria. Agricultural Economics, 32, 195–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruijssen, F., Keizer, M., & Giuliani, A. (2007). Collective action for biodiversity and livelihoods. LEIA Newsletter—Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture, 23(1), 6–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kydd, J. (2002). Agriculture and rural livelihoods: Is globalisation opening or blocking paths out of rural poverty? Agricultural Research and Extension Network (AgREN) Paper 121. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK.

  • Kydd, J., & Dorward, A. (2004). Implications of market and coordination failures for rural development in least developed countries. Journal of International Development, 16, 951–970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lele, U., & Christiansen, R. E. (1989). Markets, marketing boards, and cooperatives in Africa: Issues in adjustment policy. Managing Agricultural Development in Africa (MADIA) Discussion Paper II. Washington DC: World Bank.

  • Lundy, M., Ostertag, C., & Best, R. (2002). Value adding, agroenterprise and poverty reduction: A territorial approach for rural business development. Paper presented at Globalization of Agricultural Research conference, 25–27 Feb., Turrialba, Costa Rica.

  • Markelova, H., Meinzen-Dick, R., Hellin, J., & Dohrn, S. (2009). Collective action for smallholder market access. Food Policy, 34, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masakure, O., & Henson, S. (2005). Why do small-scale producers choose to produce under contract? Lessons from nontraditional vegetable exports from Zimbabwe. World Development, 33(10), 1721–1733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matuschke, I., & Qaim, M. (2009). The impact of social networks on hybrid seed adoption in India. Agricultural Economics, 40, 493–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzen-Dick, R., & Di Gregorio, M. (2004). Collective action and property rights for sustainable development. 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment. Focus 11. IFPRI, Washington, D.C.

  • Miehlbradt, A. O., & McVay, M. (2003). Developing commercial markets for Business Development Services—BDS Primer. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muyanga, M., & Jayne, T. S. (2008). Private agricultural extension system in Kenya: practice and policy lessons. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 14(2), 111–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narrod, C., Roy, D., Okello, J., Avendano, B., Rich, K., & Thorat, A. (2009). Public-private partnerships and collective action in high value fruit and vegetable chains. Food Policy, 34, 8–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozor, N., Agwu, A. E., Chukwuone, N. A., Madukwe, M. C., & Garforth, C. J. (2007). Cost-sharing of agricultural technology transfer in Nigeria: perceptions of farmers and extension professionals. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 13(1), 23–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paalhaar, J., & Jansen, K. (2011). Group culture and smallholder participation in value chains: French beans in Kenya. In D. Mithofer & H. Waibel (Eds.), Vegetable production and marketing in Africa: Socioeconomic research (pp. 97–110).

  • Penrose Buckley, C. (2007). Producer organisations: A guide to developing collective rural enterprises. Oxford: Oxfam GB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pingali, P., Khwaja, Y., & Meijer, M. (2005). Commercializing Small Farms: Reducing Transaction Costs. ESA Working Paper No. 05–08. Agricultural and Development Economics Division, FAO, Rome, Italy.

  • Poulton, C., Dorward, A., & Kydd, J. (2005). The future of small farms: New Directions for Services, Institutions and Intermediation. Paper presented at The Future of Small Farms Workshop, 26–29 June 2005, Imperial College, Wye, UK.

  • Poulton, C., Kydd, J., & Dorward, A. (2006). Overcoming market constraints on pro-poor agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Development Policy Review, 243, 243–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulton, C. D., Dorward, A. R., & Kydd, J. (2010). The future of small farms: new directions for services, institutions and intermediation. World Development, 38(10), 1413–1428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramírez, R. (2005). Learning our way into communication: the making of the communication and information strategy with the national agricultural advisory services programme in Uganda. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 11(1–4), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reardon, T., Timmer, C. P., & Berdegué, J. (2005). Supermarket expansion in Latin America and Asia: implications for food marketing systems. In A. Regmi & M. Gehlhar (Eds.), New directions in global food markets (pp. 47–61). United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 794.

  • Rehber, E. (2004). Vertical integration in the food industry in the food industry and contract farming. Outlook on Agriculture, 33(2), 85–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, B., & Pinstrup-Anderson, P. (2010). Global land acquisition: neo-colonialism or development opportunity? Food Security, 2, 271–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runge, C. F. (1981). Common property externalities: isolation, assurance and resource depletion in traditional grazing context. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 634, 595–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schipmann, C., & Qaim, M. (2010). Spillovers from modern supply chains to traditional markets: product innovations and adoption by smallholders. Agricultural Economics, 41, 361–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, A. W. (2007). Approaches to linking producers to markets: a review of experiences to date. Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance Occasional Paper 13. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

  • Shiferaw, B., Obare, G., & Muricho, G. (2008). Rural market imperfections and the role of institutions for collective action to improve markets for the poor. Natural Resources Forum, 32, 25–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shiferaw, B., Obare, G., & Muricho, G. (2009). Leveraging institutions for collective action to improve markets for smallholder producers in less-favored areas. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 3(1), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sievers, M., & Vandenberg, P. (2007). Synergies through linkages: who benefits from linking micro-finance and Business Development Services? World Development, 35(8), 1341–1358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, P., Winters, P., & Patrick, I. (2005). An analysis of contract farming in East Java, Bali and Lombok, Indonesia. Agricultural Economics, 33, 513–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staal, S., Delgado, C., & Nicholson, C. (1997). Smallholder dairying under transaction costs in East Africa. World Development, 25(5), 779–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stockbridge, M., Dorward, A., & Kydd, J. (2003). Producer organizations for market access: A briefing paper. UK: Wye College, University of London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringfellow, R., Coulter, J., Lucey, T., McKone, C., & Hussain, A. (1997). Improving the access of smallholder to agricultural services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Farmer cooperation and the role of the donor community. ODI Natural Resource Perspectives 20.

  • Swanson, B. E. (2006). Extension strategies for poverty alleviation: lessons from China and India. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 12(4), 285–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J., Teshome, A., Highes, D., Chirwa, E., & Omiti, J. (2009). Challenges and opportunities for strengthening producer organizations in Africa: Lessons from Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. Future Agricultures Policy Brief. www.future-agricultures.org. FAC Publication: PB-POI.

  • Vorley, B., Fearne, A., & Ray, D. (Eds.). (2007). Regoverning markets: A place for small-scale producers in modern agrifood chains? Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, T. A., & Runge, C. F. (1995). The emergence and evolution of collective action: lessons from watershed management in Haiti. World Development, 2310, 1683–1698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, T. (1986). State intervention at the cabbage-roots: a case study from Kenya. IDS Bulletin, 17(1), 47–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wollni, M., & Zeller, M. (2007). Do farmers benefit from participation in specialty markets and cooperatives? The case of coffee marketing in Costa Rica. Agricultural Economics, 37, 243–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wollni, M., Lee, A. R., & Thies, E. J. (2010). conservation agriculture, organic marketing, and collective action in the Honduran Hillsides. Agricultural Economics, 4, 373–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2002). World development report 2002: Building institutions for markets. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2008). World development report 2008: Agriculture for development. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to four anonymous reviewers along with the Editor in Chief and Associate Editor of Food Security who provided invaluable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya

    Bekele Shiferaw & Geoffrey Muricho

  2. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), El Batán, Mexico

    Jon Hellin

Authors
  1. Bekele Shiferaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jon Hellin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Geoffrey Muricho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bekele Shiferaw.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shiferaw, B., Hellin, J. & Muricho, G. Improving market access and agricultural productivity growth in Africa: what role for producer organizations and collective action institutions?. Food Sec. 3, 475–489 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-011-0153-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-011-0153-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation