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THE Livelihoods and Food Security Programme (LFSP) is set to boost profitability among the target group of resource poor smallholder farmers with the coming on board of an agency pushing for a policy framework that connects farmers to new dynamic markets for high-value products.
The initiative by GRM International — is aimed at swiftly reducing poverty among the resource poor farmers.
GRM International is managing the implementation of the LFSP markets development component. The agency works with Agriculture Partnership Trust (APT) as its technical partner in identifying and designing sustainable market development solutions for smallholder farmers.
Their thrust is from a shared common understanding that in order for agricultural growth to reduce poverty substantially, smallholder farming must be competitive and sustainable and that the poverty-reducing effects of growth also depend on a buoyant rural non-farm economy, often linked to agriculture.
It requires investing in market infrastructure and upgrading farmers’ technical capacity to meet demanding standards. Organisational skills and capacity are essential for smallholders to achieve competitiveness and to realise economies of scale in market transactions, and to gain market power.
GRM representative, Mr Daniel Matimba, said their initiative had been put to test in 120 countries where targeted farmers meet with success unexpectedly.
He said focus would be on stimulating agricultural markets through innovative approaches that can unlock value chain market blockages to create opportunities for the benefit of smallholder farmers.
According to Mr Matimbe, this initiative will be implemented through the markets innovative fund (MIF) — a grant meant to support key market actors like traders, processors, service providers in agriculture inputs, outputs and services markets.
Targeted agriculture inputs and outputs markets include crops, livestock, fisheries, honey and natural products, while service markets include processing and value addition, warehousing, transport, information communication technologies (ICT) and business development.
Mr Matimba added that reducing transaction costs and risks in food and livestock markets can also benefit the poor smallholder farmers, adding that apart from investments in infrastructure, promising innovations include commodity exchanges, market information systems based on rural radio and short messaging systems, and market-based risk management tools.
“Agricultural growth is especially effective in reducing poverty. A more vibrant and all-encompassing agricultural sector could significantly trim down rural poverty and actually move the country towards meeting the MDG of halving poverty and hunger.
“We are there to ensure market linkages, value addition on various products, access to finance and better market prices (direct link to the buyer and eliminating middlemen). Due to the interdependent and interrelated nature of production and marketing, synergies will be made to link farmers in the production component with markets to ensure supply of products on the market,” said Mr Matimbe.
Some of the innovative approaches that have so far been contracted and under consideration include: ICTs for the markets (using platform to share information with both farmers and buyers); agro-dealer networks resuscitation through ICT based stock management systems; establishing credit history score facility which will help farmers to access finance through tracking farmer and agro-dealer transaction history with inputs suppliers; creating a market for sorghum and cow peas through the establishment of district based stock-feed manufacturing mills; establishing an auction system for horticulture —Dutch Reverse Auction System); increasing value of commonly occurring indigenous fruits, eg baobab; support intermediate technology of coffee value addition; post-harvest loss reduction technologies; honey products repositioning; aquaculture inputs access; insurance (crop, livestock, health and death) for smallholder farmers and promotion of bio-fortified food for nutrition on the market.
Online Reporter