Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets: Considerations for Diet

Diversification

Robert Mwadime

USAID|Community Connector Project, Uganda

Goal of the Farmer-Market Linkage

1. Having diversified diets, lower priced quality foods for consumers (mainly urbanites)

2. Improve diets of the producers? Reducing poverty among producers/poor?

How smallholder farmers can effectively supply domestic markets to increase availability, affordability and quality of diverse nutritious

foods

How can participation be promoted?

Smallholder farmers are different

• Distance to markets

• Awareness and backgrounds of farmers

• Economic wellbeing and interaction with financial services

• Some farmers do the selling themselves

• Other sources of livelihood

Markets are different

• Local (sub-regional markets)

• Schools and hospitals, [army] (in locality)

• [Small] Towns in the [country] regions

• Large towns (Outside or supermarkets)

• Industry

• Export

• Contract/ guarantee

• Quality control from growing to delivery (including certification)

• Provide services/inputs

• Collect at/near the farm gate

• Pay-on-delivery [cash?]

Changing buying and consumption patterns

90% of consumers still buy from “open markets”

Farmers verses Markets

Producer’s objectives Markets’ Objectives

• Market the produce (exposure to markets?)

• Meet the “buy-basket” of the consumers—diversify products

• Make money (prices of goods) • Make money (after all costs)

• Means of employment (gender, cultural, issues)

• Continuity in supplies offered

• Stabilize consumption • Have enough supplies

• Risk mitigation • Timeliness of delivery

• Meet customer quality (+food safety) expectations

Food diversity?: Use the value chain approach

Input Suppliers • Technology

• Extension

• Inputs

• Finances

Producers • Adoption/use • Labor/husbandry • Post-harvest

handling

Buyers • Bulking •Quality •Delivery/transp.

Marketers •Mix of products • Pricing • Packaging •Quality

Consumers • Tastes and use •Demand

Case Study: How the USAID|Community Connector links smallholder farmers to markets

Community Connector Districts and Flow of FV and Local Chicken

.

5 Main considerations in CC activities

1. Land sizes (small and poor quality) –mainly rain fed and production hazards

2. Remoteness of areas: limited markets and alternatives for income generation

3. Time for women –and their workload

4. Gender control of resources and sources of information

5. Peoples’ expectations and aspirations for “wealth”

Promotion of participation: Choice of Commodity

• Small number of farmers participate (Farming as a Business)

• Commodities and varieties:

• High market demand (even local market)

• Less perishable

• Bulkable

• Not additional workload for women

• High value (require little land sizes; many cycles; or can be intercropped, etc.)

• Require lower financial investments

Promotion of participation: Choice of Commodity

Examples in CC intervention areas:

Business Commodities Nutrition Commodities

• Passion fruits • Amaranth + traditional vegetable

• Irish potato seed, and other seedlings

• Papaw tress + Avocado tree

• Onions • Pumpkin

• Groundnuts

• Apiary (bee keeping)

• Local chicken

• Sheep/goats---calliandra as hedge crop • Promotion: Silver fish (mukene)

Poor farmers cannot be faithful to buyers unless they have other sources of income

• Cash economy?

• Link them to savings (saving with a purpose; quick access)

• Alternative sources of income

Market analysis in the FaaB training

Farmers choose to work with APEF (Agricultural……)

• Buy, bulk and sell different agricultural commodities

• Buyers of onions

Process of getting products to APEF markets

Suppliers of different products

Buyers

Smallholders producers

with supplies

Bulking and sorting

Transporting

In Markets

Sorting, warehousing

packaging

Consumers

Cash Buying

• Quantities • Cash buying • Quality • Timeliness (markets don’t want to warehouse; pay after 60 days)

CC supported APEF to:

• Identify and train/certify bulkers/buyers

• Organize community bulking,

• Transport from farms,

• Packaging and storage

Supporting APEF to provide farmer groups with extension services on onion growing and curing

Lessons from the CC experience

Farmers have phobia of “brokers”, BUT???

Farmers and consistency of supply

Farming is risky

• Quality of inputs

• Access to financial services

• Seasonality/climatic/production hazards

• May produce “wrong variety” for the market

Marketing risks?? E.g. failure of markets

Prices of “essentials” rise the demand for none essentials drop

In our free markets:

The larger ones always exploit the smaller ones