Agricultural cooperatives II: Can they facilitate access of small-scale farmers in South Africa to input and product markets?

Ortmann, Gerald F.; King, Robert P.

doi:10.1080/03031853.2007.9523769

Cited by 113 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Farmer group membership helps in accessing information important in production, post-harvest practices and marketing (Garikai, 2014). Ortmann and King (2007) stated the reasons for the formation of farming cooperatives and farmer group organisations including promotion of self-help, improving negotiating strength with input suppliers and buyers of farm products, assurance of input supplies and/or product markets mainly for perishable crops like fruits and vegetables, and reduction of opportunistic behaviour brokers. The lack of participation in these farmer groups meant lack of access to information on production, post-harvest handling of French bean and marketing and this may have negative effect on the overall yield achieved by the farmers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current knowledge and performance of existing charcoal coolers in improving the overall quality and shelf-life of French beans

Ogumo¹,

Kunyanga²,

Okoth³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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This study investigates current knowledge and performance of existing technology, 'charcoal coolers' in improving the overall quality and shelf-life of French beans. Data was collected primarily from a household survey using a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 45 purposively selected farmers who were selected at fixed interval. Data was analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) Version 20 software and Pearson correlation is used to show the relationship between demographic characteristics and farmers post-harvest handling practices. The study revealed that majority of the farmers (80%) harvested late between 9 am to 12 noon and targeted temperature of 16 to 20°C. Only 32% of the farmers interviewed disinfected their produce after harvesting. Majority of farmers (57%) did not belong to any farmers' group or co-operatives. On the other hand, majority of the famers (80%) had adopted use of charcoal cooler technology and 69% stored their produce for between 1 and 6 h before delivering them to the packing shed, a distance that would take another 6 h. Farmers' age and education level had positive influence on use of cold storage facility. To sustain the use of cold storage facilities and technologies, there is need to support establishment of a community-based cold storage facilities that can be accessed by the small scale farmers to ensure their produce remain fresh before transfer to packing stations. Such a move would considerably reduce food losses and wastes along the value chain, which is an instrumental agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current knowledge and performance of existing charcoal coolers in improving the overall quality and shelf-life of French beans

Ogumo¹,

Kunyanga²,

Okoth³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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show abstract

“…Previous studies have shown that social capital, in its different forms, played a crucial role to adopt different adaptation options to reduce environmental shocks that came out from climate variability and change [32,81,82]. For instance, Mpogole [82] found that increased membership to social groups would increase the probability of adopting conservation agriculture, drought-tolerant varieties, and irrigation.…”

Section: Social Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of smallholder farmers’ decision to adopt adaptation options to climate change and variability in the Muger Sub basin of the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia

2017

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Smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt adaptation options in response to climate change and variability are influenced by socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental factors, indicating that decision patterns can be very specific to a given locality. The prime objective of this research is to identify factors affecting smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt adaptation options to climate change and variability in the Muger River sub-basin of the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, focused group discussions, and key informant interviews from 442 sampled households. Frequency, mean, Chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA were used for analysis. Furthermore, a multinomial logit model was employed to analyze the data. Results signified that small-scale irrigation, agronomic practices, livelihood diversification, and soil and water conservation measures are the dominant adaptation options that smallholder farmers used to limit the negative impact of climate change and variability in the study area. The results further revealed that adoption of small-scale irrigation as an adaptation to climate change and variability is significantly and positively influenced by access to credit, social capital, and the educational status of household heads. Greater distance to marketplace and size of farmland negatively affected the use of agronomic practices, whereas crop failure experience and access to early warning systems have a positive influence. The results also point out that adoption of soil and water conservation measures are positively affected by exposure to early warning systems, greater distance to the marketplace, and larger size of cultivated land. It is also noted that livelihood diversification is negatively influenced by socioeconomic factors such as education, the gender of the household head, and livestock ownership. Overall, the results suggested that improved policies aimed at increasing the adoption of adaptation options to offset the impact of climate change and variability should focus on: creating effective microfinance institutions and effective early warning systems, increasing farmer awareness, improving infrastructure, and encouraging farmers' membership to many social groups. The results further suggested that agroecological and gender-based research should be promoted and increased for a more holistic understanding of farmer adaptation options.

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“…Cooperatives require highly committed, skilled and well-experienced leaders. Dedicated and competent leaders in SPCs are cornerstones to access information about product markets, and to maintain the quality of seed production (Ortmann and King 2007). Strong leaders are able to increase members' commitment (Fulton and Giannakas 2001).…”

Section: Challenges For Seed Producer Cooperativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed producer cooperatives in the Ethiopian seed sector and their role in seed supply improvement: A review

Sisay

Verhees

Trijp

2017

Journal of Crop Improvement

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The role of seed producer cooperatives (SPCs) in the Ethiopian seed sector and their contribution to seed supply improvement have received attention from researchers, policymakers, and development partners. However, limited work has been done in reviewing and documenting their involvement in the seed sector development. In this paper, we review and discuss the SPCs in the Ethiopian seed sector. Specifically, we reflect on the contribution of SPCs to improving seed availability and access in the country. The current liberal market system of Ethiopia creates new opportunities for growth as successful enterprises, but also brings new challenges, such as more intense competition for smallholder producers. The government policy encourages SPCs to engage in seed business. We draw on scientific literature, reports, white papers, project documents, and websites. The review reveals that the seed sector in Ethiopia consists of three seed systems: formal, informal, and intermediary seed systems. Each seed system has a specific contribution to the delivery of seed to farmers, but they vary in their approach and respective strategies. The SPCs are categorized in the intermediary seed system because they have features of both formal and informal seed systems. They play a key role in meeting seed demand and contribute greatly to seed supply improvement through high-volume production of seed, crop, and variety diversification, and seed delivery to farmers. They produce and market the seed through various market channels, including direct sales to farmers, sales through contractual agreement, and sales directly to institutional buyers. Their contribution to improving the seed supply and seed security has received considerable recognition by policymakers and development practitioners. Therefore, government and development partners should support and strengthen SPCs to maximize their success in the seed business and their contribution to improving the seed supply in Ethiopia.ARTICLE HISTORY

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Agricultural cooperatives II: Can they facilitate access of small-scale farmers in South Africa to input and product markets?

Cited by 113 publications

References 8 publications

Current knowledge and performance of existing charcoal coolers in improving the overall quality and shelf-life of French beans

Current knowledge and performance of existing charcoal coolers in improving the overall quality and shelf-life of French beans

Determinants of smallholder farmers’ decision to adopt adaptation options to climate change and variability in the Muger Sub basin of the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia

Seed producer cooperatives in the Ethiopian seed sector and their role in seed supply improvement: A review

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