Collective action for smallholder market access

Markelova, Helen; Meinzen‐Dick, Ruth; Hellin, Jon; Dohrn, Stephan

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2008.10.001

Cited by 565 publications

(530 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The SPCs have routines and activities that require coordination of tasks to obtain timely access to inputs from suppliers. The SPCs reduce transaction cost through collective actions (Berdegué 2001) and obtain access to high-value markets that individual farmers are unable to access (Markelova et al 2009;Valentinov 2007). Effective cooperatives are able to reduce transaction costs and to increase members' access to highvalue markets (Narrod et al 2009).…”

Section: Reduced Transaction Costsmentioning

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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Section: Reduced Transaction Costsmentioning

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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“…Africa has huge potentials to increase its agricultural productivity, with yield gaps of 10% (Egypt) to 90% (Angola) (20). Much of these inefficiencies in African agriculture can be explained by limited market access (20), affecting inter alia availability of fertilizers and pest control (21,35). In economic terms, the risk of severe climate change impacts on agricultural production systems in Africa is therefore likely to affect a food production system that already struggles to meet the challenges of a changing global society (36).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change risks for African agriculture

Müller

Crämer

Hare

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

382

232

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment of major risks for African agriculture and food security caused by climate change during coming decades is confirmed by a review of more recent climate change impact assessments (14 quantitative, six qualitative). Projected impacts relative to current production levels range from −100% to +168% in econometric, from −84% to +62% in process-based, and from −57% to +30% in statistical assessments. Despite large uncertainty, there are several robust conclusions from published literature for policy makers and research agendas: agriculture everywhere in Africa runs some risk to be negatively affected by climate change; existing cropping systems and infrastructure will have to change to meet future demand. With respect to growing population and the threat of negative climate change impacts, science will now have to show if and how agricultural production in Africa can be significantly improved.

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“…At present policy-makers consider these organisations as important instruments linking farmers to markets, increasing agricultural productivity, and ultimately reducing rural poverty (Barham & Chitemi, 2009;Markelova et al, 2009). The empirical study by Bernard et al (2010) on co-operatives in Ethiopia concluded that co-operatives secure higher prices for their members' output although this does not necessarily lead to an increase in the quantity of output commercialised by the members.…”

Section: Fmos In Ethiopia and The Oromia Region Under Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Abebaw and Haile (2013) show that these organisations have a positive impact on farmers input use and the adoption of agricultural technologies, while Bernard, Tafesse, and Gabre-Madhin (2008b) conclude that co-operatives obtain higher prices for their members. However, to date the overall performance of these organisations in Ethiopia and many other developing countries are quite disappointing (Bernard, Spielman, Tafesse, & Gabre-Madhin, 2010;Fischer & Qaim, 2012;Markelova, Meinzen-Dick, Hellin, & Dohrn, 2009;Poulton, Dorward, & Kydd, 2010). Many of these farmers' market organisations (FMOs 1 ) seem to survive but the desired entrepreneurial growth in activities is missing (Bernard et al, 2008b;Naldi & Davidsson, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Desirability, Opportunism and Actual Support for Farmers’ Market Organisations in Ethiopia

Eriksen

Lutz

Tadesse³

2017

The Journal of Development Studies

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One of the striking issues in the literature on farmers' market organisations (FMOs) is that farmers generally report quite positive opinions regarding the services of their FMO, while, at the same time, actual sales reveal a much more reserved attitude. We argue that farmers may feel social and/or opportunistic pressure to express positive opinions concerning the FMO, to donors and policy-makers, which are not necessarily in line with their actions. This article proposes a list experiment method to control for this bias. The method shows that especially farmers who express strong support for the FMO seriously hesitate to speak freely.

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Collective action for smallholder market access

Cited by 565 publications

References 18 publications

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

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

Climate change risks for African agriculture

Social Desirability, Opportunism and Actual Support for Farmers’ Market Organisations in Ethiopia

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