CGIAR Systemwide Program on
Collective Action and Property Rights
The opportunity for smallholders to raise their incomes from agricultural production, natural resource management and related rural enterprises increasingly depends on their ability to compete in the marketplace. Not only are they competing with fellow farmers, they are also more and more in competition with farmers from overseas and agribusiness sectors in national and international markets. To maintain their position in the market, farmers need to be better organized, have access to new technologies and tap into new information systems, particularly if they are to tap into the new opportunities for high value markets.
One of the key issues that research, public and private sector, and civil society development projects and programs are addressing is to strengthen the ability of agricultural producers to organize themselves to compete on local, national or even international markets, and to help them invest in value addition and marketing of their produce.
This research workshop aimed to enhance the conceptual and empirical understanding of the role of collective action institutions (e.g. rules and norms, producer organizations, cooperatives, etc.) in improving market access for the rural poor.
Given coordination failures in rural markets, due to the vacuum left by the lack of effective state involvement and the underdevelopment of the private sector in areas with limited market infrastructure, the workshop will highlight the need for alternative institutional or non-market arrangements. Of special importance is the question how collective action can contribute to remedy the existing inefficiencies, coordination problems or barriers to contract formation. To accomplish this, the workshop will assess the extent to which collective action for improving market access for the oor has contributed to intensification of production, adoption of new technologies, diversification of income, improved market participation and poverty reduction.
While focusing on these general aspects, the workshop also examined the diverse opportunities and constraints that different groups of producers and traders such as indigenous communities, women groups, farmer cooperatives, and others face in organizing to increase their market shares.
The workshop papers addressed these overall concerns and at least one of the following themes:
Papers presented at the conference are currently undergoing revision to be released as CAPRi Working Papers. The versions presented at the conference are accessible below as drafts not for citation, since revisions are expected.
The Role of ICT, Market Information and Collective Marketing in Responding to Market Dynamics in Eastern Africa
by Shaun Ferris, Patrick Engoru, and Elly Kaganzi
Milk Market Access for Smallholders: A Case of Informal Milk Trader Groups in Kenya
by J. Sinja, L. Njoroge, H. Mbaya, H. Magara, E. Mwangi, I. Baltenweck, D. Romney, and A. Omore
Collective action to which markets? The case of Agroforestry Tree Seeds Association of Lantapan (ATSAL) in the Philippines
by Delia Catacutan, Manuel Bertomeu, Lyndon Arbes, Caroline Duque, and Novie Butra
A Farmers Company for Better Price: Case of Chandrika Wewa Farmers' Company, Sri Lanka
by Deeptha Wijerathna and Samyuktha Varma
African Leafy Vegetables Evolves from Underutilized Species to Commercialized Cash Crops for Poor Urban and Peri-Urban Women Farmers in Nairobi
by Stanley Mwangi
Role of Local Institutions in Linking Small Ruminant Producers to Market
by Malika Abdelali-Martini, Aden Aw-Hassan, and Hisham Salahieh
Social Capital and Organizational Structure in Colombian Enterprises
by Carolina González, Nancy Johnson, and Mark Lundy
The Emergence of Farmer Field School Networks in Eastern Africa
by James Okoth, Arnoud Braun, Robert Delve, Habakkuk Khamaala, Godrick Khisa, and Julianus Thomas
Rural Institutions and Producer Organizations in Imperfect Markets: Experiences from Producer Marketing Groups in Semi-Arid Eastern Kenya. Bekele Shiferaw, Gideon Obare, and Geoffrey Muricho. CAPRi Working Paper 60. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2006.