01/06/2020
INVESTING IN FARMERS CAPACITY, EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION
The end of Kanganyase, the conception of e3 anchor farms
As AfriCan Explorations, last year we conceived a vision to make agriculture profitable and reliable for smallholder farmers and youths. We designed a virtual collective marketing platform named "Kanganyase online farmers marketing network", that could connect a number of smallholder farmer groups to meet off-take market requirements, administering it as agri-marketing agents, facilitating the linkages. Barely after 7 months we have overhauled and rebranded the model. Continue reading to find out why!
We assumed that we could use modern digital applications to leverage on communal warehouses and farmer organisations to bridge the farmer-offtaker gap. After launching the platform, we realized that the farmers actually avoid using these structures to aggregate and/or deliver to the market. They mainly attributed this to security reasons, need for immediate cash and "lack of markets". When scrutinized, we found that this is associated with weak or poor leaderships and coordination, and lack of alternative incomes.
Mostly, agro-produces are the only products easily convertible to cash, available to the marginal farmers. With alot of pressing needs, they are forced to sell whatever little is there soon after harvest or even before, at any cost, regardless of consequent food insecurity. Adding that the transaction needs to be quick and simple, these farmers cannot use farmer organisations, communal storage and price fluctuations timing to earn most out of their produce. Whilst, the stable and "semi-stable" smallholder farmers, who are able to collect and lead farmer organisations, have weak coordination and unrealistic choices or demands on prices and transaction methods, or lack trading/marketing skills. They failed to provide adequate information and use their smartphones to market their produces, as required. Therefore, it proved almost impossible to link the farmers with profitable markets using the online platform.
As such, we sought to venture as an aggregator. However, to champion the marginal farmers, we realized that it would require to deal with their income issues and organisational weaknesses. In this case, a vertical integration would work best. Therefore, this would require financing the farmers not only with inputs, but employment, diverse eco-farming and support on entrepreneurship, before taking the produce over to off-takers. We found that this would not only extend farmers incomes, nutrition base and sustainability to enable them benefit from farming, but it would also ensure our capacity to satisfy high value or export markets. However, according to Dr Sabine Homann Kee Tui of ICRISAT, addressing nutrition gaps within value chains is a big challenge in Malawi’s agricultural sector. Agri-food production and utilization chains are poorly coordinated, with poor access to markets despite increasing demand.
In our capacity, we discovered that the underused collective marketing structures entice a hybrid model of aggregating and contract farming, when combined with achor farms. We conceptualized this as "e-coordinated export-oriented ecological (e3) anchor farms" model, based on the initial one, the online platform. These farms would strengthen farmer organisations and provide employment, inputs and knowledge on diverse eco-farming and entrepreneurship to the poorest farmers, consequently alternative incomes and diverse foods.
In a nutshell, we learnt that "farmers are producers not traders". The best way is to invest in their capacity, efficiency and motivation to produce according to customer requirements, before "taking" it from them, so that they largely benefit from farming or the value chains. This aligns with FAO's responsible agricultural investments and food systems (CFS-RAI) and four of global sustainable development goals; including No poverty, Zero hunger, Reduced inequalities and Climate action. Our new philosophy is that "if the marginal farmers win, we all win, if they loose, we all loose" - slightly shifting from the "power of unity" philosophy, which we however still hold - Umodzi - between farmers and us. In this model, we create a synergy in the supply chain.
