The Guardian, 21.4.11
Theme sponsored by Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture
There are an estimated 450 million smallholder families in non-OECD countries; about one-third of the world's population depends on small-scale farming (up to two hectares) for at least part of its livelihood. Smallholders' ability to earn incomes from farming is crucial not only at family level, but also for food security for a rapidly rising world population. In strongly agrarian economies, profitable smallholder agriculture determines national development prospects and the nature of economic transformation.
One of the many business challenges smallholders face is their individual lack of buying and selling power. A farmer without storage facilities is forced to sell her or his surplus at the time of harvest. With many smallholders harvesting the same crop simultaneously, prices are low. A proper grain silo, for example, not only reduces losses to pests, but also enables farmers to delay sales until prices improve. Shared transport allows them to sell vegetables profitably in markets further away from their villages, notably in urban centers.
A frequent development project response to this challenge is the creation of local cooperatives. By pooling resources, a cooperative enables the establishment of facilities that benefit all its members. It also gives smallholders greater "muscle", both as buyers and sellers in the agricultural value chain.
Cooperatives can, however, also be a target for criticism. For instance history suggests that joint activities, if inappropriately run, can limit farmers' motivation to grow surplus produce. Typically, cooperatives' structure and operation mirror local society; this can further cement barriers to the economic empowerment of women, who in many countries are the real motor of successful small-scale agriculture.
Village cooperatives are not the only form of 'linking up' available to smallholders. Intelligently constructed public-private partnerships can, for example, enable access to better price or weather information via mobile telecommunications. These and other services help to reduce the burden of risk on smallholders. Many other types of linkage are also already in place.
So what is the best way forward in the important drive to give "small farms big levers"? What is the role of partnership and cooperation in improving smallholders' livelihoods?
How can smallholders in developing countries best link up to improve their livelihoods – sustainably and without long-term dependence on foreign assistance? Which models work best where, and why? How can agricultural development programmes help farmers' organisations optimise financing and avoid inappropriate management? Where will major consolidation of smallholdings into larger units help meet this challenge, and what other changes will that require? What additional options will new technologies offer, as smallholders' role in ensuring food security becomes more important than ever? What other factors will be decisive?
Through your research and investigative methods, you are invited to delve into these issues and make the stories behind them come to life.
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