Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets- farmer-driven research for advocacy -

Giel TonAGRINATURA / LEI Wageningen UR

• Initiated by IFAP in 2007, global farmers’ organisation that bankrupted in 2010• The programme continued with each of the respective National Farmers’ Organisations

(NFOs) • Budget (2007-2012): US$€2,1k

– (2007-2010) Financially supported by IFAD, AGRICORD/AGRITERRA and CTA– (2010-2012) Financially supported by IFAD and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs,

Agriculture and Innovation– (2012-2016) Pending

• Strategic research support by three members of AGRINATURA (European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development):

• Wageningen UR – The Netherlands– NRI/University of Greenwich - UK– CIRAD - France

Collaborative Research in 10 countries

Building a research-advocacy interface– Research support to national farmers’ organisations that

strengthen their capacities to formulate feasible, evidence-based propositions to get a more focussed advocacy agenda on smallholder market access

– Bridging the gap between the research community and national farmers’ organisations

RESEARCH COMMUNITY

• Research institutes tend to focus on peer-reviewed academic outputs (focus = methods) and less on how findings can be made relevant for development practice

• Researchers are more interested in mid/long-term studies

• Funding generally for pre-defined research issues: little flexibility to adapt

• High staff-fee rates

FARMER ORGANISATIONS

• NFOs are interested in findings not so much in research methods, and need newspapers, not academic journals

• NFOs contract researchers/consultants, when linked to their short-term (advocacy) priorities

• NFOs often lack capacity to access existing research results

• NFO do not prioritise own budget for external researchers

There are many good intentions to link research to farmer organisations’ needs. However, there is limited real experiences with institutional arrangements that effectively

bridge the gap between these different ‘institutional cultures’.

ESFIM activitiesA. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH (90% of total budget)•Research priorities defined by NFO:

– Participatory workshops: address critical constraints for smallholders’ access to markets

– Local research on key issues contracted by NFO– Backstopping by AGRINATURA (LEI, CIRAD, NRI)

B. COMPARATIVE RESEARCH (10% of total budget)•Overarching desk studies and policy briefs:

– Risk Insurance Models – Innovative Financial Models– Incentive Structures in Collective Marketing – Market Information Systems

Research focus in collaborative research:diversity with flexibility

Philippines – FFF: Commodity ExchangeMalawi – NASFAM: Seed supply; Market information systemKenya – KENFAP: Input voucher programme; Warehouse Receipt SystemMadagascar – CPM: Rural service provisioningUganda – UNFFE: NAADS rural advisory systemBenin – FUPRO: Maize sector policy; Value chain developmentCosta Rica – CMC: Farmers’ markets; Food sovereignty legislationBolivia – CIOEC: Preferential policies for collective marketing Peru – JNC: Taxation of cooperatives; Government procurementUruguay – CAF: Cooperatives in national innovation policy

Lessons learnt• Need to go beyond a ‘wish-list’ of issues

– connect to the NFOs existing/past advocacy trajectories

• Relatively high staff turn-over in NFOs– need for systemizing the (long-term) advocacy process and track the related policy initiatives

• Embed the research support in a wider support package– Complementary support creates synergy and ‘space for research’

• Advocacy events speed-up the research output, but may hinder the depth of analysis – Need to complement short-term consultancies with mid-term complementary research programmes

• Delicate balance between funding internal staff and contracting external research support– Separate funding lines may limit this ‘tension’/’temptation’

• Effective advocacy needs both grassroots consultations and centralized strategizing – Personal champions are needed but not sufficient; neither is ‘workshopping’

Source: AGRINATURA researchers, ESFIM methodology workshops, 10-12 October 2011 and 2-3 October 2012

Process evaluation by researchersCPM CAF CIOEC CMC FUPRO FFF JNC KENFAP NASFAM UNFFE

TOO FEW EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS

TOO MUCH EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS

TOO CENTRALIZED CONSULTATION

TOO WIDE CONSULTATION

Self-evaluation by the NFO board members (averaged)Improvement capacity compared to three years ago

Capacity areasFUPRO CMC UNFFE NASFAM KENFAP FFF CIOEC CAF CPM

Benin Costa Rica Uganda Malawi Kenya Philippines Bolivia Uruguay Madagascar

Capacity for coherence

Capacity for networking

Capacity to renew and adapt (learning)

Capacity to commit and act

Capacity to deliver development objectives

ESFIM was one contributing factor in a configurations of many other factors

Way forwardNeed for a ‘smart and flexible’ institutional arrangement (governance mechanisms) that provides a balance between quality research and support for advocacy events:– Separate funding lines for each: for research assignments and for priority setting

and advocacy within the NFO – Requirement of having an advocacy strategy in advance on each issue, but with

room for adaptation according to contextual policy dynamics– Sufficient time frame to have a process of interaction that builds confidence

(both in researchers and NFOs) in the synergy between research and evidence in the research community and advocacy and learning in the farmer community

What do we need?• Research Support Funds, available to NFOs exclusively, for contracted

research that provides evidence to help inform and refine their advocacy strategies

• Budget for NFOs to facilitate these research proposals, including the necessary participative processes of policy generation and targeted advocacy

• Funds to exchange experiences in regional, continental and global networks of farmer organisations

• Budget for backstopping and strategic research support

What do we offer?• A modality to channel research demands of NFOs to the research community• Committed researchers that are able to cope with the dynamics inherent to

working with NFOs• Knowledge on current policies that affect smallholder access to markets• Access to networks of famer organisations that do advocacy on smallholder issues

A growing coalition of (currently) 15 national farmer organisations and three regional farmer organisations interested in deepening and scaling-up the ESFIM approach

Financial support:

THANK YOUhttp://www.esfim.org

giel.ton@wur.nl