Cote d’Ivoire: digital platform to strengthen women’s agricultural resilience to climate change

21 Apr 2022 | AfDB. Cote d’Ivoire: African Development Bank-supported digital platform will support women farmers to gain access to markets.

Women farmers in Cote d’Ivoire will more easily find markets for their crops, thanks to a digital platform recently launched by UN Women.

Blaattohttps://blaatto.com/en/homepage/ part of the UN agency’s Buy From Women initiative, is targeting women smallholder farmers and members of women-led agricultural cooperatives in the country’s central region where access to markets is relatively poor. The word ‘blaatto’ means ‘come and buy’ in the region’s Baule language.

Buy From Women is an open-source, cloud-based enterprise and e-commerce platform that can be customized to specific market products. It also offers women information and finance. In Cote d’Ivoire, UN Women is rolling out the initiative with African Development Bank support and with funding from the Bank-managed Korea Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund.

The platform is part of a UN Women project in Cote d’Ivoire to strengthen women’s agricultural resilience to climate change and quality of life by incorporating ICT into agricultural production.

Learning from AGRA’s Market Access Programme

Do All Roads Lead to Market? Learning from AGRA’s Market Access Programme.
Emma Kambewa, Matieyedou Konlambigue, Bertus Wennink and Mariana Wongtschowski (Editors)
by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in partnership with The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT)
2013, 173 pages

AGRA and its partners, by this book, seek to propose various strategies─derived from lessons learnt over a period of time and across several AGRA projects─to make food markets more efficient and profitable to smallholder farmers in Africa. In summary, the book discusses six key issues including:

1. Organization of farmers; 
2. bulking and collective marketing; 
3. market Information Systems.
4. Promoting an enabling environment for access to finance 
5. Post-harvest handling and value addition, 
6. and Increasing demand through alternative use of staples. 

Related:

27 November 27, 2013. Accra, Ghana. AGRA and Royal Tropical Institute launch new book: "Do All Roads Lead To Market?"

Making links from small farms to markets in Africa

Published on 13 Mar 2013.  This event - Making links from small farms to markets in Africa: lessons from villages and supply chains - was held on 25 February 2013 at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) offices, London.

Steve Wiggins: small holder farmers and commercialisation

Gem Argwings-Kodhek: what's really happening in African agriculture?

Bill Vorley: how can we make better links between smallholders and others in the supply chain?

Christine Okali: small holder farmers and commercialisation

Andrew Dorward: small holder famers and commercialisation

 This event - Making links from small farms to markets in Africa: lessons from villages and supply chains - was held on 25 February 2013 at ODI offices, London.

Turning Innovations into Market Opportunities

30/10/2012. Breakout session GCARD II, P3.2 Turning Innovations into Market Opportunities.

Research has a central role to play in generating evidence to inform policymaking and policy design about the underlying enabling environment and to support and evaluate new institutional arrangements and mechanisms addressing the shortfalls. These include innovation in business models along the value chain, new risk management instruments, financial intermediation addressing the missing market for credit, support for collective action for market development or advocacy, and new technologies and technical innovation in product handing, quality assurance and value chain management.

New organizational arrangements which place the user of research central in the definition of research priorities and in uptake processes are required. This includes a central role for organizations which represent the interests of the smallholders in particular farmer organizations but also for the private sector, trade and commodity associations and procurement officers in government programmes. 

Research partnerships which tackle cross-cutting issues in markets need to work with inter-ministerial task groups which go beyond ministries of agriculture and include other sectoral line-ministries responsible for trade, infrastructure, innovation and poverty-reduction strategies as well as the key stakeholders including farmer organizations, private sector and trade and commodity platforms.

The Session was chaired by Philip Kiriro, President, East Africa Farmers Federation, and
facilitated by Felicity Proctor, an independent consultant, UK.

The first part of the Session addressed the Enabling environment and policies for smallholders. 

1. Karen Brooks (IFPRI), outlined the CGIAR funded and recently launched programme entitled Policies, Institutions, and Markets to Strengthen Food Security and Incomes for the Rural Poor. Illustrative examples of innovation initiated under this programme on contract farming and on strengthening rural producer organizations were outlined. 
2. Ruben Méndez (ALIFRUT, Alimentos and Frutos SA), presented an innovative alliance between ALIFRUT, a publicly-funded research and smallholder producers who are working together to address specific challenges facing smallholders’ market inclusion in the Chilean context and expand their export markets. 
3.  Lorenzo Castillo (Junta Nacional de Café [JNC]), Peru, explained how a lobby agenda has been developed by a group of economic farmers’ organizations and led by the coffee cooperatives to influence the agenda of the national multi-stakeholder platform on agricultural policy and the outcome of these advocacy actions to enhance smallholder market access. 
4. Giel Ton (his presentation starts at 1h01') (LEI Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands) introduce the Empowering Smallholder Farmers in the Markets (ESFIM) Programme drawing out key generic lessons from work in ten countries on farmer organizations–research partnerships on strengthening farmer organization-led research for advocacy.

The second part (no video available) of the session entitled Fostering Smallholder Entrepreneurship - examples from
practice will bring first-hand examples from farmer organizations where such organizations have
developed strategies of collective action and used evidence-based advocacy to call for change in
policies and institutional arrangements to ensure that such arrangements meet the needs of their
membership and specifically smallholders. 

1. John Mutunga (Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers [KENFAP]) shared KENFAPs experiences of how contributions to policy making processes have enhanced the pro-smallholder farmer market access agenda; 
2. Shirlene Chaves (Mujeres Campesinas de Costa Rica [CMC]), outlined how women have mobilised to enable better market access including the building up of local markets and 
3. José Bervejillo (Cooperativas Agrarias Federadas [CAF]), presented examples of innovation processes in the  cooperative sector and how these can inform the national innovation policy in Uruguay. 

The panel of respondents included:  

1. Robert Carlson (President, World Farmers’ Organization);
2. Mohamed El-Kholy (Olive Network of the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa [AARINENA]); 
3. Lucy  Muchoki (CEO, Pan African Agribusiness Consortium [PanAAC]); and 
4. Bayan Alimgazinova (AgroInnovation, Kazakhstan).

 5 p. Download document

Workshops on linking farmers to markets

Accra workshop participants

9 July 2012. Johannesburg. 11 July 2012 Nairobi. 13 July 2012, Accra. A4I, ODI and FANRPAN hosted three regional African workshops as part of their 'Leaping and Learning: Taking Agricultural Successes to Scale' project.

In partnership with the Food Agriculture Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network [FANRPAN], the one-day workshops compared experiences of linking farmers to markets. Provisional results of a comparative analysis of cases of linking small farmers to markets were presented, drawing on the wealth of practical experience seen in the field.

Nairobi workshop participants

The aim was to compare these to the insights of participants, most of whom worked actively in the region on linking small farmers to markets.

How best can small-scale family farms in Africa be linked to markets, get access to inputs, finance and know-how to stimulate agricultural growth and reduce poverty? How can this be done both effectively and equitably? How can successes be scaled up and replicated?

Johannesburg workshop participants

form the focus of ‘Leaping and Learning: Strategies for Taking Agricultural Successes to Scale’ being carried out by the Agriculture for Impact team based at Imperial College London working together with the Overseas Development Institute. 


Check out the blog at www.ag4impact.wordpress.com/ for further details on all three workshops.

Dealing with small scale producers - Linking buyers and producers

Dealing with small scale producers - Linking buyers and producers

By Ellen Mangnus and Bart de Steenhuijsen Piters 
Published by the Royal Tropical Institute 
Website: www.kitpublishers.nl 
2010, 80pp, ISBN 978 9 46022 126 2 (Pb), €25 or free to download

Poor infrastructure, and lack of up-to-date market information, technical advisory services, agricultural inputs and post-harvest facilities make it difficult for smallscale farmers to deliver a consistent supply of high quality produce to the market. Dealing with small scale producers states that producer organisations should overcome the obstacles that inhibit cooperation between private sector businesses, but in many cases, this does not occur. "There is great diversity in producer organisations and also in their capacities," the authors write, "consequently, there is confusion about which form or organisation is appropriate for a particular business aim."

Dealing with small scale producers attempts to remove this confusion by outlining the successes and limitations of different models of producer organisations, in order that the reader will be able to select which approach is most useful. A number of experts also present their personal insights on a range of subjects, including how producer organisations help smallscale farmers in reaching supermarkets and entrepreneurship in producer organisation.

"The private sector is struggling to establish business collaborations with smallholders in Africa. There are growing opportunities for African agriculture to market its produce," state the authors, "but African agriculture cannot seize this opportunity as it is still dominated by smallholders, which imposes constraints in terms of trade volume and product quality." The authors conclude: "In order to benefit from the opportunities of consumer demand, African smallholders need to become better organised."

Author Ellen Mangnus of the Royal Tropical Institute talks about her book "Dealing with small scale producers, linking buyers and producers' of KIT Publishers.

From Vision to Action, Africa’s Next Chapter

World Economic Forum on Africa 2011

Cape Town, South Africa, 4-6 May 2011
From Vision to Action, Africa’s Next Chapter 

“Partnerships are desirable and necessary and have worked well for us,” Tanzanian President Jakaya M. Kikwete told participants in a session on innovative partnerships for development. Added Kofi Annan “Our vision is not just to help farmers to feed themselves but also to feed the markets so Africa can become part of the global food security system. This is not a pipe dream.”


Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, FANRPAN Chief Executive Officer, participated in the panel discussion.

News Release | Livestreamed Sessions

Despite long-standing commercial ties with Europe, Africa now conducts half its trade with developing economic regions. Against the popular perception of Africa being exploited by resource-hungry China, South-South collaboration is beneficiary to both sides. China and India are both engaging notably in the continent’s development. African countries can particularly benefit from such collaboration by encouraging the transfer of technologies.

Livestream Sessions | Session Summary

“I am sure that you could literally point to each African state almost as a case study of how elections should not be conducted,” said Morgan Tsvangarai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, in an interview for the World Economic Forum. He spoke to the Forum about the challenges of stabilizing democracy in Zimbabwe and throughout Africa.

Watch the interview

The leaders of South Africa, Gabon and Kenya pledged to work together and take a united stance at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa, in November. In a session on the Durban Agenda, the panellists agreed that governments must work with business and civil society to shape a new framework on global warming

News Release | Livestream sessions

A declaration of partnership has been announced between the South Africa Department of Water Affairs and the 2030 Water Resources Group. The announcement was made by Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa Edna Molewa, Chairman of Nestlé and Chairman of the Water Resources Group Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. With water demand set to rise by 52% within the next 30 years in South Africa, the South African government joins the governments of Jordan, Mexico and the State of Karnataka in India as a partner with the Water Resources Group, an influential public-private global network on water supported by the World Economic Forum and the International Finance Corporation.

Declaration of Partnership | News Release

The World Economic Forum on Africa 2011 opened with a call for Africa to rethink its global role. “You can no longer talk about the old Africa,” declared South African President Jacob G. Zuma during the opening plenary session. “We need to develop very urgently partnerships that are different from the past, relationships that benefit Africa more.”

News Release | Livestream sessions 

Three leading social entrepreneurs were recognized as Regional Social Entrepreneurs of the Year for Africa. They were presented with their awards by Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in a ceremony held after the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa. The winners, who work across Africa, are among a group of 17 Social Entrepreneurs from around the world who are taking part in the meeting.

News Release | Livestream sessions

The Africa Competitiveness Report 2011, jointly produced by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, takes stock of the competitiveness of Africa. The report finds that increasing trade, enhancing higher education, ensuring entrepreneurial opportunities for women and developing the tourism sector are important for improving the region’s economic prospects.

Read the report | News Release | Interviews 

PwC have compiled a Knowledge Conciergefor the World Economic Forum on Africa consisting of Fast Facts and briefing papers on subjects relating to the themes of the meeting.

PwC Knowledge Concierge

Katherine Tweedie, Director, Head of Africa and several of our co-chairs share their thoughts on the World Economic Forum on Africa. They look at the key issues that will be addressed at the meeting, as well as looking forward to the highlights to come. Photos from the World Economic Forum on Africa. See the full set and photos on Flickr

This year, the Africa Progress Report is dedicated to the transformative power of partnerships. While the idea of pooling a range of actors and their energy, creativity and resources around specific development challenges is hardly new, too few success stories are replicated or brought to scale to effect lasting structural change. Against this backdrop, this year’s report identifies partnership models that have already proven their transformative potential and assesses how to create the policy framework and incentive structure needed to spur further collaboration for progress. The report argues that all actors, including governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society, can do more to facilitate the spread of successful models across sectors and countries, and that doing so is in their self-interest. It also argues that much work remains to be done to convince all sides of the inherent benefits of partnering for progress. This is the main purpose of this report.

Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets

One of the side events at the 3rd European Forum on Rural Development was about Linking smallholder farmers to efficient markets. Wednesday, March 30th. This side event was coordinated by Agrinatura. The moderator: was Giel Ton of ESFIM. 

Case Studies:

1. Costa Rica: Fernando Saenz
2. Ghana: Matieyedou Kolambigue
3. Kenya: Daphne Gatwiri
4. Vietnam: Paule Moustier
5. Tanzania: Jacob Maiseli

Background

ESFIM’s overall objective is to generate demand-driven action research supportive to the policy activities undertaken by farmers’ organisations to strengthen the capacities of smallholder farmers in developing countries to generate remunerative cash income from markets by creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment as well as effective economic organisations and institutions.

Collaborative Research

There is a research support to eleven national farmers’ organisations that strengthen their capacities to formulate feasible, evidence-based propositions for changes in key elements in the institutional environment that empower smallholder farmers in markets.

Activities: NFOs from the selected countries will steer a research partnership for empowering their smallholder farmers in markets using research support of European and local researchers to feed discussions on smallholder market access within a farmer driven platform and a sequence of participatory workshops.

Outputs: NFO’s will have a pro-active lobby agenda related with smallholder farmers in markets, and a set of written technically sound propositions for changes in specific key elements in the institutional environment

Results: NFO’s will be capable to more effectively voice their specific research requirements and link up with researchers that can support them in executing their research activities.

The activities related to the Collaborative Research benefited in particular from a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Economy, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I) with funds from the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGIS). Most of the funds are used to pay for the local research support and participatory workshops and will be subcontracted to the eleven participating National Farmers Organizations (NFOs). 

Comparative Research

In parallel to Collaborative Research actions, the activities related to Comparative Research continue and focus on Innovative Financial Models, Market Information Systems, Incentives in Collective Marketing and Risk Insurance. First outcomes of the research are now available through the ESFIM web-site.

European Research Partner

AGRINATURA 

The AGRINATURA members involved in the ESFIM research are:
Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR)
Natural Resources Institute (NRI)
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)

Main Partners

IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development
AGRICORD – Alliance of Agri-agencies

CTA – Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU

Collaborative Research Partners : 

Benin / Kenya / Madagascar / Malawi / South Africa / Uganda / India / Phillipines / Peru / Uruguay / Costa Rica

For more detailed results, please refer to the “expected results” heading of each country work package.