This document summarizes the Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets (ESFIM) program, which provides research support to national farmers' organizations (NFOs) to strengthen their advocacy capacities. The program is a collaboration between NFOs in 10 countries and 3 European research institutions. It focuses on farmer-driven research to inform NFO advocacy agendas on issues like market access. Key lessons include the need for a flexible model that balances quality research with advocacy needs, and separate funding lines for research and advocacy. Going forward, dedicated research support funds for NFOs, as well as funds for
Outcome of the online consultation of USAID, Aligning Research Investments to...Francois Stepman
18-20 April 2017. Aligning Research Investments to the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS): A Three-Day AgExchange on Nutrition, Resilience and Agriculture-Led Economic Growth
Over 400 development and research professionals in more than 30 countries followed and/or contributed to the discussion on research investments in resilience, nutrition, and agriculture-led economic growth. A team of experts is currently carefully reviewing each and every comment to inform the drafting of the GFSS research strategy.
Outcome of the online consultation of USAID, Aligning Research Investments to...Francois Stepman
18-20 April 2017. Aligning Research Investments to the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS): A Three-Day AgExchange on Nutrition, Resilience and Agriculture-Led Economic Growth
Over 400 development and research professionals in more than 30 countries followed and/or contributed to the discussion on research investments in resilience, nutrition, and agriculture-led economic growth. A team of experts is currently carefully reviewing each and every comment to inform the drafting of the GFSS research strategy.
The contribution of research to innovation, participation of farmers and pri...Francois Stepman
04/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM CEST. How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa? Organised by EC/INTPA
Presentation by: Aggrey Agumya (FARA): The contribution of research to innovation, the role of technologies, the participation of farmers and private sector, how to strengthen capacities to innovate
Strengthening Capacity to Innovate at National LevelFrancois Stepman
Presentation by Selvaraju Ramasamy (FAO/head of Unit “Research and Extension”. Leading FAO’s efforts in Agricultural Research and Extension) - Strengthening capacity to innovate in national Agricultural Innovation Systems, the case of Malawi (TAP/FAO)
How to support innovation through research for the transformation of the agri...Francois Stepman
04/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM CEST. How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa?
Guy Faure (DG INTPA): The different innovation models for the transformation of the agri-food systems, the different contributions of research to innovation, the different methods to assess the contribution of research to impacts
Transformation of Agricultural Innovation System, the Roleof the National Agr...apaari
Transformation of Agricultural Innovation System, the Roleof the National Agricultural Research System (NARS): A Success Story from the Philippines by Marita A. Carlos, Richard E. Amansec, Alexandra Cabrera, Jose Tomas Cabagay, Melvin B. Carlos and Reynaldo V. Ebora, Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development DOST-PCAARRD
Conceptual Model on Establishing Agricultural Knowledge Sharing Network of Ir...apaari
Conceptual Model on Establishing Agricultural Knowledge Sharing Network of Iran (AKSI) by Mazier Amirhosseini, PhD
Agricultural Research, Education, Extension Organization (AREEO), Academic Relations and International Affairs (ARIA)
The Role of Knowledge Management in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS)apaari
The Role of Knowledge Management in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) by Martina Spisiakova, Knowledge Management Coordinator, Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)
The contribution of research to innovation, participation of farmers and pri...Francois Stepman
04/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM CEST. How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa? Organised by EC/INTPA
Presentation by: Aggrey Agumya (FARA): The contribution of research to innovation, the role of technologies, the participation of farmers and private sector, how to strengthen capacities to innovate
Strengthening Capacity to Innovate at National LevelFrancois Stepman
Presentation by Selvaraju Ramasamy (FAO/head of Unit “Research and Extension”. Leading FAO’s efforts in Agricultural Research and Extension) - Strengthening capacity to innovate in national Agricultural Innovation Systems, the case of Malawi (TAP/FAO)
How to support innovation through research for the transformation of the agri...Francois Stepman
04/06 09:00 - 11:00 AM CEST. How research can better support innovation for the transformation of the agrifood systems in Africa?
Guy Faure (DG INTPA): The different innovation models for the transformation of the agri-food systems, the different contributions of research to innovation, the different methods to assess the contribution of research to impacts
Transformation of Agricultural Innovation System, the Roleof the National Agr...apaari
Transformation of Agricultural Innovation System, the Roleof the National Agricultural Research System (NARS): A Success Story from the Philippines by Marita A. Carlos, Richard E. Amansec, Alexandra Cabrera, Jose Tomas Cabagay, Melvin B. Carlos and Reynaldo V. Ebora, Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development DOST-PCAARRD
Conceptual Model on Establishing Agricultural Knowledge Sharing Network of Ir...apaari
Conceptual Model on Establishing Agricultural Knowledge Sharing Network of Iran (AKSI) by Mazier Amirhosseini, PhD
Agricultural Research, Education, Extension Organization (AREEO), Academic Relations and International Affairs (ARIA)
The Role of Knowledge Management in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS)apaari
The Role of Knowledge Management in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) by Martina Spisiakova, Knowledge Management Coordinator, Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)
Briefing paper National Food Security - CGIAR Research Program on Livestock ...GCARD Conferences
The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish and the role of development partners: The overall rationale, assumptions and approach adopted by the program will be described, and the specific role that we expect development partners to play in achieving its objectives.
Visit the conference site for more information: http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
Le programme de Recherche du CGIAR sur l’Elevage et la Pêche et le rôle des partenaires au développement : Le contexte et justification, les hypothèses et l’approche adoptée par le programme seront décrits, ainsi que le rôle spécifique que les partenaires au développement doivent jouer dans la réalisation des objectifs dudit programme.
Visitez le site web de la GCARD2 pour plus d'information: http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
При разработке цифрового следа, iWowWe сделает больше миллионеров, чем любая другая компания, изменив способ мировых коммуникаций. iWowWe является следующая эволюция Skype, Apple и Microsoft в одном лице. http://customernation2.iwowwe.com/compensation-plan.html
This document highlights the urgent changes required in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) systems to address worldwide challenges. GCARD2 http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
Ce document présente la nécessité, les défis et opportunités de transformer les systèmes de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (AR4D). GCARD2 http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
Este documento destaca los cambios urgentes necesarios en la investigación agrícola para sistemas de desarrollo (AR4D) para abordar los desafíos en todo el mundo. GCARD2 http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
GCARD2: Foresight, projections and issues of Agricultural Research Coordination for future smallholder impact http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
GCARD2: Perspectives, projections et enjeu de la coordination d'une recherche agricole orientée dans le future vers des petits paysans http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
GCARD2 Prospectiva, proyecciones y problemas de coordinación de la investigación agrícola para el impacto futuro de agricultores pequeños. http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012
Advances of the AU-EU FNSSA Partnership towards Food Systems TransformationFrancois Stepman
23-25 January 2024. Joint SCAR workshop: “Research needs and priorities for the transformation to Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) at European and global level”
https://paepard.blogspot.com/2024/01/research-needs-and-priorities-for.html
Independent evaluation of CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM): Brief summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations
APAARI Webinar with Universities on Capacity Development for Agricultural Inn...apaari
APAARI Webinar with Universities on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems - Bringing system-wide change in Asia-Pacific - 16 November 2017
The Users’ Led Process: Instrument to develop and sustain research and innova...Francois Stepman
14-15 September 2017. Uganda. Muyonyo Speke Resort Hotel. The EAFF/East African Farmer Federation Congress organized its 4th conference on Small holder farmers to harness new investments; partnerships and innovations to enhance value chain ownership, productivity and market integration
A side event was held related to PAEPARD: Linking research to application within the extensive livestock value chain.
Agriculture Science Agenda for Africa - Drawing on and Learning from other Ex...riatenorio
Information sharing on the development of a Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa With inputs for CAADP-CGIAR alignment
April 13, 2013
Dublin, Ireland
"Partnering for Impact: IFPRI-European Research Collaboration for Improved Food and Nutrition Security" presentation by Karen Brooks, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets, on 25 November 2013 in Brussels, Belgium.
GFAR / GODAN / CTA webinar #2 "Key data for farmers" - Stephen Kalyesubula - ...GCARD Conferences
[Webinar recording in last slide or at https://youtu.be/taHHp3UbRZI, 28/2/2018]
As part of its work on farmers’ data rights and following up on the face-to-face course on Farmers’ Access to Data organized in Centurion in November 2017, GFAR collaborates with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative (GODAN) and the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperarion (CTA) on a series of webinars on data-driven agriculture, its opportunities and its challenges.
Overview of webinar #2
Data becomes significant if it can be linked to information, knowledge and wisdom. Once processed it can be used to generate detailed insights into farm operations and the environment. It assists big and small holder farmers in making data-based operational decisions to optimize yield and boost revenue while minimizing expenses, the chances of crop failure, and environmental impact.
For data driven agriculture to happen we have to distinguish the data streams in the food chain from pre-planting to consumption, for example: data collected and managed from the farm by farmers which can be either static or dynamic; data coming from external sources like market prices and data that is exported for aggregation by other farm service providers. However, farmers may not be in a position to realize those streams and possibly what data and information is required to answer the food chain questions, for example: What produce can I grow where I live? When should I sow/plant/harvest/market it? How should I sow/plant/harvest/market it? All these questions can be answered if the factual data or information is used or made available to the farmers.
Webinar Goals
Make the participants understand the different key data streams, flow and sources that are vital to agricultural value chains. Participants will be in position to identify the data they own or collect on their farms and its usefulness, understand the difference between human and machine farm data, identify the part in the agricultural value chain where data, and which data, is needed most.
About the presenter
Stephen Kalyesubula is a Computer Engineering and an agri-preneur from Makerere University. He is a graduate researcher at iLabs@Mak Project – Makerere University and his key technological interests include: Data science, robotics, Internet of things, AI and design thinking. He is among the directors of Youths In Technology and Development Uganda whose mission is to create tech communities of practice where appropriate use of technology promotes sustainable development in agriculture, health and education.
[Webinar recording in last slide or at https://youtu.be/DMg9UI7Ur0M, 26/3/2018]
As part of its work on farmers’ data rights and following up on the face-to-face course on Farmers’ Access to Data organized in Centurion in November 2017, GFAR collaborates with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative (GODAN) and the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperarion (CTA) on a series of webinars on data-driven agriculture, its opportunities and its challenges.
Overview of webinar #3
This webinar is a continuation of exploring digital agriculture for smallholder farmers. The first webinar provided an overview of digital agriculture, the trends impacting it, and it advantages and challenges for smallholder farmers. The second identified specific data needed by farmers, as well as potential sources.
“Crossing the Donga” will provide smallholder farmers, and those who support them, specific methods for ensuring farmer-centric solutions. The webinar will examine some of the key challenges that are blocking adoption of digital architecture by smallholder farmers. Attendees will learn a process for mapping their data needs, based on their goals and key tasks. Attendees will learn the foundational market model, and how to create value for success.
About the presenter
Dan Berne is a highly regarded professional business growth strategist with over 30 years’ experience. Dan led the effort to create an Ag Irrigation market strategy for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). He also conducted grower experience studies to help identify barriers to grower adoption of energy saving practices. Dan wrote or co-wrote many of the NEEA Ag Irrigation reports. Dan serves as the Project Manager on AgGateway’s Precision Ag Irrigation Language data standards project. He is an affiliate of the Chasm Institute, and a certified practitioner of Innovation Games.
Dan started the “Lagom Ag Initiative” within his company to help accelerate the adoption of precision farming practices and improve the use of digital agricultural methodologies. Lagom is a Swedish word that means “just enough.” It is also used to mean “simply perfect.” It fits our philosophy of helping farmers use just enough water, just enough fertilizers, just enough energy to be profitable while increasing or maintaining yield.
GFAR / GODAN / CTA webinar #1 "Data-driven agriculture. An overview" - Dan Be...GCARD Conferences
[Webinar recording in last slide or at https://youtu.be/bsicKqHZIz4, 22/2/2018]
As part of its work on farmers’ data rights and following up on the face-to-face course on Farmers’ Access to Data organized in Centurion in November 2017, GFAR collaborates with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative (GODAN) and the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperarion (CTA) on a series of webinars on data-driven agriculture, its opportunities and its challenges.
Overview of webinar #1
Precision agriculture is a promising set of technologies that is data intensive, but which has limited adoption by small holder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Concurrently, current trends in sustainability, traceability, and compliance reporting demand that an ever-increasing amount of data be gathered as part of everyday operations in modern production agriculture.
The use of farm management information systems (FMIS) for decision support has shown great promise for improving farm yields and profitability. However, growers are often unsure of the value of the data that they are providing and/or receiving. How does this data help them make the right decisions to improve their yield and profitability? How do growers and service providers work together to simplify the design and use of farm data? How can smallholder farmers take advantage of data in a mutually valuable relationship with data providers?
Webinar Goals
Provide attendees a foundation for understanding the use of data for farming and across the agricultural value chain. Attendees should be able to apply the core concepts of using data for field operations, as well as how data is used across the value chain. Attendees will be introduced to the opportunities and challenges of using data, especially for smallholder farmers.
About the presenter
Dan Berne is a highly regarded professional business growth strategist with over 30 years’ experience. Dan led the effort to create an Ag Irrigation market strategy for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). He also conducted grower experience studies to help identify barriers to grower adoption of energy saving practices. Dan wrote or co-wrote many of the NEEA Ag Irrigation reports. Dan serves as the Project Manager on AgGateway’s Precision Ag Irrigation Language data standards project. He is an affiliate of the Chasm Institute, and a certified practitioner of Innovation Games.
Dan started the “Lagom Ag Initiative” within his company to help accelerate the adoption of precision farming practices and improve the use of digital agricultural methodologies. Lagom is a Swedish word that means “just enough.” It is also used to mean “simply perfect.” It fits our philosophy of helping farmers use just enough water, just enough fertilizers, just enough energy to be profitable while increasing or maintaining yield.
GFAR webinar "The future of online media" - webdesign trendsGCARD Conferences
This presentation was used during our GFAR webinar on "The future of online media", announced here: https://blog.gfar.net/2016/10/09/upcoming-webinar-predicting-future-online-media/
Check out the live webinar recording here: https://youtu.be/N8UkwOoI9hQ
GFAR webinar "building a bridge between scientists and communicators"GCARD Conferences
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Building a bridge between scientists and communicators"
This webinar was organised by GFAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/01/03/webinar-scientists-and-communicators-friends-or-foes/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/HK8Q0JgAaGQ
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Email newsletters"
This webinar was organised by GFAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/02/05/upcoming-comms-webinar-email-based-newsletters-not-a-thing-of-the-past/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/2NPpCxcJJUc
GFAR Webinar "Finding and using pictures for your website or blog"GCARD Conferences
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Website Revamps"
This webinar was organised by GFAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2016/06/13/webinar-alert-is-a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/mJ-q1CxK_rQ
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Basic SEO"
This webinar was organised by GFAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2016/08/30/gfar-webinars-on-search-engine-optimization-and-website-revamps/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/kcty662Hcss
GFAR webinar on "Measuring social media performance"GCARD Conferences
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Innovative Annual Reports"
This webinar was co-organised by GFAR and CGIAR.
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2016/01/18/flash-two-more-gfar-social-media-webinars/
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Innovative Annual Reports"
This webinar was co-organised by GFAR and CGIAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2015/11/30/free-induction-webinar-social-media-for-professionals/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/WO1zUOOy1nA
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Innovative Annual Reports"
This webinar was organised by GFAR
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/11/26/webinar-innovating-annual-reports/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/BAsPhl0H4Ec
GFAR-TAP webinar on "Sharing Knowledge on Capacity Development for Agricultur...GCARD Conferences
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Sharing Knowledge on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation through TAPipedia"
This webinar was co-organised by GFAR and TAP.
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/10/24/gfartap-webinar-sharing-knowledge-on-capacity-development-for-agricultural-innovation-through-tapipedia/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/_cHK5QK2rPk
GFAR COSA GLF webinar on "Effective Tools for Understanding, Managing and Acc...GCARD Conferences
These is the slide deck of presentations used during the webinar "Effective Tools for Understanding, Managing and Accelerating Impact"
This webinar was co-organised by GFAR, COSA and GLF and is part of a wider series on agricultural research & innovation,eco-systems management and sustainable development.
It was introduced in this blogpost: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/10/13/join-cosa-gfar-impact-webinar/
The video recording of the actual webinar can be found on our Youtube channel: Effective https://youtu.be/RtYlWo_Ok5o
With thanks to our co-hosts in this webinar: (COSA) Global Landscapes forum (GLF) and Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) -
https://thecosa.org/
http://landscapes.org
GFAR webinar: "The art and science of webcasting and webstreaming"GCARD Conferences
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "The art and science of webcasting and webstreaming"
The announcement blogpost was published here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/10/05/gfar-webinar-web-casting/
You can find the full recording of this webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs7IsZQi5zg
GFAR webinar: "Farmers’ Rights: Complementarity between Researchers and Farmers"GCARD Conferences
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "Farmers’ Rights: How Complementarity between Researchers and Farmers Impact the Conservation of Genetic Diversity, Food Security and Livelihoods of the Poor”
The announcement blogpost was published here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/08/31/gfar-webinar-communications-success-stories/
You can find the full recording of this webinar here: https://youtu.be/N16hHmL8xNM
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "Beyond decision making: Foresight as a process for improving attitude towards change" --
The announcement blogpost was published here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/08/25/join-our-gfar-webinar-farmers-rights/
You can find the full recording of this webinar here: https://youtu.be/RxuLR2FWYYI
Beyond decision making: Foresight as a process for improving attitude towards...GCARD Conferences
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "Beyond decision making: Foresight as a process for improving attitude towards change" --
The announcement blogpost was published here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/06/07/gfar-webinar-beyond-decision-making-foresight-as-a-process-for-improving-attitude-towards-change/
You can find the full recording of this webinar here: https://youtu.be/8tzz5vNEhZ4
Farmers’ Rights: Achieving Complementarity Between the Informal and Formal Se...GCARD Conferences
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "Farmers’ Rights: Achieving Complementarity Between the Informal and Formal Seed Systems". -- Announcement blogpost was here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/05/10/gfar-webinar-farmers-rights-achieving-complementarity-between-the-informal-and-formal-seed-systems/
...and the actual webinar recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ9c2_nbtBc
GFAR webinar on farm radio, community radio and participatory radioGCARD Conferences
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on "farm radio, community radio and participatory radio" . -- Announcement here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/05/31/join-gfar-webinar-on-farm-radio/
...and the actual webinar recording can be found here: https://youtu.be/TEiC1Zo3KQ0
This presentation was used in the GFAR webinar on Participatory Video. -- Announcement here: https://blog.gfar.net/2017/04/24/join-our-next-webinar-on-participatory-video/
...and the actual webinar recording can be found here:
1. Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets
- farmer-driven research for advocacy -
Giel Ton
AGRINATURA / LEI Wageningen UR
2. • 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
4. 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
5. RESEARCH COMMUNITY FARMER ORGANISATIONS
• Research institutes tend to focus on • NFOs are interested in findings not so
peer-reviewed academic outputs (focus much in research methods, and need
= methods) and less on how findings can newspapers, not academic journals
be made relevant for development • NFOs contract researchers/consultants,
practice when linked to their short-term
• Researchers are more interested in (advocacy) priorities
mid/long-term studies • NFOs often lack capacity to access
• Funding generally for pre-defined existing research results
research issues: little flexibility to adapt • NFO do not prioritise own budget for
• High staff-fee rates 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’.
6. ESFIM activities
A. 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
7.
8. Research focus in collaborative research:
diversity with flexibility
Philippines – FFF: Commodity Exchange
Malawi – NASFAM: Seed supply; Market information system
Kenya – KENFAP: Input voucher programme; Warehouse Receipt System
Madagascar – CPM: Rural service provisioning
Uganda – UNFFE: NAADS rural advisory system
Benin – FUPRO: Maize sector policy; Value chain development
Costa Rica – CMC: Farmers’ markets; Food sovereignty legislation
Bolivia – CIOEC: Preferential policies for collective marketing
Peru – JNC: Taxation of cooperatives; Government procurement
Uruguay – CAF: Cooperatives in national innovation policy
9. 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’
10. Process evaluation by researchers
CPM CAF CIOEC CMC FUPRO FFF JNC KENFAP NASFAM UNFFE
TOO FEW EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS
TOO MUCH EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS
TOO CENTRALIZED CONSULTATION
TOO WIDE CONSULTATION
Source: AGRINATURA researchers, ESFIM methodology workshops, 10-12 October 2011 and 2-3 October 2012
11. Self-evaluation by the NFO board members (averaged)
Improvement capacity compared to three years ago
FUPRO CMC UNFFE NASFAM KENFAP FFF CIOEC CAF CPM
Capacity areas
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
12. Way forward
Need 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
13. 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
14. 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
ESFIM developed in response to a demand by IFAP, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. ESFIM was meant to give research support to IFAP on issues related with markets and especially on policies and institutions that define the space of smallholders in market. Not on production issues, Not on climate change. But specifically on the issues of institutions in markets that time-after-time came up as the principal issues for smallholder farmers organisations. Therefore, ESFIM was not only to support staff in the headquarters but by especially to work direclty with their members in articulating their demands and proposals from a bottom-up perspective. IFAP was dissolved in 2010, tragically by a bankruptcy. Meanwhile, AGRINATURA is in charge of the administration of the programme. However the intention is to make the programme ‘farmer-led’ also at that programmatic, global level in the future. A new platform on the global level is necessary but still needs time to develop organically. The ten national farmer organisations where we started to work with continued to do so in a second phase from 2010-2012 with financing of IFAD and the Dutch government. Especially in Africa the structure of regional farmer organisations is replacing the earlier role of IFAP for these ESFIM partners. In Latin America and Asia however this is not yet the case.
The ten farmer organisation are located in three continents: In Latin America (4): the coffee union JNC in Peru, the cooridnatorr of economic farmer organisations CIOEC in Bolivia, the federation of agricultural cooperatives CAF in Uruguay and the Costa Rican coordination of women groups, CMC. In Africa (5): the farmer federation of Benin FUPRO; the smallholders’ federation NASFAM in Malawi, UNFFE in Uganda and KENFAP in Kenya; and CPM, the coalition of farmer movements in Madagascar. In Asia, ESFIM works with the Free Farmers Federation in the Philippines.
We have a major objective in supporting the voice of national farmers’ organisations in policy making on smallholder market access. And, from the ‘road map’ perspective, we also have an objective to bridge the gap between two cultures that have difficulties in relating with each other: the research community and the farmers’ organisations.
What are the structuring elements of these two cultures: Research institutes tend to value two things: you get status through peer-reviewed articles; or you get status by managing big research budgets..... And the two issues tend no to be present in the life-worlds of farmer organisations: they have little money to spend and are not very much interested in research methods but only in the findings, and especially findings that can be used to influence policy makers. Thus, newspapers, not scientific articles. And worse..... Famer organisations tend to function in a extremely dynamic and demanding context that makes that their advocacy needs and therefore also their demand for research support and evidence, is rapidly changing. It makes it difficult for them to concentrate during a large period on the same issues. While that is exactly where we as researchers dream about: have sufficient time to plan thoroughly our research, to make it fit in our busy schedules. And we definitely cannot cope very well with the changes in the terms of references during the research period..... While farmer organisations need these adjustments, for instance changing they need flexibility to change dates of workshops, times for field work, or change the dates of major advocacy events, etc. Nevertheless, there are also positive points where we can build our efforts on: farmer organisations are well-aware of their lack of skills to grasp with all existing information and to digest existing research results However, even when they have money to spend on it, they tend to be short in funding for many other activities too, and therefore are very much unwilling to pay much for research or consultancies. They can hire necessary technical staff to provide services to their members for long periods instead of spending the same amount of money on several days inout of an external consultant. Thus, these inherent tendencies in both cultures lead to two things: One, everybody sees it as a problem and wants to resolve it. At least, that is what the discourse is. Second, the real experiences in doing it, in making research farmer-led, are still very very limited
ESFIM is one of such pilot experiences. As I already indicated. It is a small programme. Only 2.1 million for a five year period. Most of our budget is spend on ‘collaborative research’, where research priorities are defined by the national farmers’ organisition in each country. In the last two years they had each a budget of 40.000 US$ to spend, and another 40,000 was spent on AGRINATURA backstopping. The comparative research was done on issues that emerged from IFAP and especially an international conference in Tunis in 2007. We worked on four themes, to make policy briefs about the current state of thinking on Risk Insurance – Innovative Finance – Market information systems And, a fourth issue: organisational experience on collective marketing: ways that organisations use to prevent the centrifugal forces that are inherent in collective action: the group has some requirements that the members have difficulties with to meet (like quality systems; loyalty in supply, etc.) and the member has some requirements that the group has difficulties to meet e.g. prompt cash payment; or special treatment to them compared to non-members). Another output in this theme is a web-site where we collect this ‘organisational intelligence’ – www.collectivemarketing.org Referring back to our budget..... So the good news is..... what we did is cheap! The bad news is ....... we need more funders to take this further and scale it up. We are looking for funding partners and we hope this approach to work closely with national farmer organisaitons can be mainstreamed into the GCARD processes and agenda for the coming 2 years
The choice to follow the priorities of the farmer organisations, with their advocacy agendas and their contextual problems related with institutional arrangements in markets, made that ESFIM worked in every country a different set of issues. In the Philippines on a process to make the electronic trade in maize more accessible for smallholders. In Malawi to explore models to generate quality seed supply, and to review the state of the many marketing information systems. In Kenya they started with an audit of the input voucher programme and followed with an analysis of the East-African experiences in warehouse receipt systems. Madagascar explored different initiatives to increase rural service provisioning. In Uganda UNFFE held a consultation rounds (‘fireplace conversations’) to hear first-hand experiences with the NAADS extension system. In Benin the focus was on sector policies in maize. In Bolivia they worked towards a law that could trigger preferential policies for collective marketing. The other three countries are present in this meeting and can explain their experiences in more detail. This diversity is however relative. You can see three groups of issues that have been prioritized: Issues related with changes in the way that markets operate, and especially innovations that can help smallholders to get better prices for their cash crops Issues that are more related with service provisioning, especially in the African countries And the area of collective marketing through cooperatives or similar organisations, in Latin America
We have learned some lessons that we can use to refine the approach of ESFIM to link research with advocacy: -First, you need a process of participative process of consultation. But that is not enough. You need to go beyond a ‘wish-list’ of issues and connect to the NFOs existing/past advocacy trajectories This showed the importance of systemize the advocacy process that the organisations have been involved in. Most organisations have regular change of leadership and often a high turn-over rate of professional staff. This easily leads to the discontinuing of efforts or the loss of knowledge about the political play where their advocacy and proposal are being discussed. We also experienced the value of other support initiatives, especially the ones that helped the organisational strengthening in service provisioning, because with these immediate needs served, there is more space and political will to invest in research. We also saw that some consultancies took a lot of time partly because the farmer organisations did not press them enough to deliver. Advocacy events are key to speed-up the research output. However, the same speed sometimes hindered the depth of analysis This re-emphasized the two-tracks that have to be developed: a track with short-term research support on timely issues, and another track with depper analysis on isuses that are likely to be of mid-term interest of the organisation Two other points proved important in the process: Delicate balance between funding internal staff and contracting external research support And the balance between wider consultation and centralized strategizing
As researchers (a team of 8 researchers) we regularly evaluated the process and saw signs of unbalance on these latter two point. In some of the countries. In Kenya for example the process was too much driven by internal staff and resulted in little new linkages with external research, while e.g. in Uruguay and Malawi the role of external researchers was perhaps too dominant than we ideally would have seen The same on the issue of central versus decentralized processes, some organisations tended to deviate from our ideal-type idea of the ESFIM –process.
To assess the impact of the organisational strengthening process where ESFIM is contributing to, we did a self-assessment and a round of interviews with externalstakeholders working in the agricultural policy field in all countries except Peru. We operationalized the concept ‘advocacy capacity’ in five different elements Their capacity for coherence Capacity to network Capacity to renew Capacity to commit and act Capacity to deliver This self-assessment by the board members showed that they considered that they were improving on most of these issues, but with some notable expectations, highlighted in red in the table. This analysis helped the board to reflect on actions to be taken to resolve these weaknesses, and in some cases reflected the loss of financial support from donors (FUPRO) or the adversity of the political situations towards their organisation (Bolivia).
So what do we see as the way forward. For the next phase of ESFIM we see three modifications related with the funding structure of the activities in each country. We plan to separate funding lines to resolve the tension between consultation processes and external research support We propose a Research Support Fund, managed by the farmer organisations that funds proposals that have a clear advocacy plan but with a flexible approach to adapt these plans to changing dynamics And we need time to have regular interactions between researchers and the farmer organisations to build trust in each other. Trust by researchers in the process of advocacy, trust in farmer organisations in the value of research and evidence to improve their advocacy strategy.
To do so, we need money. ESFIM is finalizing its second phase this year, and needs funds to invest in: Research Support Funds A process to facilitate good proposals Funds to exchange experiences between the countries Budget to get backstopping capacity Referring back to our budget..... 2.1 million dollars spent on ten national farmer organisations So the good news is..... what we did is cheap! The bad news is ....... we need more funders to take this further and scale it up. We are looking for funding partners and we hope this approach to work closely with national farmer organisations can be mainstreamed into the GCARD processes and agenda for the coming 2 years
We offer our experiences with a smart flexible modality to channel research demands form farmer organisations to the research community We have a team of committed researchers tot provide backstopping We have gained knowledge on a wide range of policy issues that are relevant for smallholder access to markets And, most important, we have a coalition of 15 national farmer organisations and three regional networks in Africa willing to deepen and scale-up these initial experiences with the ESFIM approach.