2. Context
Agriculture enterprise development: a dynamic space but
with critical gaps and limited connectivity.
Key challenges
No ‘Go to’ place for local entrepreneurs/farmer organisations
Limited farmer organisation
Unorganised staple food markets
Smallholder access to finance a sticking point. Lack of support
to small-scale farmer enterprises at a pre-competitive stage
Lack of trust – perceptions of smallholder behaviour and
corporate exploitation
3. The Opportunities
Making links from small farms to markets in Africa:
• Drivers of change often private & internal – local agency
• Process – an enabling & facilitative approach - more
important than any specific form or model
Rapidly expanding domestic markets as well as
increasing interest in sourcing from smallholders in
export markets.
Interesting innovations in commercialisation of
advisory and capacity building services
Recognition of gap and potential for solutions from the
convergence of development and business thinking
4. African Agriculture Alliance
A brokerage, facilitation and knowledge service
Enabling small-scale producers and processors in Africa to
engage technical and business service providers and to
access markets and investment.
A social enterprise, using a franchise business model to
develop a sustainable and scalable way of supporting
agricultural enterprise development.
5. Bringing together a multi-sector alliance to:
Share knowledge Make connections
Build capacity
Responsive to the priorities of farmer organisations &
entrepreneurs and local, regional & global market opportunities.
Learn & build evidence of impact Influence
to reshape how system works
6. Aim - Impact
Wellbeing - Increase productivity and
incomes of rural smallholders
Resilience - more resilient farming systems
and value chains
Empowerment - Transforming the position
and negotiating power of small-scale
producers and processors
9. AAA Value Proposition Current challenge
Nowhere to go to get support to
Producer & develop own ideas, specific to their
local context and capacity
Processor Clients
Producer organisations
AAA will provide an
Farmer associations Accessible facilitator and mentoring service
• Help to think through ideas and understand
Cooperatives different options.
• Support in developing organisation and/or
Small/medium agro- enterprise plans
processing enterprises • Link to relevant service providers, help develop
ToRs, engage services and provide feedback.
Local NGOs & CBOs • Support to access markets and investment
opportunities
Entrepreneurs • Flexible service from one off engagement to
longer-term mentoring relationship
10. Current challenge
Sourcing the quantity and quality required of a
Market Clients commodity, including timeliness and regularity of supply.
Concern over resilience of value chains and
Local, regional, global commitments to source from smallholders but limited
markets capacity to identify/engage suppliers.
Private sector
companies
AAA will provide a
Entrepreneurs
Market Brokerage function
• Provide a screening service to help identify
potential suppliers
• Introduce potential clients, providing a record
of engagement with AAA and capability
assessment
11. Current challenge
Lack of investor ready initiatives.
Hard to invest lower down the value
Investors chain & increase poverty impact whilst
Grants & loans maintaining balance of risk. Capacity to
support pre-competitive stage
Impact investors
Banks
AAA will provide a
MFIs
Investor Brokerage function
Foundations
• Increase the number and scope of investor
ready enterprises
• Refer potential clients who match investor’s
profile, providing record of engagement
with AAA and capability assessment
12. Service providers in building: Current challenge
Technical capacity: More likely to be driven by donors (or
• Agricultural production & corporates) than respond to demand
processing from ground. No mechanism for small-
• Value chain development/ scale producers/processors to
commodity platforms proactively access their services
• Certification, auditing, quality
assurance
AAA will provide an
• Logistics and technology
Information platform and service market place
Business capacity: • Link AAA clients to service providers
• Business strategy resources, skills and services
• Organisation development • Share knowledge products – help dissemination
• Financial planning & control & uptake of high quality materials.
• Management skills • Enable transparent client feedback
• Farmer record management • Bring together with other service
• Funding proposal development providers, markets and investors in building
• Legal assistance diverse support packages to meet clients specific
needs
• Communication
13. Potential core components
Technical
Facilitator
support/capacity
Franchise
building
Investment/Grant
Knowledge Bank s
Communication tools
Strategic Fund
14. Facilitator Franchisee
Raise awareness of AAA and build client
base A hub & spoke model
Develop information platform of local
service providers, resources and
knowledge base
Manage facilitation & mentoring service –
farmer organisation and individual AAA Central hub
entrepreneurs Build alliance strategic partnerships
Provide market & investor brokerage Guidelines for facilitation service, market and
function investment brokerages
Engage in learning hub, franchise CoP and Quality control, monitoring & evaluation
local learning networks Mentoring support to franchisees
Manage records of engagement and Manage learning hub including franchise
outcomes CoP, documentation and dissemination of impact
and learning – within AAA & externally
Support franchises in branding, IT, communication,
Refine business model
Secure investment for scaling up
15.
16. Key Features
A demand driven facilitation and mentoring service
for small-scale producers and processors
A brokerage function for businesses and investors in
agri-enterprises in Africa.
An accessible information platform linking rural users
with the most relevant knowledge resources and
services.
A learning hub enabling the sharing of experiences
internally, engagement in relevant national/global
learning networks and evaluating the impact of the
AAA model and different products and processes.
Quality assurance of knowledge, services and
products.
17. AAA in Practice – case examples
Nyimba District Farmers Association – Zambia
19. Next Steps & Critical Questions
• Complete research phase – Produce scoping
document and research report including
stakeholder mapping. Client survey
• Develop business model – look at revenue
streams and pathways to sustainability
• Pilot in 2 countries - where to start?
• Secure investment
20. Text here
AAA is being established by Self Help Africa with strategic partners
