Malawi SME Development Conference: Role of Civil Society Actors in Strengthening Local Industries

1. Role of Civil Society Actors in
Strengthening Local Industries
Amos Zaindi
Country Director – Self Help Africa (Malawi)
April 2013
Capital Hotel

2. Issues private sector face in dealing
with Smallholder Farmers
• Difficulty in mobilising and working with individual
smallholder farmers,
• Difficulty in providing capital investment and extension
services due to lack of trust and poor farmer organisation,
• Small and unreliable volumes of agricultural produce
which are predominantly low quality,
• The perception that large private companies may
generally exploit smallholder farmers,
• The inefficiency of having to engage with numerous
different individuals, collect inputs from numerous
locations and make multiple small payments

3. Role of an NGO
• Mobilising smallholder farmers in to functional groups
(farmers clubs, associations and cooperatives) with clear
objectives, rules and regulations,
• Building capacity of smallholder farmers in different areas
including organisational development and group dynamics,
business management and enterprise development, group
warehouse management and marketing,
• Improving extension service delivery and building capacity of
smallholder farmers in different technical areas of agriculture
production to improve the quality and quantity of produce,
• Building strong and mutual links between smallholder
farmers and different stakeholders including private sector,

4. Value of NGO Involvement
• Ability to raise complementary resources,
• Build trust between the smallholder farmers and
private sector partners – ethical issues,
• Raising awareness among smallholder farmers of the
need to provide a specified quantity and quality
of produce,
• Farmers adherence to agreed terms and
conditions, efficient and effective management
of marketing, warehousing and selling of
produce,
• Helps private sector partners to concentrate on
their core function of processing agricultural raw
materials into finished products for market.

5. Value of NGO Involvement
We act as a Catalyst to the priorities of farmer organizations,
entrepreneurs to fully realize local, regional and global market
opportunities.
Share knowledge
Organize & Build
capacity Reach & Make
connections
Mobilize
complementally
Resources +Skills

6. Value of NGO Involvement
We act as a Catalyst to the priorities of farmer organizations,
entrepreneurs to fully realize local, regional and global market
opportunities.
Share knowledge
Organize & Build
capacity Reach & Make
connections
Mobilize
complementally
Resources +Skills