1. “What works when scaling inclusive agri-food markets?”
Perspectives from farmers‟ organisation in West Africa : CNOP
and ROPPA
Intervention by Ibrahim Coulibaly,
Chair CNOP and ROPPA
Seas of Change event
11 April 2012

2. Introduction
 Very grateful to be invited at this conference on scaling inclusive markets
 Next to talking about the producer, roles and advantages, it is primordial to
really start a dialogue et understand his/her logic, ambitions and dilemmas
 Four key messages:
1. CNOP et ROPPA plead for the recognition of family farming in terms of
employment creation, food security and guarantee/base for other
economic sectors
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3. Vulnerability
2. Understanding the vulnerability of family farming in Africa: facing climate
irregularities, political environments (market liberalisation, competition
between products), price volatility, (weak) public et private investments…
 Farmers invest since decades: natural capital, human capital, financial
capital; but had to deal without follow up for improving, scaling up
 Public investments in agriculture have been weak in West-Africa despite
the agreements of Maputo et Kigali
 Important factors for promotion family farming: finance, diversified
markets, land tenure security
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4. Existing dynamics
3. “The best markets and farmers are those which already exist”.
 Each actor has to know his role and place. Avoid to deconstruct existing
dynamics, but try to build on it.
 Avoid that farmers are invited un „dead end trajectories‟: ex. of bio-fuels
„style Jatropha‟, markets without future, external land acquisitions…
 If we build on existing local farmers dynamics, an enormous potential will
be exploited in West-Africa : The outreach of the big chains cotton, cacao,
maize, rice, groundnut show us what is possible and others can follow.
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5. Farmer organisations in West Africa
4. Farmers‟ organisations: “Syndicate giants and economic dwarfs”
 The history of farmers movements : since 20 years very big organisations
have emerged (ex. CNOP Mali has 11 member federations, covering >2
million persons).
 Taking into account that FO had to claim their place, which had before
been refused in the political-economical scene, the first 10 years had a
syndicate tendency of economic demands/claims.
 Emerging: last 05-10 years there is a strong tendency of FO-s towards
control of production et commercialisation (looking at added values)…
 … that‟s why current initiatives like here at SoC will be sown in fertile
ground
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