The private sector can play a vital role in climate-smart smallholder agriculture in Africa by enhancing productivity through improved seeds and market access. Partnerships, innovative business models, and supportive policies can facilitate financial and technical assistance to farmers, thereby increasing resilience against climate change. Examples include training smallholders, providing micro-insurance, and developing inclusive financial frameworks to support agricultural financing initiatives.

1. LEARNING EVENT 6: What role can the private
sector play in climate smart smallholder
agriculture in Africa?
Joan C. Kagwanja
AGRA

2. Evidence of impact
1. The private sector can facilitate farmers to address the challenge
associated with low agricultural productivity. Cimate smart agriculture
must ensure that farmers increase their yields through improved seeds and
integrated soil fertility management, through an integrated value chain
approach that also facilitates market access. Here are some examples of
how this can be done:
2. A partnership with the private sector such as that between AGRA and
Dryland Seeds has built the capacity for the private sector leading to
successful multiplication and distributing 200 mt of certified seed (of 3
different maize drought tolerant varieties); extended training and extension
to 1,800 smallholder farmers in seed multiplication; Trained and registered
800 agrodealers with the Kenya plant health inspectorate service; and
raised public awareness campaigns on seed interventions to build resilience
on climate change.

3. Evidence of impact/2
3. Innovative agriculture business models (e.g. out-grower models
that link smallholders to lead/large scale farmers) have resulted in
improved agronomic practices (ground cover, fertilizer trees,
minimum till), better market linkages, and strengthened farmers
organisations for 2,500 maize and soya bean farmers with
additional support set to scale this up to cover over 21,000 farmers
in the next two years in Malawi
4. Public support including improved legislation and financial
incentives have seen insurers venture into partnerships that
facilitate micro-insurance packages that increase agriculture
financing and help smallholder farmers mitigate weather related
risk—critical to climate change adaptation. Allianz Africa with the
support of the Africa Enterprise Capacity Fund (AECF) has been
successful in working with local Micro finance institutions (MFIs) to
provide weather index insurance cover to over 316 farmers in
Burkina Faso and Mali; and yield insurance for about 326 cotton
farmers ; The aim is to protect 15,000 farmers in 2012

4. Going to scale
1. Policies and initiatives that ffacilitate the involvement of private sector ---
commercial banks and insurers are key to increasing funding in agriculture.
Innovative examples show that financial incentives e.g. credit guarantees help
private sector to venture into funding and insurance targeted at smallholder
farmers and SMEs
2. Policies and investments that facilitate better water management and
smallholder irrigation to address low and erratic rainfall are important to
ensuring seed multiplication at scale, in addition to increasing farmer
productivity
3. Policies that liberalise foundation seed production and seed multiplication are
important
4. Facilitative policy environment and legislative instruments for contracts to
facilitate partnerships among private sector (e.g. small and large scale farmers)
are critical to alliances that provide inputs, improved storage and market
access for smallholders farmers so they can better adapt to climate change
5. A facilitative policy and regulatory environment and capacity building for local
insurers is essential to facilitate financing and microinsurance for farmers
6. Contract farming policy and regulatory framework developed and
implemented