This document outlines a study to map and analyze farmers' organizations in Africa to better understand how smallholder women farmers are represented and involved. The objectives are to profile regional farmers' organizations, analyze how well national organizations represent women smallholder farmers' interests, identify any gaps in empowering women farmers, and assess organizations' effectiveness in meeting member expectations. Key issues found often include inadequate women and youth representation, capacity challenges, governance problems, and not meeting membership needs. The next steps proposed are to gather information, finalize a report, validate findings, share with stakeholders, and implement recommendations.

1. Mapping farmers’ organization
Buba Khan
Africa Advocacy Officer
ActionAid International

2. Rationale
• The rationale for the review and or mapping is to
understand the realities around the membership of
regional farmer’s organization in ensuring effective
representation and involvement of marginal smallholder
women farmers in the organizational management and
broader policy making processes
• It is also aimed at identifying priority institutional
functioning challenges, extent of representation of such
organizations by smallholder women farmers, governance
and democratic control and autonomy of such
organizations, technical and financial capacities,
empowerment needs, and developing initiatives and
strategies for enhancing women farmers’ participation in
the empowerment and strengthening farmers’
organizations.

3. Objectives
• The overall objective of the study is to profile
existing regional farmers’ organizations across
Africa in terms of effectiveness and efficiency
of delivering their mandates and to review the
representation of the membership of select
national farmer organization in terms of
composite farmer typologies and policy
interests and how they are reflected in
structure, design and policy aspiration of their
members.

4. The specific objectives are:
• To generate a comprehensive profile of sub-regional (ROPPA,
ESAFF,EAFF,UMAGIRI,SACAU, etc) and their linkages with national farmers
organization/commodity associations covering specific organizational data
such as but not limited to a) basic organizational description (history and
life; purpose; representation; national and international linkages and
engagement; governance, organizational structure and management; b)
gender and youth; c) functions and programmes;
• To analyze the architecture of national organization in light of the extent
to which, and potential to entrench women smallholder farmers interests
in terms of mission and vision, strategic direction, etc
• To identify gaps if any in the functions performed by the FOs with respect
to empowerment of women farmers/members and whether or not the
most marginalize groups are involved
• To assess effectiveness of FOs in performing identified functions against
member expectations in general and in particular with respect to
empowerment of women farmers and other/members;
• Recommend strategies for addressing identified priority farmer
empowerment and organizational strengthening needs

5. Key Issues
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Inadequate women and youth representation
Capacity challenges (financial, technical
Governance structure and representation
Accountability and transparency to membership
Autonomy and independence
Meeting expectation of membership (widening
gaps)
• Lack of information flow amongst farmers
• The list is not exhaustive…..you name them

6. Moving forward
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Soliciting support to gather information
Finalization of study report by consultant
Validation of report
Sharing findings with key stakeholders
Implementation of key recommendations
from the report