This document discusses linking smallholder farmers in Uganda to domestic markets to improve access to nutritious foods. It outlines several key considerations for promoting farmer participation, including choosing high-value crops that require little land and have stable demand. Case studies from the USAID|Community Connector project show how farmers were connected to buyers through bulk collection centers and provided extension services to improve quality and consistency of supply. However, the document notes that smallholder farmers face many risks from production and market failures that make consistent supply challenging without alternative sources of income.

1. Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets: Considerations for Diet Diversification
Robert Mwadime
USAID|Community Connector Project, Uganda

2. Goal of the Farmer-Market Linkage
1.Having diversified diets, lower priced quality foods for consumers (mainly urbanites)
2.Improve diets of the producers? Reducing poverty among producers/poor?
How smallholder farmers can effectively supply domestic markets to increase availability, affordability and quality of diverse nutritious foods

3. How can participation be promoted?

4. Smallholder farmers are different
•Distance to markets
•Awareness and backgrounds of farmers
•Economic wellbeing and interaction with financial services
•Some farmers do the selling themselves
•Other sources of livelihood

5. Markets are different
•Local (sub-regional markets)
•Schools and hospitals, [army] (in locality)
•[Small] Towns in the [country] regions
•Large towns (Outside or supermarkets)
•Industry
•Export
•Contract/ guarantee
•Quality control from growing to delivery (including certification)
•Provide services/inputs
•Collect at/near the farm gate
•Pay-on-delivery [cash?]

6. Changing buying and consumption patterns
90% of consumers still buy from “open markets”

7. Farmers verses Markets
Producer’s objectives
Markets’ Objectives
•Market the produce (exposure to markets?)
•Meet the “buy-basket” of the consumers—diversify products
•Make money (prices of goods)
•Make money (after all costs)
•Means of employment (gender, cultural, issues)
•Continuity in supplies offered
•Stabilize consumption
•Have enough supplies
•Risk mitigation
•Timeliness of delivery
•Meet customer quality (+food safety) expectations

8. Food diversity?: Use the value chain approach
Input Suppliers
•Technology
•Extension
•Inputs
•Finances
Producers
•Adoption/use
•Labor/husbandry
•Post-harvest handling
Buyers
•Bulking
•Quality
•Delivery/transp.
Marketers
•Mix of products
•Pricing
•Packaging
•Quality
Consumers
•Tastes and use
•Demand

9. Case Study: How the USAID|Community Connector links smallholder farmers to markets

10. Community Connector Districts and Flow of FV and Local Chicken
.

11. 5 Main considerations in CC activities
1.Land sizes (small and poor quality) –mainly rain fed and production hazards
2.Remoteness of areas: limited markets and alternatives for income generation
3.Time for women –and their workload
4.Gender control of resources and sources of information
5.Peoples’ expectations and aspirations for “wealth”

12. Promotion of participation: Choice of Commodity
•Small number of farmers participate (Farming as a Business)
•Commodities and varieties:
•High market demand (even local market)
•Less perishable
•Bulkable
•Not additional workload for women
•High value (require little land sizes; many cycles; or can be intercropped, etc.)
•Require lower financial investments

13. Promotion of participation: Choice of Commodity
Examples in CC intervention areas:
Business Commodities
Nutrition Commodities
•Passion fruits
•Amaranth + traditional vegetable
•Irish potato seed, and other seedlings
•Papaw tress + Avocado tree
•Onions
•Pumpkin
•Groundnuts
•Apiary (bee keeping)
•Local chicken
•Sheep/goats---calliandra as hedge crop
•Promotion: Silver fish (mukene)

14. Poor farmers cannot be faithful to buyers unless they have other sources of income
•Cash economy?
•Link them to savings (saving with a purpose; quick access)
•Alternative sources of income

15. Market analysis in the FaaB training

16. Farmers choose to work with APEF (Agricultural……)
•Buy, bulk and sell different agricultural commodities
•Buyers of onions

17. Process of getting products to APEF markets
Suppliers of different products
Buyers
Smallholders producers with supplies
Bulking and sorting
Transporting
In Markets
Sorting, warehousing packaging
Consumers
Cash Buying
•Quantities
•Cash buying
•Quality
•Timeliness (markets don’t want to warehouse; pay after 60 days)

18. CC supported APEF to:
•Identify and train/certify bulkers/buyers
•Organize community bulking,
•Transport from farms,
•Packaging and storage

19. Supporting APEF to provide farmer groups with extension services on onion growing and curing

20. Lessons from the CC experience

21. Farmers have phobia of “brokers”, BUT???

22. Farmers and consistency of supply
Farming is risky
•Quality of inputs
•Access to financial services
•Seasonality/climatic/production hazards
•May produce “wrong variety” for the market

23. Marketing risks?? E.g. failure of markets
Prices of “essentials” rise the demand for none essentials drop

24. In our free markets: The larger ones always exploit the smaller ones