Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets

Markets for agricultural products with special quality, environmental, and social attributes can provide a profitable outlet for poor farmers in developing countries. However, participation in high value markets requires that farmers commit to deliver pre-identified volumes on time and in the r...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Donovan, J., Stoian, D., Foundjem, D., Blare, T.
Format: Brief
Language:Inglés
Published: Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76185
_version_ 1855513181115383808
author Donovan, J.
Stoian, D.
Foundjem, D.
Blare, T.
author_browse Blare, T.
Donovan, J.
Foundjem, D.
Stoian, D.
author_facet Donovan, J.
Stoian, D.
Foundjem, D.
Blare, T.
author_sort Donovan, J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Markets for agricultural products with special quality, environmental, and social attributes can provide a profitable outlet for poor farmers in developing countries. However, participation in high value markets requires that farmers commit to deliver pre-identified volumes on time and in the required form and quality – a tall order in many cases. Agri-cooperatives play an important role in linking farmers to these markets; they forge business relations with distant buyers, realise economies of scale in processing and marketing, and provide advisory and other services to help their members respond to buyer demands. Examples of these services include technical assistance, training, and input and credit provision. This note presents a practical approach by which cooperatives strengthen their ability to deliver impactful and financially sustainable services. In doing so, it recognises the challenges faced by cooperatives to design services that both meet the different needs of members and are financially sustainable. Too often cooperative services are supported by external actors with no clear vision of how to continue once project support terminates, leading to disrupted service offerings for members, and fragmented learning processes for cooperatives and their partners. Innovation is urgently needed in how services are designed, how they are implemented, and cost recovery mechanisms. At the heart of the approach lies a focus on joint learning among stakeholders – cooperatives, their business partners, government agencies, and non-government organisations (NGOs) – to better tackle the complexity inherent in the provision of effective services to poor farmers.
format Brief
id CGSpace76185
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services
publisherStr Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace761852025-11-05T07:19:43Z Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets Donovan, J. Stoian, D. Foundjem, D. Blare, T. farmers markets cooperatives services Markets for agricultural products with special quality, environmental, and social attributes can provide a profitable outlet for poor farmers in developing countries. However, participation in high value markets requires that farmers commit to deliver pre-identified volumes on time and in the required form and quality – a tall order in many cases. Agri-cooperatives play an important role in linking farmers to these markets; they forge business relations with distant buyers, realise economies of scale in processing and marketing, and provide advisory and other services to help their members respond to buyer demands. Examples of these services include technical assistance, training, and input and credit provision. This note presents a practical approach by which cooperatives strengthen their ability to deliver impactful and financially sustainable services. In doing so, it recognises the challenges faced by cooperatives to design services that both meet the different needs of members and are financially sustainable. Too often cooperative services are supported by external actors with no clear vision of how to continue once project support terminates, leading to disrupted service offerings for members, and fragmented learning processes for cooperatives and their partners. Innovation is urgently needed in how services are designed, how they are implemented, and cost recovery mechanisms. At the heart of the approach lies a focus on joint learning among stakeholders – cooperatives, their business partners, government agencies, and non-government organisations (NGOs) – to better tackle the complexity inherent in the provision of effective services to poor farmers. 2016 2016-07-13T12:08:23Z 2016-07-13T12:08:23Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76185 en Open Access application/pdf Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services Donovan, J.; Stoian, D.; Foundjem, D.; Blare, T. (2016) Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets. Note 19. Global Good Practice Notes for Extension and Advisory Services (GFRAS). Lindau (Switzerland), 4p.
spellingShingle farmers
markets
cooperatives
services
Donovan, J.
Stoian, D.
Foundjem, D.
Blare, T.
Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title_full Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title_fullStr Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title_full_unstemmed Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title_short Service provision by agri-cooperatives engaged in high value markets
title_sort service provision by agri cooperatives engaged in high value markets
topic farmers
markets
cooperatives
services
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76185
work_keys_str_mv AT donovanj serviceprovisionbyagricooperativesengagedinhighvaluemarkets
AT stoiand serviceprovisionbyagricooperativesengagedinhighvaluemarkets
AT foundjemd serviceprovisionbyagricooperativesengagedinhighvaluemarkets
AT blaret serviceprovisionbyagricooperativesengagedinhighvaluemarkets