Background & Rationale:
Farmer
organization and market access in Uganda remains a challenge to the NAADS and other development agribusiness programmes given
that farm households are typically fully engaged in immediate survival and have few resources to spare for longer term
needs. All small holder farmers are reliant on rain-fed agriculture, with a relatively short (and unpredictable) growing season.
With increasing numbers of rural households facing chronic food insecurity, many families face demands on their skills and
labour which they are unable to meet.
But, while challenging, the situation is
not hopeless. There is good evidence that opportunities for change can be created through initiatives that can support farmers’
improved organizational capacity and access improved productivity information and to markets.
Through the NAADS programme, farmers have shown an evident interest in (and capacity for) forming organisations,
especially to address problems of access to markets and to influence local policy. Small holder farmers, SACCOs, farmers’
organizations, producers’ organizations and commodity associations will need to be better linked to markets, key technical/business
management services and inputs if they are to realize significant increases in their productivity.
However the reality is that many farmers and producer groups lack access to markets, technical
expertise, capital, commercial skills and entrepreneurial capacity to successfully commercialise their activities. Their ability
to build their capacities in these areas has been impeded by a number of factors. Farmer and producer needs are highly variable
across commodity groups and between large and small farmers. Information along value chains and among actors within the chain
is not adequate enough to allow better coordination, specialization, or risk management. Farmers also lack adequate services
and limited capacity among service providers to respond to the challenges of farmer commercialization. There is limited knowledge
sharing among the value chain players and inadequate interaction between public sector in extension and research and the private
sector. In general, the enabling environment to encourage private sector participation in supporting smallholder farmer development
is poor.
Cross-border or regional markets are becoming increasingly important to producers
but the ability for producers to access such markets is influenced by legal and regulatory issues, how markets function and
their supporting infrastructure, and protection and promotion of private sector investments. Experience has shown well functioning
agricultural value chains that generate equitable benefits to all actors do not occur by default, but rather through concerted
efforts by development practitioners (public, private and civil society). Because smallholder farmers are often marginalised
and excluded from high-value markets on a national, regional and international level, there is need to devise
innovative approaches to develop and reinforce equitable and efficient linkages between smallholder farmers and the other
private sector actors – inputs suppliers, storage operators, and marketing, distribution, processing agents. As farmer-led
service delivery approaches are increasingly adopted, there is also a greater focus on developing appropriate services and
using a farmer-group approach as an entry point to providing specialized market services.
