Agroindustrial project analysi

110 AGROINDUSTRIAL PROJECT ANALYSISwhich to mobilize community interest and participation. By providinga new market outlet, agroindustries have also created anecessary economic incentive for farmers to organize.The agroindustrial plant can encourage such organization by incorporatingincentives in its procurement strategy. Farmers willsometimes organize without the plant's encouragement, especiallyif the plant has created a power imbalance in the farm-to-factorysystem. In one country, a new tomato-processing plant began purchasingthe bulk of the local farmers' output. When the farmersbecame dissatisfied with the prices, they were motivated to form acooperative; by consolidating their power, they were able to negotiatesupply contracts with the factory at improved prices. Organizingproducers, however, is a difficult and time-consuming task, andanalysts should identify the barriers to organizing and the potentialinducements to surmount them.When the barriers are attitudinal, economic incentives are notsufficient. For example, one government launched a major programto increase its cattle supply. The farmers affected by the programwere primarily rice producers, each of whom owned an average ofeight cattle, which grazed freely on common land and the farmer'splot. Each farmer reared and sold the cattle as he chose. Thegovernment intended to form cooperatives, fence the common land,pool the farmers' cattle in large herds, and provide veterinary servicesand financing for tractors and inputs for new pastures. Thesecomponents of the program were expected to decrease cattle mortalityand morbidity rates, shorten the growth cycle, and raise theslaughter weight. When the program started, farmers refused toenter the cooperatives and pool their cattle because both conceptswere dramatic departures from the farmers' traditional patterns ofindividual ownership and production. Even though the programwas economically sound, it required too great a change in the producers'attitudes toward trust relationships and collective action,and its potential remained unrealized.Producers' organizations can be advantageous to the agroindustrialplant, especially when procurement depends on numeroussmall suppliers. If suppliers organize, the plant has a conduit forcommunication and negotiation with farmers, a channel that cansave the plant considerable effort, time, and money. It is organizationthat is advantageous. The processor should not presume thatthe smaller farms will be less productive simply because of their