Regional Markets

1 Introduction
agro-related services for smallholders. They reflect the daily toils of small-scale producers
and traders and the challenges they encounter. They also show that innovation, finding
solutions to food insecurity, and initiating sustainable agricultural development are
often taking place based on recognised smallholder needs. We see promising results in
C:AVA’s effort to enhance the position of smallholders in Malawi by adding value to
cassava. There is the revival of dairy cooperatives in Kenya, partly thanks to the efforts
of NGOMA to help farmers organise. But we see also the challenges that Zimbabwe’s
small-scale farmers encounter in a country that is slowly transitioning back to some form
of economic stability after its worst economic crisis in 2008. All organisations figuring in
these cases take a pro-poor stand and show the attempts made in upgrading the position
of smallholders. All cases mention the importance of helping farmers organise so that
their voices are heard and their access to financial and agricultural services is secured. In
addition to these focal points, other aspects like prices and margins, institutional infrastructure,
gender, food quality and food security are important factors to consider when
looking at sustainability in food commodity value chains. We will first explain and briefly
comment on these aspects below, and we will come back to them in the analysis section
(see Chapter 4) when we consider the impacts in each individual case.
A pro-poor focus
Focusing value chain work on the poorer sections of the agricultural community usually
means working with food crop producers, instead with those engaged in the production
of cash crops for export. In most rural areas in developing regions, the bulk of the
family’s food consumption is met through own production. Their primary focus is on
food security, and smallholders are usually not dependent on other producers to meet
this need. However, in times of favourable weather and high yields, or with improved
productivity as a result of interventions, farmers may be able to sell some of their excess
produce. Even during tough times, it may be necessary to sell food crops to pay school
fees and other urgent expenditures. A focus on the poorer sections of rural producers
implies a strategic shift away from the lucrative niche, export markets toward local and
regional markets and their dynamics.
A gender focus
Most small-scale farmers producing food crops are women, while men more frequently
work with cash crops. A shift in attention from cash crop to food commodity implies
that the gender aspect of agricultural production becomes a very strong variable. The
exclusion of certain local (poor and/or female) producers from marketing systems, such
as value chains, carries with it negative implications on access to innovation and knowledge
as well as income, self-awareness and self-confidence. Gender considerations are
not always central when considering value chains, but undoubtedly demand this position
when food commodities are considered (see KIT 2012).
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