Pro-Poor Value Chain Development - Capacity.org

2.3 Entrepreneurial and technical capacities
The transfer of technical capacities to farmers and extension workers was at the core
of this intervention. Training was thus assumed to constitute a major transformative
power. Since the cooperative was responsible for facilitating technological transfer
and the enhancement of members’ skills, this can be considered as a form of
‘collective upgrading.’ Through their own collective action, farmers aimed to
set up ‘horizontal’ coordination mechanisms in order to achieve higher levels of
productivity. The results presented in Figures 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9 do not, however,
support the claim that the intervention produced an increase in productivity, or even
production. Figures 6.7 and 6.8 report the average productivity of the households
that actually harvested linseed, while Figure 6.10 presents the proportion of farmers
who reported not to have harvested this crop. According to these results, the effects
of training were not reflected in higher productivity across time.
Figure 6.7 Linseed productivity (kg per hectare) as reported by farmers (Bulala
Primary Cooperative)
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
Training
No training
kg/ha
Figure 6.8 Linseed productivity (kg per hectare) as reported by farmers (Chaffe
Primary Cooperative)
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
kg/ha
Training
No training
Study on BOAM outcomes
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