FAO and AFAP provide smallholder farmers easy access to inputs to enhance productivity
The partnership aims at promoting agribusiness model for the reduction of rural poverty
17 June 2015, Polokwane – FAO and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) have committed their financial and technical resources to work with the Limpopo Province of South Africa to enhance agricultural productivity in the province. This partnership, called the hub agro-dealer model, will provide smallholder easy access to inputs to enhance productivity.
By adopting a hub agro-dealer model developed by the Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK), AFAP and FAO aim to have more smallholder farmers use fertilizer and other inputs for increased yields and creating employment opportunities. The hub agro-dealer model places agro-dealers at the center of their communities, ensuring that smallholder farmers cut down on transport costs hence availability of inputs within their geographical locality.
The South African government, through The Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has thrown its full support towards this endeavor with Ms Ramatsimele Jacqueline Maisela, Head of Department for Agriculture in Limpopo Province saying, “this partnership will contribute to the government’s 2030 job creation vision.”
FAO Representative in South Africa, Tobias Takavarasha, hailed this partnership as a key step in the right direction towards food security adding: “Smallholder farmers hold the key to feeding the country and with this partnership we hope to increase their productivity and knowledge base in agriculture.”
“Often times it’s not that smallholder farmers do not want to use agricultural inputs, but the bottlenecks lay in the long distances that farmers have to travel to procure inputs,” said Professor Richard Mkandawire, AFAP Vice-President. “The Hub agro dealer model ensures the constant availability of adequate fertilizers, improved seeds and agro-chemicals. Through the development of hubs and a dimensional distribution system in rural areas, smallholder farmers buy inputs at lower prices,” Mkandawire added.
A demand-driven concept
A local farmer confirmed that there are a number of bottlenecks and cited exorbitant prices as a major drawback and this was also backed by a current Agro-dealer who mentioned lack of access to credit facilities and delays in getting stock as a major challenge.
The key beneficiaries of the project are smallholder farmers who need both technical and financial support in their agricultural production. The hub agro-dealer model will also create jobs in the province through the mentoring support and training of a hundred rural entrepreneurs who are interested in agribusiness. The project pays special emphasis on women and youth who the project intends to bring into mainstream economy.
The implementation of the project is a culmination of many activities that have taken place between the Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA), FAO and AFAP.
Jason Scarpone, President and CEO of AFAP said, “The success of AFAP lies upon drawing upon the strengths of its partners, such as FAO whose mandate is to eliminate hunger and poverty through bolstering agricultural productivity.”
The project was first proposed when a delegation of agro-dealers, farmers, farmer associations and members of LDA travelled to Kenya to study the hub agro-dealer model in 2013. While expressing his excitement over the model replication in the vast agricultural Limpopo province, Tshilidzi Mathobo, LDA Agribusiness Manager noted that, “this concept corrects the failures that are created by market structures that concentrate economic activities in more affluent areas thus neglecting the majority of poor people based in rural areas.”
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