Selected Success Cases

Successful farm-agribusiness linkage arrangements were selected in the horticultural, dairy, rice and traditional cash crop sector. Case studies in Kenya include Homegrown, a leading vegetable exporter, Brookside Dairy, a milk processor, Kapapet Tea Factory, a processor and the Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme. All cases have strong involvement with smallholder farmers. The case studies selected in Ghana comprised two fruit exporters a cashew processor and a rice production, processing and marketing scheme. Uganda took a more sectoral approach but in general linkages found were weak and informal in nature. The coffee, horticultural and dairy sectors were chosen.

Managed, long-term relationships between farmers and processors are also not easily encountered in Nigeria, but a fruit juice maker processing, a sorghum out-grower scheme for Guinness and a rice processing scheme were selected and analysed as case study material. South Africa focused on managed co-operation between large-scale processors and farmers from disadvantaged communities in the sugar, timber and tea sector. The table below gives some key information on the cases chosen.

Table 1: Selected Case Studies

Country and Case	Type of Business	Initial Support	Objective	Size of Operation
*Kenya*
Homegrown	Vegetable Exporter	private sector	Fresh vegetable exports to EU	900 small scale, 30 medium scale farmers, exports ca 50 000t pa
Brookside Dairy	Milk Processor	private sector	Processing for domestic market	200 000 l per day with ca 15 000 farmers
Kapapet Tea Factory	Tea Processing	Government	Shareholding arrangement with farmers	5 266 farmers on 4 000 acres
Mwea Rice Irrigation	Rice production and processing	Government	Improve irrigated rice production	3 400 farmers organised in shareholding co-operative
*Ghana*
Farmapine	Fresh Pineapple Export	Technoserve, IDA loan	Sea freight pineapple export	166 farmers, exports 7 000t pa
Blue Skies	Fresh Fruit Preparation Exporter	private sector	Airfreight export of ready-to-eat fruit salads	17 farmers, export 7 500t pa airfreight
Sampa Jimini Co-operative	Cashew Processors	Technoserve	Technology transfer to processor plus marketing assistance	55 members in processing society, 15t pa of raw nuts
Afifie Farmers and Marketing Society	Irrigation	Government	Production & organised processing of irrigated rice	800 farmers on 880 ha
*South Africa*
Transvaal Sugar	sugar processor	private sector	linking small holders to large-scale production	1 000 small scale vs. 140 medium on 27 000 ha and 4 estates on 8 000 ha; total annual production 300 000t
Sappi Project Grow	wood pulp manufacturing	private sector	linking small holders to large-scale production	1 000 small growers on 4,000ha; 500 000ha estate
Sapekoe Mini-farming project	tea processing	private sector	promotion of small scale farming for ex- employees	330 small farmers on 192 ha 1 800t) vs. estate of 500ha
*Uganda*
Bamahalu florist	floriculture	private sector	informal links with small scale farmers	200-300 farmers
Dairy sector	traditional production and processing, limited links	Uganda Dairy Board	promotion of formal dairy sector	20 percent of agricultural. GDP, 900 m l (2001)
Kawacom coffee	organic coffee production and export	NGO/private sector	forward integration of farmers into processing Organic coffee trade	Export of ca. 1 000t
*Nigeria*
Fuman Agric	fruit juice maker	private sector	domestic market supply	ca. 10 000t of raw material per year,
Guinness Sorghum Outgrower Scheme	beer brewing	private sector	secure local raw material after import ban	Project stopped in 1998, size not known
Abakiliki Rice Mill Owner Association	rice processing	private sector	processing, quality control, monitoring of standards and measures	not known

Most case studies chosen within the five countries had initial support of the private sector. However, there is more and more evidence of NGO assistance in setting up links between farmers and agribusiness companies.