Hi,
I was looking at your list of IFMs and wondering how it has become that mechanisms for outright credit to small-holder farmers do not feature as often these days.
Are we discussing innovative financing with an already set bias towards a particular direction that steers away from direct engagement with the smallscale farmer and strengthens the place of the large scale producer?
I realise that there have been major challenges to developing mechanism that provide finance and/or input credit to smallholder farmers, but this is where innovation must surely come in.
I had for instance put forward the possible use of models that take account of mind-set and cultural dimensions that tend to haunt direct financial sector engagement with small-holder farmers. This is just one idea. Working through collective entrepreneurship models is yet another. I am sure there are other possible mechanisms. Some that have been previously tried and have failed may need to be re-examined from an innovation perspective.
Just about all the mechanisms I could see on your list have the potential to dis-empower the small-holder farmer and reduce them to a producer that is locked into a system that they have little control over.
I think contract farming and outgrower schemes should serve as (good) alternatives and not so much as principle mechanisms. Warehouse receipt systems come in at post-production stage and may not necessarily be as helpful to farmers that need to break out of the poverty trap, boost production so they move to "net-seller" status where they have significant marketable excess beyond their domestic needs.
Anyone that has worked closely with smallholder farming communities realises that there are tough realities to be dealt with if productivity is to be improved and poverty reduced. Financial inclusion is key, but innovation must provide the platform. Whilst there are no easy answers, I don't think avoiding engagement with smallholder actors provides any.
Christian Chileshe
Principal Consultant
3C - Development Management & Entrepreneurship Experts
Lusaka, Zambia
Christian Chileshe