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As stated it is important to consider logistical solutions that aim at boosting and facilitating rural cooperatives and producer organization.
However, the cooperatives have played an important role since its inception but they may need some modification and introduction of some new policies that will enable producers reach the maximum of productivity and profit realization.
Producers in many countries in Africa have cooperative that are in operation but little is being done to help the producer realize their maximum rate of productivity.
(1) Not educating farmers on key areas that can boost their production where as cooperatives are just helping in one way that buying from farmer and provision of input to the producers. So if cooperatives can join forces with Agriculture engineers and professionals then most farmers will learn on how to have the production increase because they will be consultant to give technical advice to the farmers.
(2) The legal framework must recognize farmers as important component. National industry and that they are part and parcel in the National development of the country. Government need to recognize farmer to be entitled in accessing loans. Also that capital investment by government most also go into establishing young farmer to increase capacity in their Agro business. Loan facilities should include machinery livestock, cash and other important input. Most cooperatives have only facilitated the agro farmer in transportation, and buying of the produce. But does not look which farm producer should receive loan of what kind. Cooperatives are best place at position where they have data of all producers and how much each is able to sell from this statistics. They will be in the position to link farmers to banks and connect farmers to loan facilities. Also to give advice to farmer on having savings account which, will enable them to access loans from bank. Cooperatives should harness farmers as a mother body that mediates farmers who are producer to have direct link in accessing incentives that will promote producers to have maximum productivity and receive good profits from their label. It is also important to understand that farmers need constant education of their business. New policies and incentives must be past on the farmers through brochures and through various forms of media communication as in case of farmer in the remote areas. Cooperatives should establish a center which has to educate farmer on certain methods of farming. Through education, sensitization and equipping farmers with knowledge that will empower farmer do the right thing at the right time. This program if introduced by cooperatives they will no challenge faced by farmers and how those challenges can be solved.
(3) In cultures which have cultural norms that dominate Agriculture should also be address to remove ignorance and cultural impediment to food security e.g. people who aim at having animals as a basis of making name where as they may not sale even if animal have multiplied in number due to their cultural understanding.
(4) Producer must also have access to have their produce exported through cooperatives which will make them sell their produce at much better price this marketing strategy can be organized by cooperative to facilitate their sales.The cooperative should extend their marketing strategy by finding and accessing external market where as they would sale produce on behalf of the farmer and then the money would be deposited in the individual farmer accounts.
Then the shares would be according to the rate produced by each farmers. These external markets include exporting produce to neighbouring countries. It is therefore the duty of cooperative to source for foreign markets, where the commodity is needed. Cooperatives would just levy a small service charge to farmers for conducting business on their behalf.
Agnes Luo Laima
Zambia National Marketeers Credit Association (ZANAMACA)
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SUBJECT: FACTORS AFFECTING FOOD SECURITY
- The Public Sector
- Private Sector
- Producer Originations
- Philanthropic Organizations
These are some of the investment that influence agriculture.The public sector is one component which adds to the adverse effects of food security they come as business people with money to buy agricultural produces from framers at a much reduced price. Since farmers are desperate for money, may end up selling their produces at low cost prices. With this trend the farmers may not be able to realize maximized profit from their labour. The other component is government delay to purchase agricultural produce on time, which forces farmers to sell their crops to scrupulous business men.
In partnership with the private sector, farmers will grow crops which will largely benefit those who buy from them. The lending schemes will also share the cost investment. Not only that, the farmer may also pay back with interest charged at higher rate. The producer organizations have got many challenges they may formulate cooperatives which help farmers to get farming inputs and there are faced with a problem of transportation of inputs to the farmer’s depot. When selling these merchandise, the traders will not over look the incurred cost such as transport costs. The merchandise is in form of fertilizers, seeds, chemicals and machinery or agricultural equipment.
Philanthropic organizations have policies that affect farmers by their lending policies. Farmers get loans but the cost of paying back is not calculated in accordance with the farmers input costs, as a result farmers end up paying back more to their lending institutions.
In the Sub-Saharan countries which include Central Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa and developing countries are equally facing similar challenges as stated above.
High cost of fertilizer, chemicals and seeds are also challenges affecting the farming industry, as a result they can not compete in the agriculture industry adequately or engage in meaningful agriculture unless there are incorporated in small scale farmer’s empowerment schemes. The growth of the small scale farmers has to start by first providing necessary incentives to kick start their development.
To producer organization, there is also this aspect of monopoly especially to producers of chemicals like fertilizers, animal feed, and agro-equipment. If there can be diversification of in the manufacturing of fertilizer and other agro-farming input, it will mean that the farming inputs will be in abundance hence the cost of farm input will be at a reasonable cost where farmers will be able to access it at affordable price.
Private sector
Private sector looks at a former’s needs in the following areas:
Transport aids from farms to selling points
Access to acquiring of big machinery like tractors which is only accessible by commercial farmers
This is disadvantaging small scale farmers because the rate of production will be limited to the equipment they are limited to us.
If a tractor can be given a corporate group of small scale farmers who are in a group of ten to fifteen members and to such a group should be loaned with one tractor per group.- These groups will be headed by a cooperative coordinator who has to manage the equipment in providing services to these farmers.
- The coordinator has to strictly monitor each individual farmer. He also has to maintain servicing of the equipment.
- Educate farmers in looking after their crops and animals
- Also provide vaccination programs for livestock animals
- Constant monitoring of diseases control of animals
- Provide clean water and sanitation
- Train farmers in modern agricultural methods
- Provide transport facility to rural based farmers
- Improve road networks to make transportation easy by building small bridge
- Provide energy in form of solar generator and solar panelFarmers who are located in remote areas have 70% percent of their crops go to waste because of luck of quick processing plants. To this effect, there is need to extend energy direct to farmers so that they can easily process food produce into finished processed foodstuffs. This will reduce waste of crops and transport cost to farmers.
Mostly farmers face problem such as disease outbreak which the agricultural officer may not be able to cater for all the livestock farmers in providing control measures to their animals, as a result, animals die in masses. Therefore the private sector should come on board such as NGOs to supplement short full of disease control and other facilities needed for farmers.
Governments of African countries are ready to work with private partnerships to alleviate poverty and increase food productivity by ensuring that farmers are able too access information and agricultural facilities.
These factors if provided to the farmers, food security will be improved at a greater percentages, also the living standard of farmers will greatly improve which is an objective realized.Agnes Luo Laima
Treasurer
Zambia National Marketers Credit Association (ZANAMACA)
Lusaka – Zambia
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AGNES LUO LAIMA
1. Improve food reserve centres by provding quality housing facility, store room.
(i). Practice organic farming opposed to conventional farming
(ii). Empowering small scale farmers to have capital equipment e.g oxen triddle pumps, tractors etc
(iii) Farmers to use recommended hybrid seeds
(iv) Establish markets and selling depot
2. Africa has more potential for research because it has to graduate from old systems of farming to modern.
3. To sit down with country government to design and a unique plan that will accelerate implementation agriculture policies.
4. I would also want to note here that the super goal in agriculture has resulted in good health people reduced mortality rate in both human and domestic animals
In Africa most farmers used to abandon land on assumption that it has lost soil nutrient so they practiced shifting cultivation which resulted in cutting and clearing more land for farming, but now they are able to practice crop rotation.