Promoting FBOs for sustainable development

The period between 2007 and 2011 saw an increase in the number of cooperatives and farmer-based organisations (FBOs) in Ghana.

It was estimated that about 10,000 FBOs were established within 23 districts in five regions - Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Northern and Volta - within the period. Most of these FBOs were local level producer/processing or marketing groups that had rather weak structures at regional and national levels.

However, a major contributor to FBO development in the period was the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact in 2007, which approved a five-year US$547million anti-poverty compact with a significant proportion of the money used for the development of FBOs.

The farmer and enterprise training in commercial agriculture programme under the MCA sought to accelerate the development of commercial skills and capacity among farmer-based organisations and their business partners, including entities adding value to agricultural crops such as processors and marketers. It also involved capacity building among extension service providers.

According to the Compact Completion Report (December 2011), 1,242 FBOs involving 66,930 farmers were developed through the Commercial Development of Farmer-Based Organisations (CDFO) Project of the MCA alone between 2007 and 2011.

Professor Kwame Offei, Provost of the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences of the University of Ghana, made this disclosure when he delivered the keynote address at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’s (AGRA) conference on farmer-based organisations in Accra, ahead of the 2013 Farmer Organisations Awards on November 29.

He however noted that although FBOs hold promise for moving the country’s agriculture sector forward, including improving agricultural output and employment, there is limited evidence on their characteristics, activities, and performance, and the sector seems less vibrant than expected.

“FBOs appear to be motivated by what government or development partners can offer to the group. FBOs are often motivated by subsidies and incentives offered by government or donor agencies, which tends to undermine focus on their core activities,” he stated.

The effect of such an approach, he continued, is that communities and individuals equate cooperatives with the formation of groups to secure funding and other incentives from government, NGOs and other donors.

Professor Offei said FBOs need capacity to be able to provide inputs into formulation of agricultural policies, and monitor these policies and programmes and their implementation. Areas where FBOs capacity could be enhanced include basic tools for policy analysis, lobbying, articulation of their position on agricultural policy and development of strategies favourable to their members, notably smallholders and women farmers.

He noted that since smallholder farmers represent the bulk (about 80%) of the total agricultural population in the country, the development of grassroots farmer-based organisations and the encouragement of a larger number of these small producers to be part of it would be very useful for sustainable development of the economy.