Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
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assistance to support famers in upgrading their production capacity and informing them on
indicative prices.
Institutional Coordination & Human Capacity
Develop, implement, and synchronize agricultural and food market strategies at a
national level to ensure agreement on mission and goals and also to provide a means for
coordination between and among the various market institutions.
The need for institutional coordination may be coupled with the previous conclusion on
farmer registration as part of more wider administration and control systems. Indeed, most
OIC Member Countries have a multiplicity of agro-food market institutions, and there is often a
lack of coordination among them, leading to conflicts of interest and overlapping
responsibilities. This is not unique to the agro-food sector: in many Governments,
communications within and, especially, between Ministries and agencies are hampered by
excessive hierarchy and formality. This makes timely communications difficult, and it also
impedes the development of informal contacts and communications, which may be equally
important.
Hence, human capacity development of both agricultural market institutions as well as of other
Government entities should become a policy priority. The provision of high-quality services,
proper communication with agricultural market participants, other Government officials,
potential investors, and the business community, and accurate representation of farmers and
their interests requires human capacity development of agricultural market institutions staff
in order to understand the current circumstances and challenges of the agricultural market
systems and how to anticipate and address these. Similarly, human capacity development of
other Government officials should contribute to bridging their unawareness and lack of
knowledge of agricultural market institutions, their mandates, functions, activities, and
services, eventually improving inter-Ministerial coordination and collaboration.
To overcome these difficulties in communication and coordination, Governments should
consider establishing a high-level commission or authority on which all stakeholder groups
from Government and the private sector are represented. Such a commission would serve both
as a policy advisory body and a forum for public-private dialogue. Moreover, integrating
human capacity development and institutional coordination may require an OIC-wide human
and administration capacity development initiative, where good practices and lessons can be
shared and institutional coordination fostered.
The Role of Inputs
Develop means by which the access to quality inputs (e.g. seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and
other key ingredients) may be assured, thereby improving the quality and market
acceptance of end products.
Many smallholders and small-scale farmers are challenged by limited access to high-quality,
certified inputs and often only have access to low-quality or even imitated inputs. OIC Member
Countries have tried to solve this issue through the provision of subsidized and controlled
inputs or through authorities which are responsible for quality assurance and distribution of