Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access
In the OIC Member Countries
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An urbanizing region where agricultural markets and agribusiness
are gaining importance
Small—in some cases extremely small—farms produce much of the food consumed in the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, where the livelihood of
roughly 37 percent of the population centers on agriculture1. About 80 percent of farms
are smaller than two hectares2 . These farms produce food for home consumption in
addition to a small surplus of food and cash crops. Farmers tend to market this surplus
through traditional channels, although across the member countries, as in the rest of the
world, agri-food value chains are modernizing to meet increased urban demand,
associated changes in consumption patterns, and more stringent food quality and safety
requirements. The implications for the region’s large number of relatively poor farmers
are explored here through case studies from eight OIC member countries: Mozambique,
Nigeria, Uganda, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, Kyrgyz Republic, and Jordan. Together,
these countries reflect the diverse endowments, agricultural systems, and stages of
development encountered in the 57 member countries.
A process of structural transformation is unfolding across the OIC Member Countries. In
almost every member country, the share of the rural population is declining as labor shifts
out of agriculture to other sectors. The urban population in OIC member countries has
almost doubled in the last two decades, from 349 million to 664 million3 . Structural
transformation can be part of a powerful dynamic that lifts rural families from poverty to
prosperity. But to fully leverage the opportunities that change brings and to minimize the
costs of the adjustments that change requires, countries must evaluate where they are on
the path of structural change and then prepare for what lies ahead by creating the right
enabling environment and empowering smallholder farmers to engage in these growing
markets.
Linking smallholders effectively to markets: Recommendations for
the OIC member countries
Creating the right enabling environment is critical for improving access to markets. In
general, reforms that have encouraged the private sector’s role and reduced the
government’s direct involvement in agricultural marketing have had positive outcomes.
But the case studies also reveal that positive outcomes depend on certain conditions. If
investments in public goods such as irrigation, roads, agricultural research and
development, and extension are lacking, if major shortcomings are encountered in policies
1 Authors, based on World Bank, forthcoming.
2 FAO (2001, 2013a).
3 World Bank (2014h).