Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access
In the OIC Member Countries
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means of resolving disputes. Government can also support contract farming by investing
in public goods, especially critical infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and storage
facilities. Government may also have a role in financing the provision of technical support,
if it improves access to technical advice for a broader range of commodities than the one
for which the farmer has entered into a contractual relationship.
Pay Special Attention to the Inclusion of Female Smallholders
Smallholder farmers who are female are often more likely to be excluded from
transforming agri-food supply chains than men due to numerous factors, including lower
mobility, less access to training, less access to market information, and less access to
productive resources.215 In some cases where women’s traditional production and
marketing activities have become more lucrative, men have tended to displace women
from those activities. These factors need to be considered carefully (using tools such as a
gender-disaggregated value chain analysis) to ensure that women as well as men have
equal opportunities to benefit from transforming agri-food supply chains. In many
transforming economies, men start migrating to cities for employment, often seasonally.
Women are increasingly left with the responsibility for the farm. In that context, strategies
to improve smallholders’ access to markets will have the greatest impact if they focus
particularly on female farmers.
Invest in Rural Health and Education
A lack of investment or uneven investment in rural health and education will place
smallholder farmers at a disadvantage in adjusting to rapidly evolving agri-food markets.
The technical skills and knowledge that all farmers, particularly smallholders, require to
participate effectively in modern agri-food value chains will only increase over time.
Training programs to improve farmers’ knowledge of production and marketing
strategies, comply with grades and quality standards, and ensure that their production
practices are sustainable will likely have better outcomes if the farmers who receive such
training have basic education, including literacy and numeracy. A World Bank review at
the end of the Colombia Productive Partnership Project found that producers’ level of
education, the presence of an established producer organization, and training in
managerial skills for producer organizations were positively correlated with the success of
the partnership.216 As structural transformation proceeds, investments in education and
health will enable the labor force to adapt more successfully to changes and benefit from
opportunities. A healthy, educated rural population is in a better position to transition to
work outside of agriculture where average incomes are often higher.
215 World Bank (2009a).
216 World Bank (2009).