Improving Institutional Capacity:

Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries

have also been leaders in innovative policies aimed at making FO registration easier, reducing

tax burdens, and setting up ways to support FOs in the field. Full, country-level details on the

findings of the research are given in the Annexes.

The in-country visits and in-depth profiles of actual FOs found examples of

moderately strong

farmer organizations with generally good governance structures, business

fundamentals, and accountability to their members

(with some exceptions)

However, the

FOs profiled were not as strong on the provision of services (such as input, finance, and

storage) to their members, and while they often had a vision and many goals for the future,

they typically lacked a long-term, detailed strategic plan for achieving these goals. One of the

common themes of the interviews and profiles was that

farmer organizations face

challenges in finding the resources necessary to provide the services that their

members need.

Importantly, this challenge is exacerbated by the fact that FOs

now see

themselves as responsible for providing services that were often provided by

governments in years prior to the liberalization and globalization of agriculture.

While the enabling environment for FOs across the OIC is reasonably strong, some

specific challenges remain.

Recommendations for OIC Member Country engagement include:



Considering allocating additional financial resources to help relieve FOs’ current

burden,

specifically in the areas of agricultural extension and input provision

One of the

main findings of the case studies is

that

FOs across the OIC are asked to play a more

significant role in today’s globalized agriculture economy

than they were in the past, as

many activities traditionally provided by the government now are provided by FOs due to

government resource constraints



Establishing or expanding bodies with a specific mandate to strengthen FOs

, and then

sponsoring

periodic outreach to FOs to understand the performance of these bodies

This outreach to FOs could be part of a larger role to be played by FOs in consultations

between agricultural development funders and OIC Member governments. This is a proven

strategy for strengthening FO environments and is emphasized by the International Fund

for Agricultural Development (IFAD) when country-level agricultural intervention plans

are developed

Investing in advancing smallholder-focused agricultural finance

Banks across the OIC are experimenting with and introducing financial products to benefit

FOs. This innovation is aimed at meeting one of the chief needs of FOs by making working

capital and investment funds accessible. To help further this, market research could be

conducted, with the goals of: identifying the needs of FOs in specific regions,

understanding what challenges banks face in lending to FOs at present, and exploring

potential financial product solutions for farmer organizations. The expansion in credit

facilitated by such activities would help farmer organizations more effectively carry out

their missions to assist members by supplying inputs and facilitating access to markets.



Facilitating intra-OIC cooperation and links between COMCEC and other multilateral

groups.

In the context of economic and commercial cooperation, OIC Member Countries

could consider:

For a discussion of broad trends in liberalization and its impact on FOs, see Onumah, Gideon et al, “Empowering

Smallholder Farmers in Markets: Changing Agricultural Marketing Systems and Innovative Responses by Producer

Organizations”, 2007

IFAD, “IFAD and Farmer Organizations – Partnerships in Progress”, 2012