Improving Institutional Capacity:
Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries
9
Figure 2: Ways of classifying farmer organizations11
For the purposes of this report, FOs are classified by their business model and service offering.
They will examine the following: commodity associations, agricultural co-operatives, producer
groups and federations or networks. Each of these models falls on one side of a conceptual
divide, based on service offering, between FOs that are input-focused and those that are
output-focused. The former will be referred to as supply organizations and the latter as
marketing organizations.
 Supply Organizations : Community-based, resource -oriented FOs, such as village-
level co-operatives focused on acquiring inputs for efficient subsistence and small-
scale production
 Marketing Organization: Commodity-based, market-oriented FOs, such as
organizations that specialise in a single commodity, with a focus on value-added
products that expand the market
1.2.1. Supply Organizations
Agricultural co-operatives supply smallholder farmers with key inputs, making them first
and foremost supply organizations, though many also provide market-oriented services. These
co-operatives are often set up by the state as channels to deliver services to farmers at a
community level, and as a result, wield significant state influence.
Federations, or FO networks, are umbrella bodies representing FOs at a national level.
Federations promote the creation and expansion of FOs and establish partnerships with
international and domestic actors (e.g. government extension services, donors) for the
purposes of service provision. The membership base of this kind of organization is made up
11 This figure is based on Dalberg’s learnings from project experience in agricultural economies across Africa and Asia