Improving Institutional Capacity:
Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries
13
local level and promote ideology through compulsory participation. 17 Less obviously, in
Bangladesh, many FOs are registered under the Department of Social Services, and need
prior permission to amend their constitutions. The government also has the power to
abolish the FO executive and the organization as a whole, if the FO fails to fulfil the
requirements outlined in its articles or conducts unlawful activities. 18
 Exclusion of smallholder farmers and women: Women and smallholder farmers are
often under-represented in FOs, despite their importance to agriculture in the regions
where OIC member countries are located. The Food Analysis and Natural Resources Policy
Analysis Network (FANRPN) examined national FOs in Malawi and Mozambique and found
that many women were excluded because they did not legally own the land they farm nor
did they enjoy ‘head of household’ status. 19 FOs are also often inaccessible to smallholder
farmers due to restrictive membership criteria, which often exclude farmers who are
illiterate, have very little education, or very little means to meet the financial membership
requirements.
 Perception of weak or unaccountable leadership: In Bangladesh, according to an FAO
report, there is high risk of local leaders keeping all FO benefits for themselves and not
sharing these benefits among the membership. This is largely the result of poor setup,
when extension officers charged with forming the FOs fail to successfully impart the
concept of good governance. The consequence is FOs often lack the autonomous
institutional norms that can transcend socio-cultural hierarchies and mores, reinforcing
community power dynamics.
FOs in OIC member countries, like those around the world, also face operational obstacles, in
addition to the environmental challenges listed above. Addressing the below bottlenecks and
challenges FOs face at the technical, institutional and policy levels will position them to serve
and meet their members’ needs effectively. 20
 Technical challenges
o Production-related: FOs often lack access to quality research and extension services,
production and post-harvest management, agricultural inputs.
o Market-related : FOs lack the ability to develop markets and effectively engage in
collective bargaining and brokering. This includes little ability to access and
disseminate market information and access and provide financial services. FOs also
face significant challenges in achieving compliance with Good Agricultural Practice
(GAP) standards.
 Institutional capacities
o Organizational: FOs also face significant challenges in implementing participatory
methods of governance and adhering to basic reporting standards and procedures for
meetings. Very few FOs conduct strategic and business planning beyond their current
harvest and market time horizons.
17 ‘Reaching out to the rural poor through rural producer organizations’: A study of agricultural marketing co-operatives in
Ethiopia. Food Policy 34(2009) 60-69
18 FAO, Farmer Organizations in Bangladesh: A mapping and capacity assessment, 2014 p.15
19 FANRPN, Strengthening the capacity of women farmers to influence agricultural policy development in Southern Africa,
2012 p. 7.