Improving Institutional Capacity:

Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries

seeks to strengthen FOs, envisioning the following measures for dealing with their

capacity gaps and challenges:

Table 5: Major Mozambican policy interventions and their link to FO capacity challenges

Capacity

Gap/Challenges

Intervention

Policy-related

Raising farmers awareness about the legal and political instruments

that govern farmer organisations and the agriculture sector as a

whole, including the Law on Cooperatives

Institutional/Manageri

al (Organizational)

Improve farmers theoretical and practical knowledge, through the

provision of training in vocational literacy and arithmetic

management of cooperatives, business techniques, contract

management and lobbying

Technical: Marketing

(Access to Market)

The promotion of production contracts between farmer

organisations and the private sector

Institutional/Manageri

al (Financial)

Facilitate access for farmer organisations to credit through

mechanisms such as guarantee schemes, in collaboration with local

financial institutions.

Saudi Arabia

Small-scale agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been practised by the rural

population with assistance from nomadic groups. With limited arable land, in an environment

not naturally conducive to agriculture, the task of ensuring food self-sufficiency and rural

development has made agriculture a key priority sector. Serious efforts have been dedicated

toward strengthening the sector since the 1970s, starting with the development of

infrastructure

. Major initiatives to develop the capacity of FOs and their farmers included the

construction of rural roads, collective irrigation and storage facilities, export facilities, and

agriculture research and training institutions. These interventions have been complemented

by the provision of concessional, long term interest-free loans, technical and support services,

and free seeds and fertilizers. This kind of enabling environment ensured that Saudi Arabia

became self-sufficient in some food items and an exporter of wheat, dates, watermelon, and

poultry. The following capacity gaps faced by FOs, are addressed through the government

policy in Saudi Arabia.

This table summarizes and draws on the same sources cited in the preceding paragraphs

Al-Shayaa, M; Baig,M and Straquadine.

Agricultural Extension in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : Difficult Present and

Demanding Future.

Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences vol 22 no. 1 p. 239-246, 2012