Improving Institutional Capacity:
Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries
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 Stimulating participation of cooperatives in high-value economic sectors
 Strengthen the capacity and capability of cooperatives
 Create and develop the capability of human capital in cooperatives
 Improve public confidence in the cooperative movement
 Strengthen cooperatives through effective supervision and enforcement
The cooperative policy, like the ETP, is broad based but identifies agriculture and agro-based
industry as a ‘key result area’. The policy encourages agricultural cooperatives (other than FOs
for crop farming and the rearing of livestock) to participate in high-value activities such as
aquaculture and the cultivation of mushrooms and organic vegetables – lucrative markets for
smallholder farmers. Overall, the Malaysian government is taking a novel, multi-stakeholder
approach to developing a judicious mix of agriculture and aquaculture, with FOs, large anchor
enterprises and government agencies taking the lead.
In this environment, the cooperative movement in Malaysia has grown strongly. According to
the National Co-operative Policy, by the end of 2009, the country had 1,362 registered co-
operatives representing 290,000 members. This represents more than 40% of the Malaysian
agricultural workforce, which, as discussed in Section 2, is in the top fifth of OIC member
countries for which data is available. The Malaysian government credits this growth to the
mobilisation of internal funding through membership subscriptions and shares and to
government assistance in the form of grants and soft loans.108
4.3.4. Regional level: Supporting regional farmer organizations and
collaboration
While national governments can play a major role in developing strong farmer organizations,
as discussed above, the interconnected nature of the global economy leaves room for regional
efforts as well. Collaboration between FOs in the same region or across regions can unlock
significant income and livelihood benefits for smallholder farmers. This section examines two
successful regional FOs and collaborative models to draw out lessons that can inform policy.
Support for Farmers Organizations in Africa Programme (SFOAP)
The SFOAP was launched in 2009 by four regional FO networks to strengthen their own
capacity and policy involvement and that of their FOs and pan-African networks. The pilot
phase, between 2009-2012, involved collaborative work between Eastern Africa Farmers
Federation, Plateforme Sous-Regionale des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale
(representing Central Africa), Reseau des Organisations Paysannes et de Producteurs de
l’Afrique de l’Ouest (representing West Africa), and the Southern African Confederation of
Agricultural Unions, which led to the creation of a continental FO body: the Pan-African
Farmers Organization (PAFO). Funded by the European Union and IFAD, the main thrust of the
programme is around developing FOs’ economic services to integrate smallholder farmers in
agricultural value chains. The program introduced the following:
 Strategic tools such as constitutional texts and membership databases
 Provision of staff, equipment and training resources
 Conduct policy studies and analyses
 Support in carrying out policy advocacy and lobbying activities
 Support in the monitoring of policy implementation
 Provision of advisory services and training for integration into value chains
108 National Cooperative Policy 2011-2020