Improving Institutional Capacity:
Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries
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independent evaluation, (ii) ensuring that small-scale farmers are connected to ZNFU lobbying
efforts and can both understand and influence these efforts. The SIDA evaluation notes that
farmer views on the main purpose of ZNFU are split, with small-scale farmers supporting
ZNFU due to its service provision, and large-scale farmers supporting its advocacy role. While
currently all sizes of farmers work together in ZNFU, this dual view could create the potential
for divisions in the organization.
Keys to ZNFU’s success and lessons for other environments
According to industry participants, the ZNFU has been successful primarily due to the
inclusiveness of its coalition and the unified front it is able to present to the government and to
other industries. With 71,000 members that encompass small- and large-scale interests and
white and black farmers, and with no competing splinter organizations, the ZNFU is able to
maintain credibility with both the government and downstream industry participants. ZNFU
efforts to build bridges to downstream participants through its Agri-Business Chamber, which
provides a consultative, non-confrontational way for farmers and buyers/processors to
discuss common issues, also factor into its achievements and could serve as a model for other
FOs seeking to advocate more effectively.
Finally, the ZNFU also has continuously innovated on its member services, introducing new
programs to expand access to inputs, disseminate information and knowledge, and include
new types of stakeholders. This pro-innovation attitude is also cited as an important factor in
its successful growth and provides a broadly applicable lesson for other FOs.
4.4.2. Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle Río Apurimac (CACVRA)
CACVRA, or the Agrarian Coffee Cooperative of the Apurimac River Valley, is a community-
scale Peruvian organization dedicated to the production of specialty coffee and cocoa for
export. A brief overview of its history, characteristics, services, and business model is given
below.
Table 23: Characteristics of CACVRA
Type
Local-scale
Cooperative /
Producers’
organization
Mixed-gender,
smallholder-only
Origin and
history
CACVRA was founded in 1969 in Ayacucho, along the Apurimac River in South-
Central Peru. Originally founded as a small organization of local coffee farmers, it
expanded rapidly to almost 4,000 members in the late 1970s.113 However, coffee
production was disrupted within the region throughout the 1980s, which led to
the near-collapse of the cooperative.114 After peace was restored in the early
1990s, membership rebounded and in 2003, the cooperative aligned with the
brand-new “Fair Trade” premium coffee and cocoa movement, growing to 1,600
members in the mid-2000s. Today, the cooperative has nearly 3,000 members.
113 “Producer Profiles – CACVRA” Fair Trade USA, no date.
agraria-cafetalera-valle-rio-apurimac
114 “Our Partners – CACVRA” – Equal Exchange Co-operative, n.d.
partners/cacvra