Transcript Streamlining Market Information Services in Farmer Enterprise Training Programmes By Awor Linnet CAL Officer, PELUM Uganda Date: 02/06/2010 Email: [email protected] Web: www.pelumrd.org.

Streamlining Market Information Services in
Farmer Enterprise Training Programmes
By Awor Linnet
CAL Officer, PELUM Uganda
Date: 02/06/2010
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.pelumrd.org
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INTRODUCTION
 PELUM Association; a regional network of over 200
civil society organizations in 10 countries in East,
Central and Southern Africa working in the areas of
participatory ecological land use management.
 Country Chapters include; Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho,
Botswana and South Africa.
PELUM is: Participatory Ecological Land Use Management
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Introduction; Cont’d
 PELUM Uganda ; a network of 33 Non Governmental
Organizations that have come together to improve the
livelihoods of small holder farmers through
sustainable use of natural resources.
 PELUM Uganda members work with smallholder
farmers in over 66 districts country wide.
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PELUM Uganda’s Activities
 Member Capacity
Building; PELUM
Uganda facilitates
experiential learning
through exposure and
exchange visits, training
in value addition, and
participatory market
chain approach (PMCA),
among its membership.
Photo: PELUM Mos on exposure visit to AMFRI Firms in
Kampala
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PELUM Uganda’s Activities
cont’d
 Communication and Networking;
 Share market information with members on weekly
basis, focusing on trends, levels of production,
according to the regions.
 PELUM Publications; e-newsletters, magazines, bear
information that support farmers access to markets.
 Support MOs to share market information with
farmers through Rural Information Points.
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PELUM Uganda’s Activities cont’d
 Research and Advocacy
 Conducted a study on Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA) and how to protect the SSF in the
negotiations.
 Supported MOs to participate in EPA, RI, and other
trade –related meetings.
 Conducted a study on the impact of climate change,
seed security / GMOs and the trade dynamics on SSF.
 PELUM’s Thematic Committee on Trade and Market
Access.
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The Purpose of PELUM Uganda
 To build the capacity of member organizations in
providing quality ecological land use services through
training, networking, research, advocacy and
participatory approaches.
Direct / End users
 Member organizations
 Smallholder farmers at grass root level
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Works and Evidence of Best
Practice
a) Farmer- led documentation (FLD) approach
 Developed as a participatory communication strategy
that would involve farmers directly in collecting and
managing their information.
 Empowers farmers with a new role of being their own
managers, problem solvers and decision makers.
 Farmers study their own situations, recognize their
needs, document, find answers to their queries, work
towards implementing knowledge gathered from the
process, and monitor it.
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Works and Evidence of Best
Practice; cont’d
b) Exchange and Exposure
Visits.
 To increase members’
options to development
challenges; expose them to
new ideas and provide
information on innovation,
value addition, marketing,
linkages and collaboration
on agriculture.
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Works and Evidence of Best
Practice; cont’d
c) Support to Member Organizations
Uganda Environmental Education Foundation
(UEEF)
 PELUM Uganda linked UEEF with CIAT to support
smallholder farmers on marketing their produce, in
Mukono and Hoima districts.
 Benefits from this project; increased access to market
information by farmers, and formation of farmer
associations for better bargaining power.
CIAT: International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
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Works and Evidence of Best
Practice; cont’d
Support to Member Organizations; cont’d
Agency for Integrated Rural Development (AFIRD)
 Farmers trained in marketing agriculture produce and
appreciating market value chain actors.
 Farmers started dialoguing with the management of
Nakasero and Kalerwe Markets.
 Farmers started receiving market information from
management which they use in decision making.
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Works and Evidence of Best
Practice; cont’d
d) Indigenous food fare
 Farmers exhibit
indigenous foods, their
preparations and
preservations methods.
 Farmers learnt that
indigenous foods fetch
higher prices in the
markets, hence the need
to grow more.
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Lessons Learnt
 Farmers learn better from fellow farmers
 Disseminating market information in local languages
on radio and posters is vital.
 Involvement of farmers in addressing their own
challenges is ideal for sustainability of the initiatives.
 Importance of addressing food security first, then
marketing.
 Importance of practicing sustainable agriculture for
better land use and higher yields.
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Recommendations
 Integrate MI in farmer training programmes.
 Local markets authorities should increase and
maintain information boards that display updated
prices of goods and other related information.
 Encourage and support collaboration among the wider
farmer audience for sustainable livelihoods.
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END
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