IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaae10/97043.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

When the Weak Win: Role of Farmer Groups in Influencing Agricultural Policy Outcome; a Case of Nkhate Irrigation Scheme in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Magreta, Ruth
  • Magombo, Tennyson
  • Zingore, Shamie

Abstract

The knowledge today recaps that’s livelihood of many African farmers are constrained by poor access to both inputs and output markets, limited entrepreneurial skills for adding value to produce and to bargain for better prices and finally limited technical skills in agricultural production. Despite a tremendous attention to salvage this through government interventions and research, there is still a big problem in addressing the smallholder farmer’s needs. Farmer organizations open up opportunities for farmers to better overcome the above mentioned constraints through lobbying and collective action. Drawing from results of Participatory diagnosis and participatory market research done in Nkhate irrigation scheme in 2007 and 2008 this paper examines the effect of effective farmer groups in influencing rice price formation. Results demonstrated that farmer groups have the potential to effectively influence policy outcomes in their favour. This was however achieved through reorganization and mobilization of farmer groups to improve lobbying efficiency and reduce the inefficiencies caused by free riding. The results indicate that from the participatory gross margin analysis which was done by CIAT ( 2007) with rice farmers at the irrigation scheme, it was revealed that farmers have been making losses in the marketing of Kirombero and Super Fire rice varieties and have been realizing a very small positive margin for Mtupatupa a local rice variety. The analysis revealed gross margins of 36.78 US$ ha-1, -182.50 US$ ha-1, and 60.36 US$ ha-1, for Super fire, Kirombero and Mtupatupa varieties respectively. This shows that farmers were making losses when they sold rice to traders at a price dictated to them. However, after farmers were effectively organised in a group and linked to markets, farmers realized gross margins of 681.84US$ ha-1, 664.23US$ ha-1 and 1,028.69US$ ha-1 for Mtupatupa, Super fire and Kirombero rice varieties respectively. The paper further recommends that such farmer groups need to better articulate and deliver benefits to members hence ensuring that these members subscribe to the group and hence finance lobbying efforts which are often costly.

Suggested Citation

  • Magreta, Ruth & Magombo, Tennyson & Zingore, Shamie, 2010. "When the Weak Win: Role of Farmer Groups in Influencing Agricultural Policy Outcome; a Case of Nkhate Irrigation Scheme in Malawi," 2010 AAAE Third Conference/AEASA 48th Conference, September 19-23, 2010, Cape Town, South Africa 97043, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaae10:97043
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.97043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/97043/files/120.%20Farmer%20groups%20in%20Malawi.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.97043?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diao, Xinshen & Hazell, Peter, 2004. "Exploring market opportunities for African smallholders," 2020 vision briefs 6, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Du, Wen & Wang, H. Holly, 2004. "Intertemporal Decisions Of Farmers' Risk Management: A Dynamic Optimization With Generalized Expected Utility," 2004 Annual Meeting, June 30-July 2, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii 36205, Western Agricultural Economics Association.
    3. Kay, Ronald D. & Edwards, William M. & Duffy, Patricia A., 2011. "Farm Management, 7th Edition," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11370, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Du, Wen & Wang, H. Holly, 2004. "The Impact Of Risk Aversion, Time Preference, And Intertemporal Substitutability On Farmers' Risk Management Behavior," 2004 Annual Meeting, June 30-July 2, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii 36235, Western Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. SM Helfand, 2000. "Interest Groups And Economic Policy: Explaining The Pattern Of Protection In The Brazilian Agricultural Sector," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(4), pages 462-476, October.
    6. Diao, Xinshen & Dorosh, Paul A. & Rahman, Shaikh Mahfuzur, 2003. "Market opportunities for African agriculture: an examination of demand-side constraints on agricultural growth," DSGD discussion papers 1, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wambua, Dennis Kyalo, 2017. "Influence Of Social Capital And Networks On Marketing Performance Of Smallholder Grain Farmer Groups In Tharaka North And Tharaka South Sub-Counties, Kenya," Research Theses 276430, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aklilu, H.A. & Udo, H.M.J. & Almekinders, C.J.M. & Van der Zijpp, A.J., 2008. "How resource poor households value and access poultry: Village poultry keeping in Tigray, Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 96(1-3), pages 175-183, March.
    2. Bahiigwa, Godfrey, 2006. "Access of Eastern African Farmers to Domestic and International Markets: Opportunities and Constraints," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25270, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Diao, Xinshen & Dorosh, Paul A. & Rahman, Shaikh Mahfuzur, 2007. "Market opportunities for African agriculture: A General Equilibrium examination of demand-side constraints on agricultural growth in East and Southern Africa," Research reports 154, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Kwamina E. Banson & Nam C. Nguyen & Ockie J. H. Bosch & Thich V. Nguyen, 2015. "A Systems Thinking Approach to Address the Complexity of Agribusiness for Sustainable Development in Africa: A Case Study in Ghana," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(6), pages 672-688, November.
    5. Hishamunda, Nathanael & Ridler, Neil B., 2006. "Farming fish for profits: A small step towards food security in sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 401-414, October.
    6. Johnson, Michael & Resnick, Danielle, 2004. "Strategic analysis and knowledge support systems for rural development strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa," DSGD discussion papers 14, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Benin, Samuel & Nkonya, Ephraim & Okecho, Geresom & Pender, John & Nahdy, Silim & Mugarura, Samuel & Kayobyo, Godfrey, 2007. "Assessing the impact of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) in the Uganda rural livelihoods," IFPRI discussion papers 724, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Tigist Mekonnen Melesse, 2015. "Agricultural Technology Adoption and Market Participation under Learning Externality: Impact Evaluation on Small-scale Agriculture from Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 2015/06, Maastricht School of Management.
    9. Cavalcanti Ferreira, Pedro & Facchini, Giovanni, 2005. "Trade liberalization and industrial concentration: Evidence from Brazil," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 432-446, May.
    10. Poulton, Colin & Dorward, Andrew & Kydd, Jonathan, 2010. "The Future of Small Farms: New Directions for Services, Institutions, and Intermediation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1413-1428, October.
    11. Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Diao, Xinshen & Bahta, Yonas, 2009. "How important is a regional free trade area for Southern Africa?: Potential impacts and structural constraints," IFPRI discussion papers 888, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Clemens Breisinger & Xinshen Diao & James Thurlow & Ramatu M. Al Hassan, 2011. "Potential impacts of a green revolution in Africa—the case of Ghana," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 82-102, January.
    13. Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Diao, Xinshen, 2008. "Exploring Growth Linkages and Market Opportunities for Agriculture in Southern Africa," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 23, pages 104-137.
    14. Mbonane, Nobuhle Duduzile, 2018. "An analysis of farmers’ preferences for crop insurance: a case of maize farmers in Swaziland," Research Theses 334771, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    15. Govereh, Jones & Haggblade, Steven & Nielson, Hunter & Tschirley, David L., 2008. "Maize Market Sheds in Eastern and Southern Africa. Report 1," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 55374, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    16. Nijhoff, Jan J., 2009. "Staple Food Trade in the COMESA Region: The Need for a Regional Approach to Stimulate Agricultural Growth and Enhance Food Security," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 62227, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. Olwande, John & Mathenge, Mary K., 2012. "Market Participation among Poor Rural Households in Kenya," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126711, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Thurlow, James & Wobst, Peter, 2004. "The road to pro-poor growth in Zambia: past lessons and future challenges," DSGD discussion papers 16, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Liangzhi You & Michael Johnson, 2010. "Exploring strategic priorities for regional agricultural R&D investments in East and Central Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 177-190, March.
    20. Diao, Xinshen & Yanoma, Yukitsugu, 2003. "Exploring regional dynamics in Sub-Saharan African agriculture," DSGD discussion papers 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Farm Management;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaae10:97043. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaaeaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.