Chapter 6. The role of the private sector and the engagement of smallholder farmers in food value chains 203
support) has introduced an initiative for strengthening FBOs in selected value chains. The approach is
targeted at developing the capacity of the organizations to understand, develop and effectively link to
markets in a business-oriented fashion. The focus is on building the capacity of FBOs, with emphasis on
organizational development, technical agronomic training and market orientation. This is done through
a four-stage process, designed to ensure that the FBOs develop a business-oriented vision for effective
participation in the market. The process is described in Figure 4 below and the rationale behind its
development is as follows:
- To tailor support according to the actual needs of the FBOs;
- To systematize incentives for FBOs’ development based on performance;
- To provide orientation for grant and credit suppliers to increase their opportunities to reach
business-oriented FBOs; and - To measure progress in the FBO development process.
Figure 5. FBO Development Stages
Unorganised
farmersStart-up
StageDevelopment
StageConsolidation
StageBusiness
StageCooperation in some areas, no
professional marketingHigher degree of cooperation, no
professional marketingEach development stage consists of three elements:
(a). criteria indicating when an FBO has reached a specific development stage;
(b). a toolbox of organizational development, business and agricultural technical training measures to
promote the FBO to the next development stage; and
(c). an incentive system to propel the FBO to a higher level of organizational development.
Unorganized farmers constitute the target group for starting the FBO development; the associated
criteria to identify each development stage are outlined as follows:
An FBO in the Start-Up Stage meets the following criteria:
(a). Has updated membership list
(b). Has group members who know each other
(c). Carries out meetings attended by at least 70 percent of group members