Agenda

Introduction

In the first Expert Meeting a whole range of issues has been identified to be analyzed in more detail. One of them, that raised a lot of interest of the participants, had to do with the (evolving) organizational setup and legal forms that producer organizations have in the South but also in the North. Many PO supporting agencies and organizations having PO as chain-partners are confronted with organizational setups that are ‘sub-optimal’ for the needs of the members and/or the needs of external partners. The national cooperative boards in Africa and Latin America are often presented as being outdated in the changing market conditions. Also private business, with out grower relations with individual farmers, faces challenges when trying to formalize relationships with these farmers and delegate them certain services. Importers use often middle-man or export service bureaus to source individual providers. They are eager to look for flexible formal and informal organization ‘models’ for producer organizations that emerge in these out grower relations or outsourcing. There seems a need for ‘toolboxes’ and expert advice to better play their supportive role in PO strengthening and make them an attractive business partner or service provider.

“Naturally, exporters have a problem when farmers organize themselves. They are afraid of being blackmailed. Fair trade is an interesting market, but for companies to serve that market having to work with cooperatives is really shitty.”

“Private business: We do not need producer organizations to organize marketing. They are only functional when delivering services in production. Marketing is our core business where we don’t need them!”

“The easiest way of formalizing producer organizations is by making them an association. But later on there appear big problems as this legal form is not very suited to engage in demanding commercial transactions.”

“The cooperative legal set-up seems excellently suited to balance the economic and social objectives of producer organizations, but the cooperative movement is often associated with fierce problems of corruption and burocracies, so nobody wants to burn its fingers with it.”

“Cooperatives have been very useful tools for agribusiness development in the Netherlands, but in today’s marketing reality with tracking and tracing and ‘niche’ development, they prove to have severe limits. New institutional forms for producer organizations are mushrooming.”

Context

Producer organizations are an important actor for rural development, in their ability to support both economic development and social cohesion. POs are collective efforts of farmers to develop services that support them in their economic and social development. POs may have several functions, such as collecting, processing and marketing agricultural products, implementing quality assurance programs, advocacy for policy making, and giving advice and training to their members.

A wide array of different POs exists. Distinctions can be made on the basis of their legal status, such as between informal grower groups, formal farmer associations, joint private businesses, and agricultural cooperatives. Distinctions can also be made on the basis of the activities. The organizational form of a PO is partly determined by its objectives and activities, but to a great extent it is the result of the legal system and legal context in each country. Historical experiences with different legal forms shape the views of producers on the legal form a PO should choose, in its transition from an informal group or initiative to an administratively registered formal organization.

In this Expert Meeting we will focus on the different legal forms and organizational setups that a PO may have, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these in real situations.

Objectives

• More awareness of the different organizational forms and legal models of POs in the South.

• A historical perspective on the evolution and/or regression of different organizational models as a result of changing economic contexts and international development cooperation influence.

• Identification of strengths and weaknesses in different approaches to institution building and organizational strengthening of POs by Agri-ProFocus partners.

For further information:

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