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The effects of institutional and political changes on West African FOs and adaptation strategies
Lessons to be drawn from the experiences of the Faso Farmers’ Federation (CPF) and the Federation of Producers’ Unions of Benin (FUPRO)
Inter-network – Project to build the agricultural, food and rural policy capacity of networks of agricultural organisations
2
Context of the knowledge building
The FOs are increasingly being encouraged by governments, donors or the market to organise themselves based on sectors
The ‘general’ or ‘cross-cutting’ FOs are receiving less and less support despite the essential role that they play in supporting family farms.
3
Questions
How has the organisational structure of these FOs changed in this context?
What strategies have they used to adapt? What impact has this had on the capacities of
FOs to defend the interests of and deliver services to family farmers?
4
Study method and organisation
Retrospective analysis of the institutional changes within two umbrella organisations and two member FOs.
Analysis of the impact of these changes on FO ability to carry out varied remits.
Two-stage process:1. Internal FO workshop.2. External one-week mission to each FO
network.
1. Analysis of changes to FOs
Main facets of the institutional changes and their impact on the FOs
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1. The FUPRO network in Benin
Key economic and political player (1990s):– Importance of cotton to the country’s economy.– FOs heavily involved in sector management and funded by it
Weakening (2000s): – State withdrawal, proliferation of private sector players, parallel
networks, the cotton crisis.– Risk of the network breaking up, a drop in resources, reduced
political role.
Initially FUPRO was based around the cotton sector
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Other sectors’ structuring dynamic (2000s)
Agricultural policy promoted:– New growth sectors as an alternative to cotton– Players to be structured into professional groupings
FUPRO set in motion this process in order to: – Balance out the space given to non-cotton regions and
reinforce network cohesion– Rebuild financial and political foundations
Projects/donors:– Encourage sector-based FOs to emerge and become
independent– Neglect general FOs
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The impact on the FOs and producers
Better targeted and more effective services to non-cotton producers
But a structuring process carried out too early or driven artificially creating division within the movement
Geographically-based FOs seeking to forge mutual links and a weakening of coordination between network FOs.
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2. FOs in Burkina Faso
A small farmers’ movement developed initially on a more community-based and multi-functional basis (1970s – 1990s) – FENOP was founded in 1994.
Creation of more specialised umbrella organisations (FEPAB, FNJPAB, UNPCB etc) but with a national consultation framework (CPF in 2002).
Generally structured at the outset
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FOs reorganised into sectors (1990s-2000s)
The cooperative law:– Encourages FO to turn into sector-based cooperatives at all
levels
Promotion of interprofessional bodies: – A very restricted definition of the sector concept (one single
product)– Focuses on export sectors at odds with the FOs
Projects/donors:– Focus their support on strictly economic activities
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The impact on the FOs
At the grassroots:– Little reorientation of activities – Weakening of grassroots organisations
At national level:– The FOs restructured (FEPAB split into two umbrella
organisations) or changed their activities (Federation of Young Agricultural Professionals)
– ‘Opportunistic’ FOs were created and competed with the established FOs
– Flagship FOs lost their political clout (FENOP)
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Conclusion
Structural division of remits between FOs:– Services versus trade union activities – General versus product-specialised
A divisive factor in the small farmers’ movement and resulted in the weakening of political initiatives
2. FO strategies to link up their sector and general
remits
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1. In Benin
A new structuring process to more effectively link up geographical and sector-based FOs.
FUPRO
URP
UCP
GV
National level
Regional level
District level
Village level
Ancienne organisationFormer organisation Nouvelle organisationNew organisation
FUPRO
URP
UCP
GV
URP Sector
UCP Sector
Federation Sector
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Current challenges faced by FUPRO
Reinforce network cohesion: rebuild a shared vision and project from grassroots level
Review the complementary nature of geographical and sector-based FO services.
Replace / train new leaders
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2. In Burkina Faso
At CPF level:– Creation of regional multi-stakeholder consultation platforms
The example of FEPPASI:– The incorporation of varied remits within a single FO:
economic yet multi-sector, social and trade union remits– Integrated farm approach (farm advice service)
Varied solutions
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Current challenges faced by CPF
Strengthen existing regional platforms and create new ones
Develop systems for delivering general services Boost its advocacy capacity
3. Lessons learned from these changes
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The concept of a ‘sector-based approach' encompasses different debates
Promotion of agribusiness as opposed to family farming
Farm specialisation rather than diversification Sector models (administered, integrated, liberalised) Focus FO work on economic initiatives and therefore
limit their political role?
In each case, a need to clarify the terms of the debate between the players.
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Does sector-based structuring allow FOs to deliver the services that producers are looking for?
Better targeted and more effective economic services However, essential general services are neglected Fragmentation of resources and placing FOs into
competition with each other limits the scope of their work
Choice of priority sectors for support is sometimes questionable
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Does sector-based structuring allow FOs to continue to defend the interests of family farming?
Sector segmentation is contributing to the political marginalisation of FOs:
– Energy is wasted and debates are compartmentalised– Juxtaposition of sector support: a loss of coherence in FO
initiatives– Proliferation of resource and leader training requirements– The risk of being politically diluted / divided– Only some categories of small farmers are given support
4. Points for consideration by FOs and their partners
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(Re)develop varied remits within a network
Reaffirm the need to provide the following remits:– Product-based / general– Services: economic / social / trade union / local development
Facilitate coordination between sector and general FOs
– Identify stimulating projects. – Leave room for experimentation and local adaptation of
structuring and specialised or general services.
Use different funding strategies based on the remit in question.
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Reaffirm the importance of having a general approach
Reaffirm the benefits for partners of supporting general FOs: role in the development of family farming.
Need for long-term support to build FO and their HR capacities.
Put general issues back at the heart of the debate on the State’s role in rural development.
Thank you for listening