EXPLOITING UNDERUTILIZED OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT WITH THE e3 ANCHOR FARMS MODEL: HOW WILL IT WORK? WILL IT SUCCEED? - Part 1
By George Z Goliati
Clarifying the impact opportunity and testing the solution
Apart from indepth (empirical) understanding of the underutilization of the collective marketing structures, which is associated with weak farmer organisations management capacity, the identified impact opportunity, it was planned to simultaneously test the proposed solution. The May, 2020 conceptualized e-coordinated export-oriented ecological (e3) anchor farms model will be put to test to examine its practicality or feasibility. If it completely fails the test, another concept will be developed. If it does not fail, but perhaps shows some weak areas, improvements or modifications will be made. The final successful model will become a prototype. This will be implemented as a minimum viable product and will be piloted on at least four LFOs by December 2020 to June, 2021 to test its viability, up-scalability and sustainability.
The feasibility test was supposed to commence in August and end in October, 2020. Due to some challenges, it was rescheduled to September and end in November, 2020. The test will involve a single farmer organisation. However, the question might be "why dealing with farmer organisations, how will it work and why using such an approach?". Some have argued that "why can't you just open your own private farm or venture into agro-trading or establishing an NGO without involving the rural communities?". Yes it does not make sense to many people since we consider the educated as front leaders of the rural and outsiders of their "circles"; yet the model puts the educated inside the "rural circles" as back-end leaders. Yes it might sound ridiculous. Like Einstein's relativity theory, it shall later be understood. However, here is the explanation.
The impact opportunity and solution in summary
According to FAO (2019), over 33 million smallholder farmers are expected to feed Africa's growing population yet they are the most poor and food-nutrition insecure due to their low productivity and market failures. Even though supported with collective marketing structures proven to improve smallholder access to productive inputs, services and markets, over 1 million farmers in Malawi are unable to leverage on over 90% of the structures. Low literacy levels, weak leaderships and coordination underly varying attributing factors across farmer organisations.
Worthwhile, underutilized collective marketing structures entice a hybrid model of aggregating and contract farming, the e-coordinated export-oriented ecological (e3) anchor farms. Local farmer organisations (LFOs) and supporting services providers would be engaged on these farms to foster and support sustainable production and decentralized aggregation for identified quality-oriented markets using a digital platform and the donated infrastructures along with diverse and eco-farming approaches. This will strengthen LFOs to facilitate marginal farmers access to productive inputs, services and profitable markets, that improve their productivity sustainably, incomes and food-nutrition sufficiency.
Organisational and motivational background
AfriCan Explorations is a movement and a tech-oriented development entrepreneurship. It is a movement that is guided by a humanistic constitution that promotes the pursuit to make this world a better living place and a wonderful adventure for everyone. That is, life, as a rare and beautiful form of existence, must be lived up to the fullest potential through scientific and philosophical search for knowledge and wisdom and development of technologies and artistic designs that enable simple, efficient, fulfiling, ethical, peaceful and joyful life experience by everyone especially for the disadvantaged. This also promotes for harmonious coexistence of people from different walks of life and between people and mother nature.
AfriCan Explorations (AfriCan-X) or "Stella Africae" - named after a rare star-shaped orchid Angreacum stella-africae - was founded in 2015 with a focus on the unexplored potential of the African society and mother nature. Its foundation was based on the conviction that Africa is not essentially poor, but we underutilize our resources and opportunities. In this view, AfriCan-X was founded with a goal to allow the African society realise free economic and ecological gifts from mother nature and the need to protect the same. Its mission is to explore, design and promote eco-technologies, the means of making maximum use of locally and readily available resources and opportunities for social economic development while conserving nature. AfriCan-X aims to develop eco-technologies as marketable product or service models to generate funds that will enable fulfil its mission and vision.
One of acts of underutilization of resources and opportunities in Africa, Malawi in particular, is noted in the agricultural sector. Despite existence of highly productive agricultural resources and climate as well as government policies and donor support to reduce poverty in Malawi, poverty levels remain high. Efforts to achieve food security and reduce poverty from agricultural investments are proving futile as the majority of farmers continue to endure low productivity and poor access to profitable markets. According to World Bank (2009), for instance, cereal yields per hectare moved from a little over 1 ton per hectare in 1960 to 4.5 tons per hectare in 2005 in South Asian countries, compared to about 0.9 tons per hectare in 1960 to a little over 1 ton per hectare in 2005 in Sub-Saharan Africa (African Development Bank, 2019).
Therefore, AfriCan-X is determined to contribute to the change by supporting the integration of smallholder farmers into commercial value chains and sustainable agri-food systems that would improve access to profitable markets and adequate food among poor farmers. AfriCan Explorations finds digitalization and youth engagement in rural community agriculture as the most possible way to make agriculture more profitable and sustainable for the marginalized farmers as well as the large and small agribusinesses. That's marginal farmers should be able to satisfy the market expectations and benefit from farming just like all other value chain players do in agriculture, reducing the inequality.
As such, AfriCan-X is in process of developing a digital platform and anchor farms-based agro-trading business model which will allow marginal farmers, through local farmer organisations, easily access market information and production support services including extension and financing, to make maximum sustainable use of the existing resources and opportunities. The model is expected to close or heavily reduce the gap between smallholder marginal farmers and high value markets as well as supporting services. (see part 2)
