Improving small-scale farmers’ livelihoods through improved policies and increased market access for small grains and indigenous food crops

PELUM Association and its member organisations through support from partners has over the last fifteen years capacitated smallholder farmers to produce different agricultural commodities in adequate quantities through promotion of sustainable practices. Despite potential of increased yields from numerous sustainable agriculture approaches, small-scale farmers are still unable to successfully access and participate in meaningful market initiatives; this has rendered effects on their livelihoods to remain negligible. The lack of access to markets, calls for innovations from development actors like PELUM to enable farmers reap rewards from their hard work. In the last 2 to 3 years, PELUM embarked on a process of enhancing its small-scale farmers’ market access programme.

Scoping studies in three1 countries in the SADC region have enabled the association to have a fair articulation of farmers’ market challenges and opportunities. In the southern region through a grant from Christian Aid, the main key market challenges were identified with focus on small grain sub-sector as below. These are largely policy in nature with resultant weaknesses in marketing systems with a disproportionate disadvantage to women who are traditionally major producers of the small grains.

• limited knowledge about existing market policies and programmes (national and regional) not just among farmers but also agriculture staff,
• diminishing role of institutions mandated with marketing,
• skewed national policies towards maize neglecting other crops small grains inclusive and
• Good elaborate regional policies and programmes which are not adequately translated into market opportunities at national level.
• Weak institutional interaction among stakeholders involved in the marketing of agriculture produce,
• Inadequate marketing facilities, information and transport infrastructure,
• Inadequacies in farmer capacity ranging from organizational to knowledge gaps also limit the farmers to actively participate in and benefit from the market process.
• At higher levels farmers do not have capacity to participate fully in policy issues relating to marketing and hence they are left out.
• The present lack of access to markets is aggravated by the underdevelopment linkages in the marketing chain,
• Inconsistent supply of appropriate inputs including inability to produce and multiply quality seed.

The above challenges have isolated the SSF from playing a major role in marketing and they have been unable to realize adequate incomes from their produce. This has compromised the aspirations and rights of the most vulnerable groups; the small – scale farmers who constantly face the problems of food and income insecurity. Besides maize, soy-beans, groundnuts and cotton, there is hardly any small – grain variety such as sorghum, millet and other indigenous