Michigan State University, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

April 2004

This 41-page paper compares three different models of representational farmer organisations, the Chambres d' Agriculture model introduced in several French-speaking West African countries, the CNCR model (Le Conseil National de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux) from Senegal, and the Farmers Fora model in Uganda that seek to improve the responsiveness of agricultural and rural development programmes and policies to farmer concerns in sub-Saharan Africa.

The organisations are compared regarding: services to members, policy representation, member representation, inter-organisational relationships, member financing and financial accountability, and political accountability. The paper concludes with a summary evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each model, and suggested policy and programme recommendations for donors and governments.

Introduction

“In 2001 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) began a series of studies in seven African countries (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia) to examine how local partnership arrangements between farmer organizations, the private sector and government promote agricultural and rural development. Drawing upon these studies, a FAO-ICA Workshop on Agricultural Development and the Empowerment of African Farmers held in Nairobi in March 2002 recommended closer consideration of several types of representational farmer organizations that seek specifically to improve the responsiveness of agricultural and rural development programs and policies to farmer concerns.

The three [studied] models share several common features, including decentralized decision making and planning with local government bodies. Through these features, each model seeks to improve the delivery of services to farmers, accommodate to their concerns, and sometimes their policy interests.

The models also differ significantly from each other: the Chambres d'Agriculture focus on consultative information sharing and are closely associated with national government policy. Moreover, the Chambers are constituted on the principal of universal membership. Individuals do not “join” to become members (or adherents) of a Chamber. Instead, the Chambers have a legal mandate to represent the constituency of all farmers and herders (ressortissants).

In contrast, the CNCR is an independent, non-governmental policy advocacy federation that emerged over several years from a local grassroots movement to one that includes several types of organizations and unions representing diverse membership groups in Senegal’s agricultural, livestock and fisheries sectors. Similar to the Chambres, the CNCR depends heavily upon funding from bilateral and multilateral donor agencies.

The Farmers Fora have less of a policy orientation than either the Chambres or the CNCR, and they rely directly upon decentralized government offices to improve the delivery of various extension services. Similar to the Chambres and the CNCR, the Fora also rely upon significant donor support. However, in contrast to the Chambres and the CNCR, the Fora serve small scale rural producers in marginal areas, thereby representing a more focused constituency than either the Chambres or the CNCR.

This comparative review begins with a brief discussion of recent concerns related to farmer representation, policy reform and agricultural development; this helps to define the key questions explored in this paper. Following this discussion, the paper presents a historical overview of the Chambres d’Agriculture in Mali and Togo, the CNCR in Senegal and the Farmers Fora in Uganda. This is followed by a description of the main features of each model and a comparative assessment of the models based on six issues or themes identified below. The paper concludes with a summary evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each model, and suggested policy and program recommendations for donors and governments.”