Expanding market access for smallholder farmers

Led by iCRA and funded through the Orange Knowledge Programme, the initiative adapted iCRA’s proven Agribusiness Coaching (ABC) Curriculum to strengthen Nuru’s agricultural programs. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges, the project still successfully trained 19 Nuru staff members across three countries. To overcome travel restrictions, the project utilized innovative digital learning approaches whenever traditional face-to-face training became impossible.

Transforming agricultural practices in Nigeria

In Nigeria, the focus was on pulse, oil seeds, and wheat. These sectors are heavily populated with middlemen. Consequently, farmers often struggle to get fair prices for their produce. Thanks to the training provided by iCRA, the Nuru team shifted its focus not only from household-level support to farmer cooperatives but also from a state-centered approach to a value chain perspective. By doing so, they created better market linkages and improved negotiation skills, which in turn increased the collective bargaining power of the farmer cooperatives. As a result, costs for purchasing agricultural inputs were lowered, and farmer associations secured a 16% higher price for soybeans compared to market rates. Additionally, refocusing efforts on cooperatives enabled the Nuru team to make an impact on a much larger scale.

Strengthening dairy cooperatives in Kenya

In Kenya, the field visits that were part of the project, provided the Nuru team and the cooperatives they supported a vision on how professional dairy cooperative could look like. It helped decided how they wanted to strengthen themselves and to draw down the support they needed to get here. As a result, the milk aggregation volumes increased dramatically, with one cooperative expanding from 2,368 to 6,846 litres per month, resulting in monthly payouts of over $2,800 to farmers. A longer-term effect was better operational management and improved governance of the cooperatives.

Building stronger agricultural networks in Ethiopia

As result of the training, the Nuru Ethiopian team started to take a value chain outlook to their activities. In combination with agribusiness cluster formation, key stakeholders in the teff, wheat and barley sector were engaged. Stakeholders, such as producers’ unions, government agencies and university staff, are now meeting on regular basis with a fixed agenda allowing for an ongoing dialogue. This resulted in more accountability and trust amongst stakeholders allowing open communication. The Ethiopian team successfully mediated price negotiations between farmer unions and cooperatives resulting in consistent pricing an increase in revenues. The improved negotiations skills were cascaded down to the leaders of unions and cooperatives and resulted into effective crowding-in which increased the members of the two unions involved up to 18.000 members each.   

Creating lasting change and sustainability

The project’s impact has been both significant and measurable. More importantly, it has fostered long-term sustainability and has transformed market access for smallholder farmers. For instance, farmer cooperatives in Kenya have initiated savings programs as part of their exit strategy from Nuru support. Similarly, Ethiopian participants have successfully established new agribusiness clusters that continue to thrive. As African agriculture continues to evolve, this project serves as a model for future capacity-building initiatives, demonstrating that targeted training can lead to sustainable improvements in agricultural value chains, even in the face of ongoing challenges.