With rural farmers facing the challenge of accessing profitable markets, experts say Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), an arrangement in which members pay for produce upfront at the beginning of the farming season, should be adopted. CSA provides needed fund for farmers and ensures affordable fresh food for consumers, DANIEL ESSIET reports.
Some farmers have started tapping into the growing demand for fresh produce to make money.
In Lagos and other cities, the increasing demand for fresh produce, such as vegetables, mushrooms, tomatoes, water melon and others, by supermarket chains has increased. For example, farmers in Lagos have been making steady income by supplying outlets such as Shoprite and Eko Farmers Mart.
Spotting a lucrative opportunity, many farmers have agreed to sell their produce using the thriving market platforms. For instance, it is a daily ritual for workers at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, to stroll into Eko Farmers Marts to buy fresh fruits, eggs and vegetables. Such markets are celebrated for providing fresh produce, such as eggs and fruits.
The Eko Farmers Mart has, undoubtedly, increased farmers income. Under the arrangement, the Lagos Agric Youth Empowerment Scheme works with young farmers to produce crops and poultry products, which are distributed through the marts.
At a forum, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Olajide Basorun, said the markets offer quality, freshness, hygiene and reasonable prices.
He said the government would play a pivotal role in supporting the local industry by assisting farmers to sell their ever-increasing volumes of fresh farm produce.
Across Lagos, Eko Farmers Marts and supermarket chains have revolutionised food distribution in the short span. The megastores are popular with customers for their lower prices, choice and convenience.
The marts, according to Basorun, provide added value with healthier food in an environment that fosters social interactions. Producers or farmers keying into the system sell a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and poultry products. The benefits are manyas they provide jobs, generate less waste, bring fresh wholesome food, and connect one to their source.
Through Eko Farmers Marts Basorun said local producers are being integrated into a food distribution system recognised for its potential to boost economic development through agriculture. The system, he noted, has created a market channel for people to bring fresh produce into the city and new opportunities for families, who live in rural Lagos.
He said the marts, located in various parts of the state, offer cheap fresh foods to members of their host communities and encourage farmers to increase output.
While these types of markets are on the rise in the cities, the same is not obtained in rural areas. Consequently, many small farmers in rural areas do not have access to such markets unlike their medium and large growers, with more money and marketing savvy
For example, farmers outside Lagos struggle to take their produce to the market. They have to transport the produce to far places by trucks. As such, the produce do not arrive their destinations fresh. They are also of limited variety and are expensive with costs rising between 50 to 100 per cent in centrally located urban areas.
Its feeble attempts to sell to major supermarkets in the town illustrate how the odds are stacked against small farmers. Those produce may be sold in small shops and open-air markets, but the value of supermarket purchases in places such as Eko farmers marts and Shoprite have soared.
Stiff competition from big urban and industrial growers is also real. To supply the supermarkets is a big challenge in terms of requirements. Even though sales are there in the rural areas, the local markets accounts for less than 10 percent of sales.
For watchers, local food systems are pillars of rural economic development together with agriculture. The expansion of cities and their increasing demands should be paired with the challenges of improving rural livelihoods.
Consequently, there is a clear need for small scale farmers to find an alternative to formal market that is mainly dominated by big -businesses. One possible solution is the Community Supported Agriculture ( CSA) model.
In CSA, members buy a share at the beginning of the growing season. That provides farmers with up-front capital to grow and manage the farm. In exchange, consumers receive a weekly delivery of fresh, seasonal produce. They also take on the risk of a poor harvest. Ideally, the model builds community and personal connections around food.
Speaking with The Nation, The Project Director, Cassava Adding to Africa (CAVA), Prof Kola Adebayo said CSA refers to an arrangement where consumers purchase a share of a local farm’s harvest prior to the growing season. Sometimes known as subscription farming, CSA is based on an annual market agreement between a farm and local individuals or households. In return for the up-front cash and commitment to the whole growing season, consumers get a weekly variety of farm-fresh produce.
He said farmers in the rural areas will benefit if they adopt CSA arrangement with consumers within local and urban communities. Apart from having access to markets, they will be able to grow the local economies, expand their businesses and get more income for their produce.
Interestingly, CSA is a membership farming scheme. Members of the farm communities commit themselves to buying a share of the farm’s harvest for 12-months at a time. This approach allows the farm to invest in the year ahead knowing that it has the support to continue and that the produce will be eaten as they can grow to meet the demand. This system is very beneficial for the farm because it allows the growers to concentrate on what they love, growing food, rather than worry about marketing, processing, branding among others.
As community supported market farms, members, both farmers and consumers feel connected to where their food is coming from and how it is produced.
According to Adebayo, CSA is a relatively new way of farming involving a partnership between food producers and the local community.
CSA, according to him, brings farmers and their customers together to share responsibility for the land where their food is grown and how their food is produced. The farmers and consumers participate in marketing system where seasonal produce are sold weekly. The aim is to provide sustainable and growing market for farmers and give customers access to fresh produce with less food miles and at competitive prices.
The system ensures that fresh produce is available year round for producers, their families, and local communities.
Unlike conventional agriculture, where farmers bear the risks of weather, pests, and the marketplace alone, in community supported agriculture the entire community shares the bounty and scarcity.
He said CSA would work when farmers are committed to buying from a producer, or group of producers. A key point is that the consumers are committed to buying on a regular basis and at least, for a whole growing season.
Community supported agriculture is, in fact, a big name for a simple idea. Communities of any size make a financial pledge to support a local farm. This helps them to connect directly with their local farmers and provides benefits for both parties.
The farmer benefits financially from having a secure market of committed customers and the ‘members’ of the CSA often contribute additional labour and a range of skills.
President, Federated FADAMA Community Association, Lagos State, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan said strong links to markets for poor rural producers are essential for increasing agricultural production, generating economic growth in rural areas and reducing hunger and poverty.
Oyenekan said better access by small producers to domestic and international markets means that they can reliably sell more produce at higher prices. This, in turn, encourages farmers to invest in their businesses and increase the quantity, quality and diversity of the goods they produce.
To him, belonging to an organised group, allows small farmers to bulk produce, reduce costs through economies of scale and, perhaps most importantly, to strengthen their bargaining power with powerful private-sector actors.
With increasing challenges of accessing markets, Oyenekan said it becomes necessary to support farmers to organise themselves into groups such as cooperatives that give them needed capacity to negotiate for better prices.
He said such cooperatives improve farmers’ access to markets, increase their earnings, and improve the livelihood and well-being of their families. Apart from addressing the real need in the agriculture value chain of ensuring that farmers have access to necessary inputs to raise their productivity, they are facilitated to increase their overall earnings from agriculture.
He said cooperatives enable farmers to work together, reducing competition and making it easier to take care of tasks such as marketing. By combining forces, they can also supply larger users such as restaurants and other businesses, and may be able to hire people to work out the distribution while they focus on farming.
