Constraints to smallholders participation in Cassava value ... - aaacp

Consideration should be given to exploring secondary data: it is assumed that there are nationalfarm household survey data within Zambia that will enable researchers and stakeholders addresssome of our basic questions about smallholder potential. Given such baseline resources, primarydata collection can be directed to other areas of Zambia to enable the generalisations and policyformulation at which this report can only hint:• participation in the process of strategy development and implementation• propensity of smallholders to respond to sectoral initiatives• smallholder-level organisation to meet the demands of commercialisation• possible financial mechanismsAttitudinal issues, and what has come to be referred to as ‘unobservables’, which are not normallycaptured in socioeconomic research need further investigation, probably through qualitativeapproaches. Besides household socioeconomic data such as resources or livelihood assets and theexternal opportunity and constraint set, more knowledge is needed concerning personal attitudes,aptitudes and attributes which may be important in determining farmers’ responses to newincentives (Poole, N.D. 2000). Fundamentally, do farmers want to grow cassava? At whom shouldinterventions be targeted?At the same time, consideration needs to be given to the ethical issues associated with the targetingof interventions, which is normally justified by economic criteria rather than other moral criteria.This topic is very much under-researched.Rural tradersMuch more needs to be learnt about the role of small scale traders who are much maligned but alsoact as such important players in traditional African market systems. Small scale traders are likely tohave an important role in the bulking and delivery of cassava to intermediary processors andmanufacturers. Traders can also be channels of inputs, market and technical information and financeto producers, and can be influential in propagating and upholding standards and grading systemsand product quality control.FinanceThe second area of action and participative research is to identify and implement new modelfinancial delivery mechanisms: new knowledge and evidence is needed to design appropriatefinancing mechanisms, particularly for delivery of small-scale funds to grassroots organisations:micro-funding maybe up to $10000 for infrastructure for an individual processing plant. Privatesector business service firms (such as accountants) can be invited by national banks andinternational financial organisations to design and implement models of competitive tendering andchallenge fund approaches for micro-enterprise development.Similarly, private investors or ‘philanthrocapitalists’ can be invited to participate in micro-equityfunds willing to invest in such enterprises. Substantial experience in Asia suggests that group lendingoffers particularly good prospects for generating rural enterprises. Such an approach is a means ofcapitalising forms of collective enterprise for rural processing based on rural organisations such asKWCP which are most likely to be community-based, or founded around some other collective entityor ideal like local faith organisations.24