Sustainable strategy for the supply of agricultural inputs for the federation of market gardening producers of lower Guinea

Abstract

The Republic of Guinea, and particularly the Lower Guinea area, has a wealth of agricultural potential that is ideal for market gardening. This market gardening production is based primarily on local expertise that has been built up over time. Leading producers' federations such as FOPMA-BG, which is made up of members organised around the goal of producing quality and quantity market gardening products for mass consumption, tries to support and coordinate the farmers in Guinea. Moreover, Lower Guinea can benefit from technical and financial partners who are ready to give support. However, despite these assets, the main actors of these market gardening sectors are still struggling to become leaders on the national agricultural production scene. Which is causing a lack in profitability and prohibiting them to be sustainable over time, resulting in problems in all different domains. For this project, however, the scope and the objectives are to tackle the problems related to the inputs for the farmers, problems with monitoring their data and problems in increasing the capacity of the farmers. The goal is to accompany FOPMA-BG in a strategy to mobilise internal and external resource to improve the supply of agricultural inputs to the members. This culminates in the research question: “What actions can be undertaken to improve the supply and availability of agricultural inputs to strengthen the capacities of FOPMA-BG so that it is a representative federation?”Findings Through the 4C analysis done by interview questionnaires in Guinea, the environment around the research question was mapped. It indeed revealed that there is a big need for improvement in the supply of agricultural inputs. The main needs for the members are timely access to quality inputs, access to profitable markets and access to financing. Although, there are immense difficulties that lie ahead, such as supply shortages, increasing global fertiliser prices, and insufficient professionalism among farmers with high illiteracy rates. The current landscape in Guinea is also not ideal with poor infrastructure, no agricultural bank, and political turmoil. The strategy and recommendations must really tackle these issues. But there are assets that FOPMA-BG has at its disposal to deal with them. It is clear by now that private-public partnerships are immensely important. The federation has a lot of partners, and they are all committed to improving the supply of agricultural inputs. They all also expressed the importance of training to strengthen the capacities of the farmers. The land and climate are also very suitable in Guinea, with fertile soils and abundant rain. A strong tool that FOPMA-BG has at its disposal is the village savings and loans associations. They have proved to be an ingenious way to mobilise resources of the members to facilitate the access to financing. And the analysis has proved that financing is foundational to the success of any supply system. The advantages of these savings groups (GVECs) will certainly be exploited to create a suitable strategy for FOPMA-BG. Recommendations. The strategy to improve the supply of agricultural inputs is based on a strategic framework for African agricultural input supply systems developed by the International Fertilizer Development Center. There are three pillars to the framework that will improve the supply of agricultural inputs. First, the profitability of the members must be increased. Second, the risks must be decreased. Third, non-farm income must be incentivised. However, the success of these three actions lies on the federation being strong. So organisational strategy is also included in the framework. There are four main recommendations that flow out of this strategic framework. The first main recommendation is to organise grouped purchases of inputs for the members. Grouped purchases of agricultural inputs based on forecasted needs are a sure way to get timely access to quality inputs at a reasonable cost. The unions will order these inputs at microfinance institutions against credit. The necessary amount will be surveyed by handing out forms. Once the credit has to be reimbursed, the unions will collect the funds from the GVECs directly. This will decrease the default rate as there is a social pressure for the members to then reimburse the GVEC. This process will also incentivise the formation of more GVECs, which brings along other advantages. More members will get access to financing, and this will also increase their financial literacy. This is paired with more solidarity funds that help manage personal risk related to the farmers. And the funds from the GVEC can also be used to invest in new communal non-farm income. The second main recommendation is to organise grouped sales for the members. This enables the members to have more market power. Additionally, grouped sales will give them access to lucrative contracts with the hospitality industry and mining companies that are abundantly present in Guinea. Selling together will also decrease some transaction costs through economies of scale. So overall, this strategy increases their profitability. However, when these grouped sales are coupled with fixed pricing via forward contracts, they can also help manage the commodity price risk. The third main recommendation is to promote and incentivise fertiliser use. This has the aim to increase to the output of the farmers to eventually increase their profitability. There are three ways to achieve this. First, there are financial incentives whereby an NGO pledges to cover 50 percent of the costs incurred by purchasing fertilisers for one year. After seeing the benefits of using enough fertiliser, members will be incentivised to use more at their own expense. Second, there are social incentives whereby success stories of farmers who optimally used fertilisers are spread around. This will encourage other farmers to do the same. Additionally, the federation must build upon mutual solidarity so that members will share their technical knowledge with each other. Third, there is additional training. Members need to be adequately trained in the proper use of fertilisers. Especially composting to obtain organic fertilisers is important, since this is more sustainable for the soil.The fourth main recommendation is to implement an index-based insurance to manage production risks. This agricultural insurance offers farmers insurance contracts based on measurable indices such as precipitation. This system makes administering the contracts and paying back the farmers easier. For the implementation of this type of insurance, FOPMA-BG needs to build strong public-private relationships with actors in the value chain, such as the Federation of Farmers of Fouta Djallon, NGOs, and microfinance institutions. These four recommendations are designed around the general strategic framework but are built to match the specific circumstances of FOPMA-BG. Behind the success of this strategy lies a strong organisation, so the internal capacities of the federation must be strengthened as well. When all this is successfully put in place as a long-term transformation plan, the supply of agricultural inputs for the members of FOPMA-BG will improve.