The Role of Farmers' Organizations in Social Inclusion:
Resource-poor farmers tend to have more limited access to research, training and advisory services than do resource-rich farmers. And while access to agricultural services is not the only factor that can enhance rural people’s livelihoods, it is a very important one.
What role do farmer organizations play in improving access to these services for the poor? Do poor farmers participate in farmer organizations? Or do farmer organizations have other strategies to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers?
Questions like these are key to identifying new approaches for strengthening the capacity of farmer organizations to enhance the pro-poor aspects and accessibility of agricultural services. Using case studies in Benin, Rwanda and Tanzania, researchers from the Royal Tropical Institute and partner organizations in those countries have developed and applied a framework for analyzing the functioning of farmer organizations and their role in service provision.
The results show that different types of farmer organizations have different ways of dealing with the question of social inclusion, depending on the organization’s background and membership profile, as well as its purpose and organizational structure, and these differences can have important consequences for the provision of services to both members and non-members.
Bertus Wennink is a senior advisor for sustainable economic development, with 18 years of experience in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Suzanne Nederlof works as an advisor for farmer-based organizations and rural innovation at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). She has expertise in learning alliances for rural innovation; resource-poor farmers’ livelihoods; natural resource management and platform thinking; farmer-based organizations and interdisciplinary research.
Willem Heemskerk is an agricultural services specialist with 25 years of experience in Sub-Saharan Africa. His specific expertise is in the field of facilitating demand-driven and client-oriented research and development with an innovation systems perspective.
Contents: Acknowledgements; Foreword; Abbreviations; Introduction; PART I: ENHANCING AGRICULTURAL SERVICE PROVISION FOR THE RURAL POOR 1) Background; 2) Farmers’ Organization in Sub-Saharan Africa; 3) Analytic Framework; 4) Methodology of Case Studies; 5) Farmers’ Organizations and Social Inclusive Service Provision; 6) Concluding Remarks: Towards a Strategy for Social Inclusion; References; PART II: CASE STUIDES ON THE ROLE OF FARMER’S ORGANIZATIONS IN ACCESSING SERVICES I) INGABO’s Role in Pro-Poor Service Provision in Rwanda—Jean Damasc?ne Nyamwasa and Bertus Winnick; II) MVIWATA’s Role in Prof-Poor Service Provision in Tanzania—Stephen Ruvuga, Richard Masandika and Willem Heemskerk; III) UCPC’s Role in Pro-Poor Service Provision in Benin—Clarisse Tama-Imorou, Bertus Wennink and E. Suzanne Nederlof; IV) KILICAFE’s Role in Pro-Poor Service Provision in Tanzania—Adolph Kumburu and Willem Heemskerk; V) AcooB?PA’s Role in Pro-Poor Service Provision in Benin—Clarisse Tama-Imoroul and Bertus Wennink; About the Authors.
Published by KIT Publishers Edited by Bertus Wennink , Suzanne Nederlof , Willem Heemskerk September 2007 160 pp., 6" x 9 1/2", figures and tables.
Access of the Poor to Agricultural Services 
The Role of Farmers' Organizations in Social Inclusion: