TRAINING
Linking Farmers to Markets Training Program
5Participants and instructors of the Linking Farmers to Markets training course in Burkina Faso.
Based on the success of the November 2011 English-language ‘Linking Farmers to Markets’ course in Ghana, IFDC organized a similar training program for French-speaking participants in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, May 14-18. The program had 53 participants from 13 countries (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda and Senegal). The objectives of the training were to improve the capacities of the participants to analyze farmer-to-market linkages within the context of a specific agricultural environment and its input and output markets and to develop projects or project approaches that can create effective farmer-tomarket linkages. To reach these objectives, the training built on the successful CASE approach that IFDC and partner organizations developed to organize and empower farmers and to effectively link them to both input and output markets. IFDC’s CASE solution develops agribusiness clusters in which producer groups become an integral part of commodity value chains. Through support from business development services, linkages among various value chain actors (agro-dealers, producers,
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storage providers, processors, credit institutions, buyers, etc.) are established to effectively link farmers to markets. “Profitability and sustainability are key elements of our approach; the underlying concept that ‘all actors in a business cluster are able to generate additional revenue’ is the basis for sustainability, both in economic and environmental terms,” said Timothy Karera, director of IFDC’s Training and Workshop Coordination Unit. “The IFDC approach is farmer-centered and assists farmers and FBOs in identifying and accessing profitable input and output markets and also provides an additional focus on information management.” Participants rated the training as “very good to excellent.” Frank Mayundo Muyumba from the DRC stated, “I hope IFDC establishes a network of trainers across Africa specializing in this key area. The impact and sustainability that is desperately needed would significantly increase.” The Ouagadougou program participants raised interest in CASE and IFDC. Most requested that IFDC provide a follow-up of this successful program to capitalize on the lessons learned.