EAFF Presentation

Nairobi, Kenya14th June 2016

Norbert TUYISHIMEEastern Africa Farmers’

FederationE-mail: norbert@eaffu.org, Website: www.eaffu.org

Outline of presentation1. Brief overview of EAFF2. EAFF Strategic orientation3. EAFF experience in linking farmers to market4. The virtual aggregation platform

Eastern Africa Farmers Federation1. 22 members: farmer

federations, national co-operatives, national commodity associations

2. 10 countries: EAC + Ethiopia + Eritrea + DRC + South Sudan + Djibouti

3. Formed in 2001

EAFF membership

EAFF in agriculture and partnerships:• EAFF is deeply involved in agriculture issues at the

regional level…signed MoUs with EAC, COMESA & IGAD and have been instrumental in the regional CAADP investment plans;

• We have MoUs with regional private sector i.e. East Africa Grain Council (EAGC) and the East Africa Business Council (EABC)

• We seat in the board of ASARECA, FARA and RUFORUM which are regional research institutions

EAFF Approach1. Formation of regional commodity

networks2. Capacity of farmer organizations in value

chains3. Policy engagement: enabling

environment4. Knowledge management: Mentorship

and learning together

EAFF experience: Linking farmers to markets1. Formation of regional commodity networks

▫ Effective mentorship arrangement 2. Capacity of farmer organizations

o 2014: Regional MoUs and agreements: 14o Regional sales: < USD 150,000 o National sales: > USD 2.5 Milliono Total 7. 051 MT traded o Significant improvements in grain qualityo In 2015, 29 MoUs for 20,000MT worth > USD 6 Million expected to be

concluded early 2016o Accessing loans with these contracts( Muhororo ACE(Ug) negotiated for

a loan worth USD150,000 from Uganda Development Bank; Matembwe AMCOS(Tz) negotiated a loan worth TSH 100 Million with CRDB bank

Lessons Learnt• The main raison FOs are not active in

formal trade is because they are struggling to aggregate enough produce and hence negotiate and secure remunerative deals;

Agribusin

ess

Strategy

About the eGrannary• eGranary is an initiative to empower

farmers in input and output markets.• It enables farmers to send information

about their enterprise which then helps EAFF find market for them.

Developing the eGranary•We developed a strategic partnership with a

mobile telecommunications company called Mobile Decisioning (MoDe) to develop a virtual aggregation platform.

•MoDe has been providing nano credit services for the last 5 years in >17 countries in Africa and Asia

Piloting•So far we have >19,000 grain farmers

(mainly maize) on the system. This process was supported from FAO, who hailed it as the transformation that the agricultural sector is waiting for. FAO supported the development of some visibility materials and the mobilization of farmers into system.

Dashboard

Ongoing efforts1. Signing MoUs with buyers: EAX, Cargill,

Mahindra agribusinessDiscussions are at advanced stages which are

likely to translate into sales of Maize and rice;Samples of produce from farmers have been

supplied to the buyers for evaluation.

Way forward1. We continue to mobilize farmers to use

the system – year 1 we targeted >20,000 farmers in Kenya and this year we targeting to reach >50,000 farmers.

2. Value add services: Credit system

End of Presentation!