M a r k e t N e w s
Agribusinesses to benefit from new global standards tool
Posted on : Thursday, 15th September 2016
A consortium of agribusiness organisations has launched a platform that will support professionalisation of agriculture in East Africa and generate businesses intelligence for the sake of better decisions.
This will enable cooperative societies and small scale agribusinesses in EA to work using globally recognised standards.
"The professionalisation begins with farmer organisations being rated using SCOPE assessment tools which are universally applicable to every crop, region and organisational type," said James Mwai, who is Fairtrade Africa director for policy research and advocacy.
SCOPE rating identifies the strengths and weaknesses of a cooperative and measures an organisation’s capacity.
Market players such as financial institutions, traders, processors, and input suppliers will be able to establish minimum requirements for SCOPE scores, facilitating market linkages for farmers’ organisations.
“Smallholder farmers are small business owners. This standardised, continuously improving approach gives them access to the knowledge and capital they need to become more productive and prosperous thereby boosting their income in the long term,” said Tania Lozansky, Global Head of IFC Agribusiness.
More than 450 farmer organissations have been assessed in East Africa. They include Muki Farmers in Nyandarua which has increased milk delivery from 2,000 to 11,000 litres a day.
Tthe cooperative has also formed a sacco wing to finance members.
The AMEA platform is open to organisations in the agribusiness sector such as NGOs, financial institutions.
Source : www.the-star.co.ke
