Organizing and managing farmers’ groups

1 catholic Relief Services 228 W. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA For more information, contact and managing farmers groupsA SMART SKILLS MANUALO rganizing and managing farmers groupsOrganizing and managing farmers groupsA SMART SKILLS MANUALG etting organized is vital for small-scale farmers in developing countries. On their own, individual farm families can do little to improve their livelihoods: they lack the capital, skills, experience and scale to solve problems, invest, market or innovate. But if they work together, they become strong. Together they can save enough to invest in their enterprises; they can identify and exploit opportunities; they can learn from each other and build their skills; they can analyse problems and find manual shows how field agents, extension workers and program managers can help farmers get organized. The 17 lessons cover the following topics: Why work with groups , and the role of the group promoter How to start working with farmers in communities and help them get organized How to help them plan and implement activities How to deal with communication and networking lesson includes guidelines, field exercises to do with a group of farmers and quizzes to test your is one manual in a series on SMART Skills the skills that field agents need to help farmers in developing countries improve their livelihoods.

2 SMART SKILLS MANUALORGANIZING AND managing farmers groups iOrganizing and managing farmers groupsA SMART SKILLS MANUALii Organizing AND managing farmers GROUPSThis publication was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) Office of Acquisition and Assistance under the terms of Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-L-10-00003 with the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign for the Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services (MEAS) Project. MEAS aims at promoting and assisting in the modernization of rural extension and advisory services worldwide through various outputs and services. The services benefit a wide audience of users, including developing country policymakers and technical specialists, development practitioners from NGOs, other donors, and consultants, and USAID staff and Relief Services (CRS) serves the poor and disadvantaged overseas.

3 Without regard to race, creed or nationality, CRS provides emergency relief in the wake of natural and man-made disasters and promotes the subsequent recovery of communities through integrated development interventions. CRS programs and resources respond to the Bishops call to live in solidarity as one human family across borders, over oceans, and through differences in language, culture and economic condition. CRS provided co-financing for this Relief Services 228 West Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201-3413 USA Editorial teamShaun FerrisRupert BestPaul MundyLayout and designPaul MundyIllustrationsJorge Enrique Guti rrez ISBN-10: 1614921415 ISBN-13: 978-1-61492-141-7 Download this publication and related material at or at citation: CRS and MEAS. 2015. Organizing and managing farmers groups : A SMART Skills manual. catholic Relief Services, Baltimore, MD, and Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services project, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.

4 2015 catholic Relief Services and MEAS project. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Unported are free: to Share to copy, distribute and transmit the work to Remix to adapt the workunder the condition that they attribute the author(s)/institution (but not in any way that suggests that the authors/ institution endorse the user or the user s use of the work). Organizing AND managing farmers groups iiiTable of contentsForeword ..viiAcknowledgments ..xiIntroduction ..xii1 WORKING WITH groups ..1 Lesson 1. Why work with groups ? ..3 Quiz 1 ..8 Exercise 1. Working with groups ..9 Lesson 2. The role of the group promoter ..11 Quiz 2 ..20 Exercise 2. The role of the group promoter ..212 Organizing AND managing A group ..23 Lesson 3. Entering the community ..25 Quiz 3 ..35 Exercise 3a. Gathering information about the community ..36 Exercise 3b. Identifying your target group .

5 45 Lesson 4. Forming a group ..49 Quiz 4 ..56 Exercise 4a. Choosing possible entry points and group types ..57 Exercise 4b. Visioning ..60 Exercise 4c. Creating the group ..63 Lesson 5. Participation ..65 Quiz 5 ..69 Exercise 5. Participation ..70 Lesson 6. Leadership and 6 ..81 Exercise 6a. Leadership styles and 6b. Leaders tasks ..84 Exercise 6c. Electing the management committee ..86 Lesson 7. Governing the group ..87 Quiz 7 ..92 Exercise 7. Drawing up a constitution ..93 Lesson 8. Holding meetings ..95 Quiz 8 ..101 Exercise 8. Holding a meeting ..102 Lesson 9. Keeping records ..105 Quiz 9 ..109 Exercise 9. Keeping records ..110iv Organizing AND managing farmers GROUPSL esson 10. Financial management ..113 Quiz 10 ..121 Exercise 10. Financial management ..1223 PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING ACTIVITIES ..125 Lesson 11. Developing an action plan ..127 Quiz 11 ..131 Exercise 11a. Problem analysis chart.

6 132 Exercise 11b. Action planning ..134 Lesson 12. Implementing activities ..137 Quiz 12 ..141 Exercise 12. Implementing the plans ..142 Lesson 13. Monitoring and evaluation ..145 Quiz 13 ..151 Exercise 13. COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKING ..155 Lesson 14. Conflict and negotiation ..157 Quiz 14 ..163 Exercise 14. Resolving conflicts ..164 Lesson 15. Communication ..167 Quiz 15 ..173 Exercise 15. Communication ..174 Lesson 16. Helping groups grow ..177 Quiz 16 ..181 Exercise 16. Helping groups grow ..182 Lesson 17. Second-order associations ..185 Quiz 17 ..190 Exercise 17. Second-order associations ..191 ANSWERS TO QUIZZES ..193 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING ..199 Organizing AND managing farmers groups VList of tables1 Types of farmers groups ..42 Examples of the reasons groups fail ..73 Experience with groups ..104 Stages of group formation ..195 Participatory appraisal methods ..276 Identifying your target group .

7 467 Where to find details on different types of groups ..498 Visioning from current to a desired state, Mshika farmers group , Tanzania ..539 Choosing possible entry points ..5810 Form for converting a long-term vision into short-term action ..6111 Possible items to include in a constitution ..8912 farmers group sign-up sheet ..9113 Types of meetings ..9514 Sample attendance sheet ..9815 Example of annual general meeting agenda ..9916 Types of records and other documents ..10617 Example of a list of members ..10618 Example of a members register ..11419 Example of a cash book with pictures ..11720 A completed problem analysis chart ..12721 Example of an action plan ..12922 Maize mill duty roster ..13723 Example of records for an egg-laying enterprise ..14024 Examples of simple monitoring and evaluation questions ..14625 Monitoring chart for purchase and sale of chickens ..14626 Example of records for an egg-laying enterprise.

8 14727 Weekly calendar for recording egg production and sales ..14728 Records of eggs produced and sold ..14829 Using drawings and symbols ..14830 Measuring satisfaction ..14931 Examples of self-evaluation questions ..14932 Reaching a consensus on egg marketing ..16033 Different audiences, different information needs ..16834 Checklist of requirements for marketing group ..180 Organizing AND managing farmers groups viiForewordNaah Ebenezer is a father of five and a member of the Nadowli Christian Mother savings and internal lending community, or SILC, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. He joined the group in 2010 and has since saved regularly. He took a loan when the rainy season was approaching and bought a donkey to plow his farm. After plowing his own fields, he also plowed for others on a commercial basis. He raised money to pay off the loan, and took another loan to buy some fertilizer.

9 With training from extension agents, he planted his crops in rows and applied the fertilizer at the right time and in the right way. When asked what changes the project has brought to him, he said I used to borrow money from friends to plow and seeds from other farmers to sow, and I used to pay twice what I borrowed when returning the money. This year, I did not go to disgrace myself by borrowing from friends. From SILC, I have got my donkey for plowing and because the agricultural officers taught us how to apply the fertilizer my crops are looking good. Thank God CRS brought this idea to help us. According to Ebenezer, he used to borrow from friends and other well-to-do farmers and at the end of harvest he will use all his produce to pay his debts. Now I don t owe anybody and I am sure of a good harvest. Ebenezer s success is an example of a new approach of doing development with vulnerable rural communities.

10 Various critical skills that smallholder farmers need to engage successfully with markets are integrated into a novel capacity-building approach: Organizational management: they need to get organized to plan and manage their work. Financial skills: they need to save money, invest it in the enterprise, and maintain financial records. Market and enterprise skills: they need to produce something that customers want to buy; they need to find those customers; and they need to plan their business to make a profit. Natural resources: they need to conserve their soil, water and other natural resources so they can produce on a sustainable basis. Innovation: they need to find new, more efficient and more profitable ways of pro-ducing. In common with many other development agencies, CRS is incorporating market- and business-oriented approaches into its development efforts. Increasing food production alone cannot move poor rural people permanently out of poverty.