Rural Business Development Services

Understanding business development services
 

KIT documents and analyzes experiences with and cases of RBDS and related subjects (see references below). KIT does so by working with a number of organizations, particularly looking for answers to the following challenges:

·         Sustaining local service provision by delineating and balancing public and private roles and investments, as well as public-private partnerships.

·         Inclusiveness of service provision and the need for social targeting if RBDS is to benefit (women) smallholders who normally belong to the poorest layers of the population; as well as the trade-off with financial sustainability .

·         The need to build the capacity and change current behavior of service providers if market-oriented advisory services are to become effective in triggering change.

·         The need for both downward and upward accountability mechanisms from supplier to user/client. The client (smallholder) has to know what the service supplier has done (with whose money and how), and to whose demand it is attending. At the same time, in cases where services are provided as part of transactions (e.g. where farmers are provided technical support in exchange to selling the produce to the service-provider), services-users have to be accountable to service providers.

Together with Agri-ProFocus (APF, a network of organizations working on farmer entrepreneurship), FAO and CTA (the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), KIT is working to contribute to the practical understanding on how to secure access to rural business development services in a sustainable manner by smallholder producers. It does so through:

·         Taking stock of experiences with sustainable Rural Business Development Services (RBDS) in Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda in order to identify innovative practices and gather/analyze lessons learnt. Individuals involved in the implementation of these cases will be brought together in an international writeshop (8-12 October 2012 in Addis Ababa), leading on a book to be published early 2013.

·         Organizing a number of parallel sessions/meetings to the Conference “Making the connection: value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture”, to be held in Addis Ababa, 6-9 November 2012. At this opportunity, representatives of a number of knowledge institutes in Africa will come together to look at the main conclusions of the writeshop (see above) and jointly define policy messages.

·         These same knowledge institutes will work with KIT, APF and partners to develop training guidelines on RBDS for higher education.

In addition, KIT actively participates in efforts led by the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) to further develop the theme, under the rubric of Market Oriented Agricultural Advisory Services (MOAAS). It is also working with larger (public- sector driven) agricultural advisory service systems such as PRONEA (National Programme for Agricultural Extension) in Mozambique, NAADS (National Agricultural Advisory Services) in Uganda, and PASNVA (National Agriculture Extension Support Project) and SPAT (Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation) in Rwanda aiming at providing more market-oriented services.

Publications

• Thematic Note 2: Farming as a Business and the Need for Local (Agri-) Business Development Services | Heemskerk, W. (KIT), & Davis, K. (GFRAS) | 2011
  The primary element for success in establishing local business development organizations is to base the intervention on local human and financial resources, which means that practitioners must emphasize linking with product marketing and processing, creatiing links with savings and credit activities, developing cooperatives, and building capacity.
  World Bank | p. 204-212.
• Thematic Note 1: Pluralistic extension systems | Heemskerk, W. (KIT), & Davis, K. (GFRAS) | 2011
  Pluralistic extension recognizes the inherent diversity of farmers and farming systems and the need to address challen ges in rural development with different services and approaches. It is characterized by the coexistence of multiple public, private, and mixed extension systems and approaches.
  World Bank | p. 194-203.
• Chain empowerment : supporting African farmers to develop markets | KIT - IIRR - Faida MaLi | 2006
  In 19 case studies it is shown how groups of African farmers use vertical and horizontal integration to improve their income. Horizontal integration implies more involvement in value chain management.
• Value chain finance : beyond microfinance for rural entrepreneurs | Peppelenbos, Lucian (ed.)| 2010 |KIT
  In this book the link between chain actors and financial institutions is described as a means to deepen financial services for value chains. Value chain finance aims to address perceived constraints and risks by providing innovative ways of delivering financial services to rural producers and agribusinesses.
• Trading up : building cooperation between farmers and traders in Africa | Peppelenbos, Lucian |KIT – IIRR | cop. 2008
  The potential of African traders in in value chain development is examined. The combination of stronger chain relationships and stronger market institutions benefits all actors involved: farmers, traders, and consumers.
• Pro-poor market development : an approach and quick-scan screening tool for pro-poor business propositions | Peppelenbos, Lucian | 2008
  KIT's conceptual framework for strategic thinking about pro-poor market development is discussed and a practical working tool to guide decisions about investments in pro-poor business ventures is described.
• Access of the poor to agricultural services : the role of farmers' organizations in social inclusion Wennink, Bertus; Nederlof, Suzanne; Heemskerk, Willem | 2007 | KIT
  The role of farmer organizations in service provision in Benin, Rwanda, and Tanzania is analysed and guidelines for improving the inclusiveness of agricultural services and ultimately reducing rural poverty are provided.
• A guide to demand-driven agricultural research : the client-oriented research management approach | Heemskerk, Willem | 2003 |KIT
  Mali and Tanzania adopted the Client-Oriented Research Management Approach (CORMA) for the facilitation of organizational change in their agricultural research organizations. This guide provides tools for assessing client-orientation.
• Outsourcing agricultural advisory services : enhancing rural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa | Heemskerk, Willem; Nederlof, Suzanne; Wennink, Bertus | 2008
  Pilot projects of outsourcing agricultural advisory services in Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda and Mali provide lessons for guiding the further expansion and up-scaling of outsourcing approaches and systems.
• Dealing with small scale producers : linking buyers and producers | Mangnus, E. & de Steenhuijsen Piters, B. | 2010
  Development practitioners and private sector actors struggle with linking farmers' organizations to businesses. There is great diversity in producer organizations. This publication focuses on producer organizations and different arrangements to enhance business relationships.
  KIT | pp. 78
• Challenging chains to change: gender equity in agricultural value chain development | KIT, Agri-ProFocus, & IIRR | 2012 | Amsterdam: KIT Publishers, Royal Tropical Institute.
  Linking women to business in an equitable way using certification and production standards can benefit everybody involved in the value chain.
• Domestic markets (forthcoming)

• Tags:
• rural development |
• rural businesses |
• business development |
• agribusiness |
• agricultural advisory services