Independiente Diálogo
Enfoque geográfico:
Eswatini
Discussion topic outcome
1. AGRICULTURE VALUE CHAINS: - Sale of Produce Agreements: Retailers have a tendency of canceling agreements made with producers without notice, leaving producers stranded with their produce. As a matter of Policy, all retailers must put in place a produce sales Agreement to guarantee the final uptake of farmers' produce. - Production Contract: It should now be a law or a policy developed to require retailers to develop production contracts with Primary produces on the commodities to be produced and quantities, since they had observed that retailers are refusing to sign production contracts wi
... Leer másth them and there is nothing compelling them to do so. This presents a serious risk to produce loss post-production, especially perishable commodities. - Bargaining power: Producers have less bargaining power in the Market since they are price takers.; and the period for payment of goods is decided by retailers. Producers themselves should build and/or strengthen commodity-specific networks to address marketing; Advocate for fair pricing of produce at all markets and in place, and End-to-end traceability system for farm produce entering the market chain. In order to address the issue of unfair pricing, farmers should be represented in State-Owned Marketing Boards and decision-making platforms that affect pricing. - Agriculture Insurance: There is a need to establish a system of risk and insurance sharing to mitigate the consequences of adverse outcomes and to allow traders to pursue higher returns. Insurance companies should provide comprehensive and affordable insurance packages to farmers. - Land tenure: due to the land tenure system, farmers cannot use the land as collateral in banks since they do not own it but it is owned by traditional authorities. Government must speed up the finalization of the SNL Commercialization Bill or revisit and finalize the Draft Land Policy. Youth must be supported to access production land. Arable land is fast diminishing, therefore must be protected by policy and preserved only for agriculture. Unproductive arable land that belongs to the government must be put to active use, special attention given to local smallholder farmers to use this land. - Mechanization and equipment: the majority of smallholder farmers do not own adequate equipment and tractors, therefore rely on tractor services that are offered by the government. However, this service is very inefficient. Government must improve the delivery of this service, and should consider handing it over to the private sector, preferably to competent farmers' organizations. - Farming support enterprises: Farmer groups should take business opportunities of the nonfarming enterprises that bring solutions to farmers such as farming input trading, produce transport services, warehousing, abattoirs, and cold storages. Through These enterprises, farmer groups have the opportunity of reducing farmers' production costs and increasing dividends for shareholding farmers. - Innovation and Technology: - Adoption and access to technology; agriculture today is becoming more sophisticated and technology is bringing a lot of change and necessary solutions. However, local smallholder farmers are not adequately taping into these opportunities. Government and stakeholders should promote adoption. Proper policies must be put in place to regulate technology and data. Investment: - Agriculture is the backbone of the country's economy, therefore, the government must prioritize investing in the sector. The Malabo Declaration to commit 10% in agriculture must be practiced by the government. There is a need for more irrigation infrastructure, road networks, internet connectivity, aggregation centers, and cold chain support infrastructure. Leer menos
Línea(s) de Acción: 1, 3, 4, 5
Palabras clave: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Human rights, Innovation, Policy, Women & Youth Empowerment