Abstract:
Consolidation in the retail, wholesale, foodservice, processing, transportation and inputs sectors
of agro- food value chains throughout the world has often left smallholder growers at a
competitive disadvantage when it comes to their negotiating the acquisition of services or the
sale of their products. Aggregation represents a promising avenue through which smallholders
can offset this disadvantage. Recent development history, however, is filled with examples of
failed attempts at smallholder aggregation, demonstrating that promising development theories
do not always lead to sustainable development practices or outcomes.
This paper examines the smallholder auto-aggregation program initiated by the Fruit Tree
Productivity Project (Projet Arboriculture Fruitiere, or PAF) with funds provided to the
Kingdom of Morocco by the United States of America through the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. Among its objectives, PAF set out to provide smallholders with the training and
facilities which would enable them to process their olives into olive oil. The discussion includes
a consideration of the advantages and difficulties of smallholder aggregation efforts, a review of the history of farmer-based organizations in Morocco, and a description of the two-stage
approach adopted by PAF to encourage some 6,500 smallholders to aggregate their production,
first into cooperatives, then into economic interest groups, in order to access better markets,
receive higher prices, and lay the groundwork for value-addition. The paper concludes with a
provisional list of lessons learned during the course of PAF implementation, emphasizing the
need for continuing follow-up to monitor the sustainability of the auto-aggregation approach. |
