Farmers, especially small-scale farmers, often highlight the major challenge of having access to formal markets for their produce, especially horticultural commodities.
This hinders them from expanding and sustaining their production.
Accessing markets is a key milestone that can enable a farmer to sustain production in a profitable manner. However, there are several shortfalls many small-scale farmers need to address to access formal markets or sustain their operations.
It is essential for farmers to understand and implement a few strategies to secure formal market off-take agreements, which entail producing for a certain market on a contractual basis.
Firstly, the most important step is for farmers to measure their production area. For instance, if a farmer has an area with a length of 50m and a width of 30m, multiplying the two parameters would give a production area of 1 500 square metres that is available for a farmer to produce any crop of choice.
This is fundamental as it enables farmers to estimate the plant population (number of plants that can be grown on a given area) of the crop they intend to grow.
Consequently, this strategy can also be used to estimate the yield potential of an area. Farmers must understand the importance of registering as a producer with the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB), as the regulator of the crop sector.
To register as a producer with NAB, a farmer must have a minimum production area of 0.5 hectares, which is equivalent to 5 000 square metres (an area measuring 100 metres by 50 metres). Registration is essential for anyone intending to produce for formal markets.
The second strategy is to study the production forecasts available on the NAB website.
This will enable a farmer to establish production trends, identify quantities produced, when they are produced, and who the active farmers are in that specific production zone.
This is key as it informs active horticultural producers to identify the varieties of each crop that are desired by formal markets and how often they are demanded.
For example, if a farmer intends to produce tomatoes for a formal market, it is important for a farmer to understand that most traders prefer round tomatoes over oval ones. Therefore, the farmer should focus on growing varieties preferred by the market.
The third strategy is for farmers to avoid producing crops at once on their production areas. For instance, if a farmer has a two-hectare portion of land, it is essential to avoid preparation and planting of crops at once on this portion of land.
This is because once the produce is ready, such a farmer can only supply a market for two to three weeks and then run out of produce. For a farmer who intends to take full advantage of a formal market, he/she should adopt the staggering planting method.
This will allow a farmer to divide the 2 hectare plot into eight production blocks that measure 2 500 square metres each, and each block can be prepared and planted separately. For instance, if a farmer grows tomatoes, each block can be prepared and planted with a five-day break between the blocks. Each block will have produce that can be harvested for two to three weeks.
This will allow for an extended harvesting period for the farmer. This strategy promotes the availability of tomatoes on a consistent basis, reducing the risk of product unavailability from producers and encouraging formal markets to buy products from local producers.
Additionally, farmers that have formal off-take agreements can further subcontract other small-scale farmers and buy produce from them to ensure they can meet market demand.
However, with this strategy, farmers must ensure they inform their producers (subcontracted small-scale farmers) on the right inputs (seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, etc) that must be used to ensure quality is maintained.
Additionally, to have access to markets that cater to many consumers, it is essential for farmers to enhance their record-keeping systems.
Moreover, food safety is fundamental to many formal markets, therefore, farmers must adopt a simple but yet effective record-keeping system that indicates how fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides were applied and how much of each chemical was applied to ensure that the withdrawal period of each agrochemical is adhered to before the crops can be harvested and marketed.
This enables formal markets to have confidence to procure locally produced crops, as they will meet food safety standards.
Lastly, farmers are encouraged to invest in setting up a mini sorting and grading facility on their farms that can be used to clean, sort, grade produce and, in some cases, pack produce. Such a facility can also serve as a temporary storage facility that protects produce from direct sunlight after harvesting. This will, to a certain extent, aid in preserving the quality and shelf life of the produce.
Among the many strategies that can be implemented by farmers to enable them to access formal markets, the above strategies must be tried and well understood.
This will enable farmers to gain access to contract-based crop farming that makes it easier for a farmer to know what to produce, how much to produce and how often to produce it.
Over time, this will aid in ensuring that a business remains sustainable and profitable with opportunities for expansion, while directly responding to market demands.
– Hanks Saisai is the technical adviser for crops and poultry at Agribank.
