Input to AgriCord & Farmers Fighting Poverty Dr Bruce Byiers, ECDPM Brussels, 22 April 2015

1. Input to AgriCord & Farmers Fighting Poverty
Dr Bruce Byiers, ECDPM
Brussels, 22 April 2015
Farmers Fighting Poverty in a
Changing Context

2. • Think & do tank
• Independent non-partisan knowledge broker
• Dutch foundation est. 1986
• Financed by NL + 8 EU countries + projects
• Informing and facilitating EU-ACP relations
• Areas:
• EU external action
• African change dynamics
• Peace & security
• Economic transformation & trade
• Food security
• Bridging different policy communities
ECDPM: Policy to practice…
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3. • Changing context
• Changing policy environment
• A world of opportunity?
• Potential challenges
Overview
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4. • Common social, environmental, economic
challenges
• Growing Interdependence - declining
North-South divisions
• From transactional to
partnership/brokerage
• SDGs – transformative, comprehensive,
universal
• Aligning values and interests?
• Aligning policy agendas? aid &
commerce?
• Business power, consumer pressures,
social media…
Changing context
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5. • ‘Africa Rising’
Next investment frontier, risks & rewards
• 'Win-win-wins in a post-2015 world’ ☺
Development, econ. & comm. diplomacy
• Exploitative neocolonialism
Land-grabs, human rights abuse,
• 'Jobs-jobs-jobs’
Economic transformation, more and
better jobs, indust. policy, + value added
Navigating the narratives
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6. Navigating the narratives
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7. • Donor focus on “engaging the private sector
for development”
• Aid for Trade – 2005
• Paris, Accra, Busan – growing PS role
• EC Communication – from PSD to PS4D…
• Commercial diplomacy on the rise
• Differences across countries – e.g. NL vs D
Q: Impact and accountability?
• Business - GVCs and CSR
• Supply chain security
• From CSR to core business
• Responsible conduct codes etc
• Responsible Agric. Investment Principles
Q: Accountability & enforcement?
Changing policy environment
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8. • CSO-business partnerships/platforms
• Different scales, levels - Multi-stakeholder
partnerships, corridors, projects
• Different drivers – demand vs supply-led,
production vs consumers
• Different drivers, interests
Q: Measurable, scalable, replicable success…?
• Government policies
• Economic transf. – switching to higher productivity
sectors and jobs
• Jobs – quantity, quality, access
• Business environment still fundamental
Q: Political will/interest?
Changing policy environment
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9. • CAADP – National & regional compacts and
investment plans
• Malabo declaration 2014
“triple intra-African trade in agricultural goods and
services by 2025 and to establish public-private
partnerships to develop strategic agricultural value
chains with strong linkages to smallholder agriculture.”
• Rise of commercial farming, int’l business?
Grow Africa, G8 New Alliance, SAGCOT, ProSavanna…
• Competition or connections to family
farming… the main challenge?
• Inequality… Resilience…?
African agricultural policy
environment
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10. • Diagnostics – areas & Fos…
• Politically-savvy policies
• Targeted & effective finance
• Policy-follow-up through dialogue, brokering
for FFP areas:
1. Organisational strengthening
2. Institutional development
3. Policy elaboration & advocacy
4. Farmer-led economic activities
Need for:
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11. • FFP ahead of the partnerships curve?
• A role in Public-private dialogue for PPPs
• Promotion of regional platforms, networks, VCs
• Increasing finance for networks/partnerships?
• Linking service provision to partnerships?
• Info on market opportunities?
• Bargaining power with companies/WEF etc?
• Advocacy for transparency, accountability
• Collective action for political (dis)incentives?
• M&E system – for donors AND FOs – data
revolution opportunities?
• RAI – Resp. Agric. Investment Principles,
others?
Opportunities?
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12. 1. Relevance- need to define added value of
national/regional/AgriCord networks?
2. Differentiation– how to prioritise/select
among regions, countries, sectors,
commodities, groups etc? (free to choose?)
3. Criteria – gender, environment, RAI?
4. Priorities– different focus for different
regions/countries/sectors/actors/levels?
Org. support vs TA?
5. Tradeoffs? –
• Inclusiveness vs accountability vs results?
• Harmonisation vs ownership? e.g. gender
• Scale/scope vs impact?
Challenges 1
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13. 1. Impact – “750,000 participants” – what
counterfactual? Cash in hand? Contribution
to economic transformation? Better org.s?
2. Common Interests? – donors, reg. vs
national orgs, EU-Asian-Lam-African org.s
3. Complexity – structural factors,
institutions, actors, interests…
4. Advocacy - How to identify and set
agenda for joint advocacy within given
interest and incentive structures in a ‘post-
2015’ world?
5. Reforms – Identify necessary & feasible
internal reforms for above?
Challenges 2
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14. Thank you
www.ecdpm.org
www.slideshare.net/ecdpm
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