Module 4 - Malawi, Kenya, and Uganda: Developing Rural Agricultural Input Supply Systems for Farmers

Following the introduction of market liberalization measures in Malawi, Kenya, and Uganda, the private sector moved in and took up many functions previously performed by the public sector relating to the import, procurement, and distribution of agricultural inputs. Unfortunately, farm input supply companies concentrated mainly on urban areas and targeted primarily commercial farmers, so rural areas continue to be underserved. As a result, millions of poor farmers located in rural areas do not have access to affordable agricultural inputs, including improved seed, mineral fertilizers, and other agrochemicals needed to raise farm productivity.

With the goal of improving food security and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, efforts are underway in these three countries to establish public-private partnerships that will strengthen demand for improved inputs by raising farmers’ awareness of improved technologies and improving farmers’ ability to use inputs efficiently. Three challenges will have to be overcome if these public-private partnerships are to succeed. First, measures will have to be found to increase the volume, range, and quality of agricultural inputs supplied via commercial channels to the doorsteps of poor farmers (accessibility). Second, input costs paid by farmers will have to be reduced so they can profitably use new agricultural technologies (affordability). Third, agricultural output markets will have to perform better so farmers can achieve higher prices and incomes from the sale of their produce (incentives).

The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting a project that works with three organizations in Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda to develop an agricultural input supply pipelines into rural areas. These organizations (AGMARK in Kenya, AT-Uganda in Uganda, and CNFA/RAISE in Malawi) are addressing the three key challenges of affordability, accessibility, and incentives by training networks of rural stockists to supply fertilizers and other inputs to farmers.

Project Objectives and Description

1. To overcome a lack of technical knowledge and business administration skills on the part of input distributors, the project is training a network of rural stockists who can supply fertilizers and other inputs to farmers. Many of these stockists previously knew very little about improved seed and fertilizer or about safe handling of agrochemicals. Consequently, they were unable to provide farmers with credible information about using inputs efficiently and safely. To solve this problem, the stockists are trained using commercially-delivered training modules to develop their technical knowledge and business management skills. Once the training is completed, the stockists become certified as “agrodealers.”