PARTICIPATORY MARKET CHAIN APPROACH
DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS FOR NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND FRUITS BUSINESS GROUP (OVFBG)
COMPENDIUM OF MINUTES OF ALL MEETINGS HELD
Table of Contents
Table of Contents. 1
- MINUTES OF THE ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND FRUITS FOR LOCAL MARKET MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2020 IN ZOOM (ONLINE PLATFORM) 2
- MINUTES OF THE 1st ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MEETING HELD ON 15TH JANUARY 2021 IN ZOOM (ONLINE PLATFORM) 7
- MINUTES OF THE 2nd ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MEETING HELD ON 22nd JANUARY 2021 AT ORGANIC FRUITAS SHOP NEXT GEN MALL.. 11
1. MINUTES OF THE ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND FRUITS FOR LOCAL MARKET MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2020 IN ZOOM (ONLINE PLATFORM)
Min 01-OVFBG 0312/2020 Introduction
The break out session had more than 10 attendees including the facilitator, a number joined the meeting later as discussion had progressed. After preliminary introductions, the facilitator led the group through a value chain mapping process, where all the participants got to know exactly where on the value chain they / their organisations existed. ( See Figure 1)
- Producers – 2
- Retailers – 2
- Private service providers – 5
- Public support actors – 2
- Consumer -1
Private Service Providers |
Group «Organic Vegetables and Fruits Group 1» |
Figure 1 Value Chain Mapping |
Min 02-OVFBG 0312/2020 Introductory Speech
The Ministry representative (Trade and Marketing Department) mentioned the work by the government towards promoting marketing of farmer produce in premium shops in Nairobi. He also mentioned the presence of an Organic Desk in the Agri-Nutrition Department which has been tasked with promoting organic food due to its nutritive and food safety importance. The Ministry as well supports bulking and aggregation of produce to create opportunities for large scale trade.
The Session facilitator invited members to mention their enterprises and observation in terms of market opportunity.
Min 11-OVFBG 0312/2020 Discussion Points;
- Pest and diseases control continue to be a challenge in organic farming, particularly for exotic produce such as cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes and berries. Without proper pest and diseases control some of this organic produce becomes scarce and expensive to retail.
- Root and tubers (cassava, nduma, sweetpotatoes) are becoming more popular, as well as indigenous vegetables. These are much easier to grow and are not affected much by pests and diseases.
- Consumer awareness on benefits of organic, although much higher than it was historically, is still limited and more needs to be done to promote organic.
- The demand for organic produce is rising, particularly following the CVID 19 Pandemic. Despite this many farmers are still missing out on market opportunities due to small produce quantities and retailers are unwilling to spend high costs in sourcing small amounts of produce. The challenge with organic in this case is mostly logistical – bulking, grading, building capacity of farmers.
- It was suggested that retailers could group together to share in the cost of logistics. This would allow all to benefit and maintain steady supply of produce while reducing the costs involved per retailer.
- As well it was suggested that an annual meeting between all organic farmers in Kenya and retailers could be organized to discuss how to improve the industry.
- A common message(s) could be adopted by all the retailers regarding organic. This could communicate to consumers about the qualities of organic produce which might differ slightly from conventional produce so as to foster acceptance. An example of vegetable crispness and shelf was given as an example.
- The issue of pricing and premiums was broached. A deeper discussion on how to structure such prices could be adopted in future sessions. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Marketing platform could be used as a reference point to advice farmers what the prevailing market prices for conventional produce were and a percentage could be added as premium. This would provide reasonable justification for premiums which would not deviate too much from conventional market prices.
- The retailers mentioned having an annual planting calendar to guide farmers on what to grow. It was noted that organic produce supply inconsistencies were a major impediment to retailer willingness to buy. As well a caution was sounded, due to the unpredictability of Kenya vegetable retail market, adopting a planting calendar might not solve all the supply problems.
- Issues of loyalty was also mentioned. When produce is in low supply farmers tended to sell to the highest bidder while when there was market glut they would in turn seek out the retailers they are familiar with, this leads to mistrust between farmers and retailers. More discussions on such should be pursued to come to consensus.
- Monthly pricing cycles were mentioned as a way to make sure all parties (farmers and retailers/retailers) get fair shake in prices. Further discussions on the same should be pursued.
- The Kenya Organic Agriculture Network was mentioned as essential in creating the platform for knowledge, information an interaction between the different stakeholders. Issues of distribution of farmers, food safety and testing, as well as nutrition information could be catalogued on the platform. The platform should also be a registry for all certified producers in Kenya and provide contact details for them.
- Farmers raised the issues of certification, a lot of information on organic certification is lacking and this needs to be well presented before a farmer engages in organic farming.
- It was also noted that more government representatives need to be involved in such a market promotion endeavour, the HCD, county governments need to be aware that such activities are ongoing and be part of the process.
Min 12-OVFBG 0312/2020 Summary
From the discussions the following were agreed upon as the most important business opportunities;
- Traditional vegetables, courghettes, cucumbers and tomatoes important and in high demand consistent supply would be favourable to all parties.
- Logistical opportunities – Joint buying by traders, aggregation of produce in order to reduce costs involved and make organic produce consistently available.
- Marketing Organic – Joint marketing campaigns, awareness on qualities and benefits of organic produce. A clear and uniform message from all retailers would boost market confidence and awareness of organic.
- Production scheduling – Traders could list the most consumed produce and farmers to focus on consistently growing them.
- Registry plus certification for organic producers in Kenya – This would allow for greater access to organic producers and greater availability of organic produce.
- Meeting between traders and farmers to fix premium process based on current conventional prices.
Min 13-OVFBG 0312/2020 Outlook
- It was decided that all stakeholder interested in Organic Fruits and Vegetables to Meet in December or early January to start discussions on how to address the problems in organic and pursue joint business opportunities.
- A WhatsApp group to be created where the stakeholders can interact.
2. MINUTES OF THE 1st ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MEETING HELD ON 15TH JANUARY 2021 IN ZOOM (ONLINE PLATFORM)
Stakeholders Present
|
Name |
Organisation |
Contact |
1. |
Yash Wadhwa |
The Cornershop |
0716 905 486 |
2. |
Samuel Maina |
Murang’a Organic Growers Cooperative |
0724 912 924 |
3. |
Grace Wangui |
Agrifood Organics Shop |
|
4. |
Joseph Ngure Makara |
Kangari Organic |
|
5. |
Cresence Kirigi Mbatia |
Murang’a Organic Growers Cooperative |
|
6. |
Joseph Kabogo |
Baraka Organic Kangari |
|
7. |
Irene Kadzere |
PMCA |
+41 76 335 68 06 |
8. |
Deepu Mahajan |
Being You Ltd |
0722 350 803 |
9. |
Clement Rurinja |
PMCA |
0718 062 479 |
10. |
Duncan Ndirangu |
Organic Agriculture Centre of Kenya |
0735 219 246 |
11. |
Christine Chege |
Agrifood Organics Shop |
0721 475 770 |
12. |
Lawrence Gitonga |
PMCA |
0723 669 212 |
13. |
Mary Njeri |
Green Wells Organics |
0713 778 900 |
14. |
Priti |
Being You Ltd |
|
15. |
Andreas |
Africrops Ltd |
+49 175 418 98 38 |
16. |
Kelvin Ogalo |
Organic Fruitas and Vegetal Stores |
|
17. |
David Omato |
Organic Fruitas and Vegetal Stores |
0702 044 517 |
18. |
Martin Njoroge |
PMCA |
0725 295 437 |
19. |
Kamande |
Samawakama Organic Growers Cooperative |
0720 211 777 |
Min 01-OVFBG 1501/2021 Preliminaries
Meeting started at 15:00 pm East African Time (EAT) Mr. Martin (facilitator) requested all members present to introduce themselves.
Min 02-OVFBG 1501/2021 Adoption of the Agenda
- Introductions and background of participants
- Review of Organic Business Summit discussion group recommendations
- Future Meetings
Min 03-OVFBG 1501/2021 Stakeholders Updates
Since organic vegetables and fruits; group was formed on 3/12/2020 there has been several engagements between the organic farmers (Sabasaba (Samawakama) and Kangari (Kangari organic farmers and Murang’a organic co-operative) and traders, retailers and processors of the organic products.
Mr. Martin introduced the objectives of the formation of the group and role played by Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) towards the success of the organic products market.
There was engagement among the stakeholders in identifying the opportunities from the December summit which will lead successful business opportunities and expansion of the existing ones.
One on one engagement among the farmers and stakeholders along the organic vegetables and fruits will go a long way in bridging the marketing gap. Three thematic groups were formed to foresee the market development which are;
- Organic fruits and vegetables for local market
- Organic fruits for export
- Organic herbs and spices.
Update from organic business summit discussion
- Organic foods market to improve the health status of the consumers
- Explicit production of exotic food such as cucumber.
- Herbs are becoming popular
- There are limited sources of root crops such as cassava and arrowroots
- There is a gap on the consumer awareness on organic health foods
- There is a demand rise on the organic produce
- Lack of market is partly caused by logistics such as transportation and aggregation
- There should be an annual meeting between organic farmers, retailers, traders and producers
- Low consumer awareness on organic foods
- Quality difference between conventional and organic produce
- Unpredictability of production
- Lack of loyalty on contracts
- Prices fluctuations
- Lack of proper information on certification
- Need to create an information platform
- Need to upscale government representation on the organic sector meetings
- There is low supply of traditional vegetables despite higher demand on them
Way forward from the Business Summit Discussions
- Need to do joint promotion on organic products to boost confidence of the consumers.
- Have register for structural access of the produces
- All interested stake holders to frequently meet to pursue the opportunities
- Need to know what is in demand, what is planted in farms and what can be improved and proper information on the prices
- Have integration and collaboration to have an exclusive way of moving forward
- Show value to consumers and sensitization
- Work on pricing and packaging for proper marketing
Min 04-OVFBG 1501/2021 Way Forward
All member present saw the need to have a physical meeting to discuss;
- More engagement between the stakeholders (farmers, traders, retailers and supporting actors)
- Further discussion on bridging the gaps identified (Pricing, supply stabilisation, logistics)
- Creating a common message for organic among all value chain actors to be communicated to consumers (creating awareness and sharing information on organic)
- How to increase profitability and business in the organic value chain.
How to cope with The physical meeting was planned for Friday 22nd at Organic Fruitas and Vegatal Stores Next Gen Mall, Mombasa road, hosted by Kelvin Ogalo.
Min 05-OVFBG 1501/2021Adjournment
Meeting ended 16:20 pm E.A.T.
3. MINUTES OF THE 2nd ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MEETING HELD ON 22nd JANUARY 2021 AT ORGANIC FRUITAS SHOP NEXT GEN MALL
Stakeholders Present
|
Name |
Organisation |
Contact |
20. |
Kelvin Job Ogaro |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
21. |
Mercy Kemunto |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
22. |
Angela Atieno |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
23. |
Alice Kimani |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
24. |
David Omato |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
25. |
Alfred Mwangi |
Organic Stores Ltd |
|
26. |
Priti Shah |
Being You Ltd |
|
27. |
Deepu Mahajan |
Being You Ltd |
|
28. |
Lukas Njenga |
Deed Institute |
|
29. |
Helen Njenga |
Deed Institute |
|
30. |
Sylvia Kuria |
Sylvia’s Basket |
|
31. |
Grace Wangui |
Agrifood Organics |
|
32. |
Mary Karani |
Hermes Investments |
|
33. |
Johnson Nyaga Muturi |
OACK |
|
34. |
Martin Njoroge |
PMCA/ KOAN |
|
35. |
Emma Njoki |
PMCA |
|
36. |
Clement Rurinja |
PMCA |
|
37. |
Lawrence Gitonga M |
PMCA |
|
38. |
Janet Chege |
Organic Farmer |
|
39. |
Zipporah Wairimu |
Organic Farmer |
|
40. |
Lucy Muigai |
Organic Farmer |
|
41. |
Beatrice Nyambura |
Organic Farmer |
|
42. |
Harrison Kihara |
Organic Farmer |
|
43. |
Samuel Maina Ndirangu |
Organic Farmer |
|
44. |
Joseph H. Mbogo |
Organic Farmer |
|
45. |
Jackline Njeri |
KOAN |
|
Min 01-OVFBG 2201/2021 Preliminaries
Meeting started at 10.30 East African Time (EAT) Mr. Martin (facilitator) requested all members present to introduce themselves.
Min 02-OVFBG 2201/2021 Adoption of the Agenda
- Introductions and background of participants
- Stakeholder Mapping Exercise
- Success Factors in Organic Business
- Opportunities and Strategies in organic business
- Action Points/Way Forward
- Next meeting
Min 03-OVFBG 2201/2021 Introductions and backgrounds
Mr. Martin introduced the objectives of the formation of the group and role played by Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) towards the success of the organic products market.
This he reiterated was highly dependent on engagement among the stakeholders in identifying business opportunities in the organic veg and fruit sector which will lead successful trading and expansion of the existing lines of business.
Knowing each other’s business was mentioned as a first step. Traders and retailers normally compete for the same market, traders and retailers as well normally have frequent misunderstanding with farmers as their main produce suppliers. These are problems experienced in both conventional and organic agriculture.
- Retailers
- Organic Store – Organic stores was represented by Kelvin Job Ogaro, Mercy Kemunto, Angela Atieno, Alice Kimani, David Omato and Alfred Mwangi. The store has one outlet with at the Next Gen Mall with two upcoming locations along Ngong Road and Mombasa Road. They deal in mostly organic fruits (having recently ventured into the juicing as a value add) and vegetables, with dry good forming the remainder of their product listing.
- Being You Ltd – Was represented by Priti Shah and Deepu Mahajan. Being You doubles as both a trader and producer targeting mainly supermarkets and other outlets with produce from their farms. They deal with fresh vegetables and herbs mainly focused on the local market.
- Deed Institute – Was represented by Lukas Njenga and Helen Njenga, triples as a producer, trader and consultancy firm. They grow pineapples in wholesale for export and local market, they also offer consultancy on international and local market compliance (HACCP, GLOBALGAP).
- Sylvia’s Basket- was represented by Sylvia Kuria. Sylvia’s basket has an outlet in Soko Safi Mall along Ngong Road. The shop deals with assorted Organic Vegetable and Fruits sourced from all over Kenya.
- Agrifood Organic – represented by Grace Wangui. Situated in Ruiru along Thika Road, the shop deals in Organic Vegetables and Fruits.
- Farmers –
Farmers from Murang’a were represented by, Janet Chege, Zipporah Wairimu, Lucy Muigai. Beatrice Nyambura, Harrison Kihara, Samuel Maina Ndirangu and Joseph H. Mbogo. Most of them ventured into organic farming for personal health protection and also to benefit from the business opportunities found in selling chemical free food.
- Supporting Actors –
- Hermes Investment – Represented by Mary Karani, they provide organic certification and production farm advisory. As well as organic agriculture media content creation.
- Organic Agriculture Centre of Kenya – Represented by Johnson Nyaga Muturi, they provide training and capacity building for farmers on organic production. They are the organization responsible for mobilizing the farmers interested in organic business opportunities with the retailers and traders.
- PMCA Facilitators– represented by Martin Njoroge, Emma Njoki, Clement Rurinja and Lawrence Gitonga M. They facilitate the business groups by reaching out to the stakeholders and coordinating all the meetings. There are 3 business group, the Organic Vegetables & Fruits for Local Market Business Group, The Organic Fruits for Export Business Group and the Organic Herbs and Spices Business Group.
- Kenya Organic Agriculture Network – Represented by Jackline Njeri. They work with all Organic sector actors to promote business and advocacy for pro-organic government policy both at National and Count Level.
Min 04-OVFBG 2201/2021
From the introductions all the actors were mapped to visualize the value chain and the number of players at each level.
SUPPORTING ACTORS/ PRIVATE |
Min 05-OVFBG 2201/2021
The main value chain actors identified from the mapping exercise were then asked to list the most important factors necessary for her business to be successful.
Organic Stores
- Well-coordinated system of farmers to supply organic produce
- Properly priced products
- Good marketing and sales strategy – Dispelling common myths in organic like ‘Organic food is expensive’, ‘Is organic really authentic?’, reaching all sectors (government, private sector and all other consumers).
Agrifood
- Marketing – Branding, joint media campaigns, social media
- Having quality products – Grading and having a good quality management system.
- Timeliness of delivery – Delays lead to losses
- Quantity of produce – timeliness and capacity to deliver the right quantities expected.
- Awareness and Sensitization – Communicating to consumers why organic over conventional food.
Sylvia’s Basket
- Pricing – Organic consumers despite popular belief are also very price sensitive. The prices have to be competitive
- Farmers network – having a diverse farmers network to ensure consistency in supply of common produce
- Marketing –Word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing currently. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) are somewhat effective, and joint campaigns.
- Location- this a big driver of customers, with the right location clientele will find it easy to access your product and services and allow you to fulfill orders through deliveries.
- Logistical partner – Sylvia’s Basket has partnered with Wells Fargo to allow them to access produce from all over the country at a much subsidized cost. This makes access to some hard to get fruits and vegetables easy and cost effective especially when they come from remote parts of the country.
- Authenticity – Sylvia’s Baskets as a business has focused on branding themselves as a farm to fork business with regular posting of experiences on and off the farm (through social media) this allows customers to know exactly how their produce is grown and build a relationship with the brand. Transparency by allowing clients and other interested parties to visit their farm and witness the process of farming, this has been used to convert non-believers to religious customers.
Being You Ltd
- Location – though relatively new the company strives to access more consumers by positioning themselves as close to the market as possible.
- Marketing – they mostly rely on word of mouth marketing, and a bit of social media (WhatsApp).
Murang’a Organic Farmers Cooperative
- Market – Murang’a organic farmers’ cooperative society focuses on local market to sell a substantial amount of their produce. They do this at their local market every Tuesday and Thursday. They also have existing business with organic retailers and traders in Nairobi such as The Corner Shop, Sylvia’s basket and Fine Aromas of Kenya.
- Training – Farmers in the cooperative are constantly trained on organic production methods to make sure high quality produce is grown and marketed
- Sensitization – The cooperative also conducts sensitization of local people at the farmers’ market to make them aware of organically grown food and its benefits to health and the environment.
- Expenses- The cooperative tries to keep costs down by avoiding high logistical costs, hence choosing to sell through the farmers’ market. The also try to negotiate for business where the buyer gets the produce from their cold room to reduce rejects and other wastage.
Min 06-OVFBG 2201/2021 Opportunities and Strategies in organic business
After discussions on individual business success factors, a more general approach was broached. What are the industry realities and how can opportunities for all value chain actors be extracted from these realities?
- The notion that Organic Foods are expensive/ have to be expensive is driving people away from buying. Kenya has a very price sensitive market. As well, Sylvia noted that organic farming is expensive for the first 3-5 years, after that productivity and cost of production goes up and down respectively, therefore at that point growing organic is much cheaper than conventional.
- Presentation and quality – Due to pest and disease control challenges, capacity of farmers, sometimes organic produce cannot match conventional in terms of visual quality. They may have blemishes and reduced shelf life. This is a factor that makes consumers less willing to buy organic food since it is not as attractive. Creating awareness about organic produce and marketing the strongest qualities i.e. Safe – Chemical Free Food, highly nutritious would be able to drum up better demand.
- Pricing – currently there is not pricing mechanism to dictate how much premium should be charged at farm gate and this is across the value chain where more costs are loaded before it gets to the consumers. Farmers feel short changed when they sell at low prices only for their produce to be sold at exorbitant prices, while other costs might factor into the final consumer price, the lack of transparency creates a challenge for doing business. What can be done to ensure farmers produce cost effectively?
- Transportation and logistics makes it hard for farmers and retailers to work efficiently since it factors into the overall price and quality of the produce. s
- Supply and Demand – Farmers have potential to grow more but the market to absorb extra production is not guaranteed. They are able to use irrigation to boost production during drier months. As it stands production is based on market availability. As well focus on products actually in demand and not just the same narrow variety of products.
- Pricing at the local level is not differentiated, the farmers have to sell their produce at the same price as conventional to be able to get customers.
- Brokers – Large scale organic farmers are subject to brokers since there are few large scale buyers of organic food in the local market.
How could the realities in the market lead to business opportunities?
One of the ideas championed was coming up with a Consortium of organic retailers. Where all interested retailers could combine resources to build effective demand for organic produce in the local market. This would ensure
- There is Unity of purpose
- Low hanging fruits in terms of business opportunities could be taken advantage of.
- New market territories could be easily carved out.
The consortium could work together to figure out how to address their main challenges in the organic sector such as how to
- Understand the delivery process and improve logistics (Reduce transport costs)
- Ensure high standards of hygiene are followed by farmers
- How to sensitize consumers and market organic produce?
It was suggested that targeting a specific sector would allow for better outcomes since all energy could be focused there. The health sector was highlighted as having the biggest potential for market growth. If they can gain audience with government and other decision makers it could form part of the low hanging fruit.
A strategy for targeting the health sector by the consortium needs to be devised, to be included in the strategy could be
- The main message body
- Social media platforms to be used
- Mainstream media partners
- Target organisations
Min 07-OVFBG 2201/2021 Way Forward and Action Points
A strategy for targeting the health sector by the consortium needs to be devised, to be included in the strategy could be
- The main message body
- Social media platforms to be used
- Mainstream media partners
- Target organisations
Action Points
- Each Organisation in the Value Chain to come up with 3 messages / message bodies for the Health Sector.
- Review and discussions of the message body
- Each Organisation to make a presentation on how they leverage social media for best impact.
- Discussions on which organisations in the health sector to be targeted
- Ideas how to operationalize the consortium.
Min 08-OVFBG 2201/2021 Next Meeting
Date: Tuesday February 9th 2021
Venue: Kangari Organic Farmers’ market
Time: 10.00am
Other details – It takes roughly 1 hour 20 minutes to get to Kangari from Nairobi Thika Road.
Meeting ended 14:20 pm E.A.T.