Partnering with Ease-Agr to Extend and Expand Cooperative Agribusiness in Africa: organizational diagnostics, international networking and big data Nicola Francesconi, CIAT-CGIAR [email protected]IFPRI/IITA office, Naguru Hill CIAT office, Kawanda Tel. 0794756336 EDC Enhancing Development through Cooperatives
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Partnering with Ease-Agr to Extend and Expand Cooperative Agribusiness in Africa:
organizational diagnostics, international networking and big data
Growth = expansion in membership and increasing members’ patronage
However, growth tends to add managerial and leadership complexity, due to the rise of:
1. the free-rider problem = when many new members enter a group and claim the same benefits of existing members
2. horizon or portfolio problems = when members’ patronage is used to pursue investment strategies that are either too risky (i.e. one big and long term investment) or too cautious (i.e. multiple small and short term investments)
3. agency cost problems = when growth is associated with high internal monitoring, influence and decision making costs
Phase 3: Glory and Growth
• These governance problems create increasing disincentives for members’ participation (side-selling and membership expansion) affecting coop health
• To minimize these problems coop leaders and managers need to “tinker”, or adjust the rules of the game, in such a way to design and enforce solutions
• When coop leaders and managers are able to “tinker” they extend the length of the life cycle
• “Tinkering” occurs only when there is consensus among coop managers and leaders, i.e. when their preferences are homogenous enough to quickly craft and enforce solutions
• Yet, the preferences of coop leaders and managers tend to diverge over time (Heterogeneity)
• “Tinkering” is a temporary strategy, which can extend a life cycle, but not indefinitely…
Phase 3: Heterogeneity
Phase 4
P4
Phase 4 = Recognition and Introspection
Health of Cooperative
Time
Phase 4: Recognition and Introspection
• Factions?
• Apathy?
• Crisis?
• Members’ drift?
• Side-selling?
• Elite Capture? (the coop becomes a separate firm)
Sooner or later a cooperative will no longer be able to “tinker”, due to increasing heterogeneity in the
preferences of its leaders/managers…
…and will have to do introspection and recognize its governance problems
Reinvent
Exit
P5
Phase 5 = Choice
Health of Cooperative
Time
Spawn
Phase 5
Phase 5: Choices
• Reinvent?
• Spawn?
• Exit?
a cooperative that can no longer “tinker” can decide to either dismantle itself or re-invent its governance structure and enter a new life cycle…
In which phase are you in?
What exactly am I proposing?1- to help you extend and optimize your business cycle
• To use this framework to perform organizational diagnostics of your coops, to build leadership and management consensus (or reduce heterogeneity) on how to “tinker”
• We are not offering solutions…but we can help you find your own, through training and coaching sessions like this one
Donors:
USAID, Ford Foundation
CIAT/EURICSE
EASE-AGR/KDA
African
Coops
GICL/ISPRI
US, NZ, EU, Brazil, China, etc. Coops
Projects:
(OCDC, CGIAR, OXFAM, FAO, SNV, GIF, etc.)
An International Network for Cooperative Research & DevelopmentP
riva
te f
un
ds
(rev
enu
es)
, str
ateg
yP
ub
lic f
un
ds
(gra
nts
) st
rate
gy
Res
earc
h &
Ou
trea
chB
DS,
Net
wo
rk,
Dia
gno
stic
s
MU
Promoting and facilitating networking between your coops and other ones at the local, national, regional and global level
to nurture (inter)national strategic alliances, joint ventures and mergers…
Large
mature and
offensive coops
Small, young and defensive coops
Netw
orkin
g
What exactly am I proposing?2- to help you expand and globalize your business
What do I need from you?
Time, Engagement, Trust and…Data, Data and more Data!
With your help we can build an ICT platform
that will not only help you sell your coffee, maize, etc.,