Developing and Strengthening Farmer-Agribusiness Models in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Agriculture Cooperatives in Japan

Abstract

In a small farmer dominated agrarian economy like Sri Lanka, farmer based organizations (FBOs) and collective action are often seen as key factors in enhancing farmers? access to markets. Therefore, developing and strengthening FBOs consisting of farmer companies and farmer organization are important to ensure effective farmer participation in agrifood supply chains. In this paper, an attempt is made to draw from long accumulated experiences of Japanese agriculture cooperatives to develop and strengthen FBOs in Sri Lanka. Some key recommendations for FBOs in Sri Lanka arising from this study include setting up of federated structures, formation of farmer groups to capitalize on collective action, practice joint use in terms of purchasing, marketing, credit, machinery and facilities use and adoption of an integrated service provision model.