CLUSA takes a market approach to agriculture and food security and implements solutions that provide long term sustainability and which respond to articulated market needs. CLUSA provides organizational capacity building skills and training that allows farmers across the world to become less reliant on subsistence agriculture and to increasingly become participants in successful agricultural businesses.
In any particular country or zone, CLUSA tailors its programs according to the degree of organization of local farmers and the dynamism of local markets. In areas characterized by weak farmer organization and low market dynamism, CLUSA focuses on building and strengthening 1st tier and 2nd tier producer groups that are founded on cooperative principles. Improved organization leads to increasing economies of scale, which in turn allows Farmers to access cheaper inputs, credit and improved agricultural technologies. Ultimately, these improved inputs result in increased agricultural production. To facilitate the adoption of enhanced agricultural practices, CLUSA employs farmer field school approach, building on existing farmer networks and employing local “lead farmers” as key trainers.
In countries with high levels of market dynamism and strong farmer organization, CLUSA strengthens agri-businesses by improving their access to more sophisticated financial services and real time market information, and helping them penetrate into global markets. CLUSA also helps promote the creation of viable BDS and agricultural service providers, such as tilling, spraying or irrigation providers, that can respond to needs within specific commodity value chains.
With regard to food security, CLUSA believes that good governance is an essential to any sustainable food security approach. CLUSA therefore works to link local communities and local governments together in a partnership where they can together examine local nutritional needs, identify appropriate crops to respond to these needs and plan for production and distribution.
View our Agriculture and Food Security based projects
