Farmer Based Organizations

Extensive data was collected from nearly 500 Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) in Ghana to assess the effectiveness of FBOs in a wide range of applications in order to determine their suitability for collective approaches and identify strategies by which governmental and non-governmental organizations can strengthen the role of FBOs in promoting smallholder-based agricultural development.  Although the analysis of this data suggests broad principles that govern the effectiveness of FBOs, it offers limited guidance on what sorts of activities are perceived to be beneficial to members or what are appropriate measures to strengthen their capacity. Hence, case studies of 24 FBOs will be carried out to examine in detail their activities, internal management practices, individual benefits from collective activities, and perceptions of benefits from support activities.

Publications available:

• A Review of Collective Action in Rural Ghana (June 2010)
• Collective Action & Property Rights: Empirical Evidence and Governance Implications from Rural Ghana (December 2010)