04su-2926 - SACAU Regional Trade Desk project
The problem to be addressed by the project International, regional and bilateral agricultural trade agreements and regulations by individual countries and/or economic pacts/unions of countries in terms of import and export regulations, tariffs, duties, subsidies, etc. have a direct impact on the viability of the agricultural industry in general and the individual farmers in particular. Regional and international trade is regulated through agreements and protocols drawn up by member states of various trade pacts such as SADC, COMESA, SACU, WTO, etc. A number of various stakeholders including Governments, Private sector organisations, NGO's, donor organisations are involved in developing policies for agriculture development in the region. In this context, it is important that the farmers' interests are represented in the negotiations for trade agreements and policies that have impact on farmers' sustainability. At regional level, in the SADC region, it is SACAU's role to represent the farmers. However, because of lack of finance and human resources, SACAU has been unable to perform active lobbying and advocacy with the various stakeholders and to significantly influence policies and agreements. Services and facilitation of activities that enables farmers' to get access to produce markets and agricultural inputs is a key role for most farmers' organizations in the region. In the small-scale farming sector this service include facilitation and coordination of bulk marketing of produce and bulk buying of inputs and to assist farmers in entering into contract farming arrangements. However, in order for this facilitation and coordination to be effective there is need for information flow between local/intermediate ? national ? regional levels. Currently, there is no effective information systems in place that enables the small-scale farmers and their associations to get access to information about available markets, trade opportunities, producer prices, prices on inputs, trade regulations, etc. and there is no system in place that enables farmers and traders to link up with each other and enter into business agreements. Finance The SACAU Regional Trade Desk project will be integrated and a component in the ongoing SACAU capacity building project. In the ongoing project, SCC has committed a total of Euro 174,000.00,for the period 1 January 2004 - 31 December 2005, mainly for operational costs of the SACAU secretariat, SACAU meeting activities and some development activities. These funds are not included in the budget for this project.