Tous ensemble? Collective Action for Smallholder Production. Achievements, Limitations, Patterns and Determinants of Farmer Based Organizations in the Senegalese Rice Sector

Abstract: Senegalese smallholders up to date face high constraints regarding their generation of livelihoods from agriculture. Restricted access to productive resources and participation in finance, input and output markets are root causes for these constraints. While the potential of collective action to address institutional constraints of smallholder agriculture has been widely acknowledged, success stories in Africa remain dim. So far, development research has largely neglected organizational factors as a key determinant for successful collective action in Africa. Therefore, the study explored organizational patterns of collective action within Farmer Based Organisations in the Senegalese rice sector. It found that conceptualizations of Cooperative Lifecycles from American based research were relevant in the studied case. As a recurring pattern, organizational crisis impeded the continuity of smallholder promotion through collective action. The study, further, argued that deficits of organizational design needed to be addressed and investments into collective human, social and financial capital needed to be made in order for studied FBOs to overcome crisis. To this end, internal mobilization of resources and external facilitation were identified as important factors. On the basis of these findings, the study suggested an amended Three Dimensional Cooperative Life Cycle Model.