Collective Banana Marketing: The Role of Social and Human Capital

Christina Bantle a, Hildegard Garming b, Katrin Zander

a

Agricultural and Food Marketing, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany; b Bioversity International, Costa Rica.

Background Agroforestry systems managed by smallholders in Central America Bananas grown as a by-product of coffee Product differences in harvest times and perishability particular challenge Insufficient market access low and irregular incomes Research Question
Agroforestry system with coffee, bananas and trees

What factors of Social and Human Capital are key determinants for successfully setting up collective banana marketing?

Data Collection Qualitative interviews and participatory research methods - Members of four farmer groups in Honduras and Nicaragua - Representatives of service providers
Participatory research: Ranking of perceived success factors for collective banana marketing

Results Success factors of Human and Social Capital for collective banana marketing Social Capital High motivation and long-term orientation Clear group boundaries and high levels of trust Product-specific rules and control systems Higher involvement of women and higher gender equity Access to support in organisation building, plant management and marketing Access to product-specific information Long-term support through service providers
Quality problems due to treatment in harvest and storage

Steps towards successful collective banana marketing a) Farmer groups with low endowments of Social and Human Capital (Low levels of trust, little experience with collective action, limited access to external support) Improvement of productivity and quality Gradual increase of cooperation Upgrading through higher volumes Focus on markets with low levels of formality (traditional markets, local supermarkets)

Human Capital Knowledge about markets and their requirements Skills in adminstration Risk knowledge and risk consideration in cost calculations

b) Farmer groups with high endowments of Social and Human Capital (High levels of trust, high motivation, experience with administration, access to different kinds of external support)
Diversity of banana varieties grown in an agroforestry system

Improvement of administration Upgrading through processing Communication of special product attributes (varieties, sustainable production system) Focus on high value markets (domestic tourism sector, high-end supermarkets)

Conclusions and Recommendations

Successful collective banana marketing requires high levels of Social and Human Capital, especially when targeting at high value markets Social and Human Capital are prerequisites for using Physical Capital and accessing Financial Capital In capacity building, greater attention should be paid to the enhancement of groups Social and Human Capital