1. STRENGTHENING/IMPROVING THE CAPACITY OF
NIGERIAN RICE/MAIZE PRODUCERS ORGANIZATION
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION COOPERATIVES PRACTICES: IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZED INSTITUTIONAL CEREALS/GRAINS PURCHASES ALONG ITS VALUE CHAIN

2. Introduction
In general, the importance of Agric cannot be over-emphases
Agricultural co-operations are agricultural- producer-owned association, with the sole aim of:
Linking members with finance
Agricultural inputs
Information dissemination
Good output market

3. A viable cooperatives will bring about a sector transformation e. g
A viable cooperatives will bring about a sector transformation e.g. Taiwan, India, and Vietnam
In Africa, most cooperative have failed in their set objectives, even turn to be counter productive
The purpose of agricultural cooperatives is to help farmers increase their yields and incomes by:
Pooling their resources
Support collective service provisions
Economic empowerment
Agricultural cooperatives are seen as critical in achieving the government’s developmental targets in the growth and transformation Plan of achieving food security

4. The main categories of agricultural cooperatives fall into the following:
Supply of agricultural inputs
Joint production
Agricultural marketing
In African the common category is the agricultural marketing
But to some extent, both marketing and supply of agricultural input thrives in cooperative organization

5. Role of Co-operatives in agriculture
Agricultural cooperatives facilitate small producers’ access to:
Natural resources such as land and water
Information, knowledge and extension services
Markets, food, and productive assets such as seeds and tools
Policy and decision making
Cooperative development in many countries has shown that farmers who are effectively organized can benefit from aggregated links to markets and services, from accessing centralized services that can help them achieve higher yields and higher incomes, and from speaking with a collective voice to advocate for their needs

6. Contd…
Agricultural cooperatives help farmers solve a collective action problem, i.e. how to procure inputs most efficiently and market their outputs on more favorable terms than they could achieve by themselves
Co-operatives are used by the government and NGOs to extend training and other capacity building initiatives.
Through co-operatives, farmers can attract traders and institutional buyers, and increase their negotiating power
Co-operatives have also started apart from agriculture to emerge in other sectors such as transport or commodity transformation, thus creates more income within the community and enhances youth and women empowerment food security

7. Definition of value chain
A full range of activities which are required to bring a product or services from conception through the different phases of production to delivery to final customers, and final disposal after use (Kaplinsky & Morris, 2004)
The flow of a product from production points through processing to the market occurs in a chain
At each phase in the chain, there are actors which plays a key role
The stimuli to the roles is the customers choices and demand gap created.

8. Who are the chain actors?
Value chain actors are those individuals or institutions that conduct transactions in a particular product as it moves through the value chain. These includes:
Inputs suppliers
Farmers
Traders
Processors
Transporters
Wholesalers
Retailers
Final Consumers
In many cases there is more than one actor, as well as multiple channels that supply more than one final market.

9. Major functions of actors within the value chain
Considering our common grain,
The main functions in the grain value chain starts with market demand
Determined by consumers-household and industrial consumers
Without demand, the actors component would remain unprogressive
Activities includes input supply, moving onto production, harvesting, post harvesting handling and storage
Different technology is involved and interacting with different participants in the value chain

10. Input supply
Production inputs: Good seed, fertilizers, crop protection products, water and land (soil)
Processing inputs
Marketing/trade input
The efficiency of a country`s input supply system therefore has a major bearing on the performance of the entire value chain as the entire process often affects the price and quality of diversity of the products

11. A VALUE CHAIN MODEL

12. TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

13. ROLES OF VALUE CHAIN IN AGRIC
Value Chains focused on improving productivity, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, and Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) growth
The critical role of organizing the flow from farmer to consumer opportunities through; research and development, input suppliers ,production, processing, marketing and finance
Transform commodities into higher value products-a process that can play an important role in poverty reduction.

14. Benefits of Commodity Value Chain Approach
Buyers are assured of product quality, supply and safety through integrated systems from production to retail
Suppliers are more assured of a market and the benefits of economies of scale
Improved access to markets
Reduced time to respond to changing customer demand, as a result of better communication with chain partners
More rewarding business relationships – collaborative versus adversarial.

15. Conclusion
There are enormous value chain associated to individual agricultural commodities across the federation, considering how rich Nigeria is in agriculture. Therefore, lets encourage value addition at every stage of the chain without short circuiting, as this will stimulate the SME`s and revitalized the economy, thus sustaining production and empowerment even among our teeming population

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