While the original pretext for setting up of ACCESS was to consolidate and build on the significant microfinance experience gained while implementing the CARE-CASHE programme, it was soon evident that to make a serious and sustainable impact on the lives of poor, more composite solutions need to be devised and employed.
ACCESS impacts the livelihoods of the poor at all levels of the sector value chain.
On the field, the core strategy of impacting livelihoods of the poor hinges around three prongs - ORGANISING, AGGREGATING and INTEGRATING. Organising the primary producers strengthens their ability to negotiate with the markets, provides them with economies of scale and the ability to effectively access resources, capital, services and entitlements. Aggregation helps the poor to pool their small surplus into marketable lots and generate market interest and presents possibilities for local processing. Integrating the poor into value chains is critical for long term sustainability. Increasing their knowledge of market dynamics, market trends, information on pricing, information on suppliers, distributors, on competition; on new production technologies, awareness of policies and the ability to negotiate with markets is a crucial intervention for ACCESS.
ACCESS endeavours to work in collaboration with local NGOs, to build their capacity, develop community based strategies and design "lift and shift" models that can be replicated across contexts and regions. While each project has its own contextual specificity, requiring specific actions, this overarching strategy remains consistent across projects.
At the regional level, ACCESS provides technical and managerial support to stakeholders in understanding, analysing, proposing solutions, and undertaking impact studies to contribute to the wider knowledge pool within the sector.
At the national level, ACCESS seeks to bring together all stakeholders for identifying key constraints affecting the sector, share experiences and discuss, delve into and devise solutions.
ACCESS Livelihoods Framework
While each project has its own specificity in terms of needs and required action, the overarching strategy designed by ACCESS remains consistent:
- Organize the poor primary producers to strengthen their institutional capacities and enable them to negotiate with the markets
- Aggregate small surpluses of productions to generate economy of scale, attract suppliers and attract the markets
- Integrate the small producers into the value chain by developing inclusive value chains and facilitate
access to mainstream markets in which the poor are able to participate
effectively.
SPARC Mechanism
Following a thorough analysis of various delivery models to implement the livelihoods strategy on the ground, ACCESS has developed a project delivery mechanism called SPARC (Small Producers Assistance Resource Center). Since it was initiated in 2007, the innovative concept of SPARC has attracted the interest of diverse stakeholders within the sector, allowing ACCESS to significantly increase its livelihoods portfolio.
SPARC is the core of ACCESS livelihoods interventions. It is an ACCESS innovation to bring prudential norms, discipline and sustainability of resources invested in livelihoods interventions. SPARC is conceptualised as an embedded service within a cluster to support the primary producers with need-based services that they desire and integrate them into value chains. Typically a SPARC is manned by a Professional Team headed by a Team Leader, one subject matter specialist, one social processes expert and one value chain expert. One SPARC can service about 500 primary producers in the non-farm sector and about 1000 primary producers in the farm sector.
Among the several tasks that SPARC is expected to perform, the following are key responsibilities:
- Undertake cluster diagnostics of the area to identify the issues, gaps and potential and prepare a five year perspective plan for the cluster
- Undertake a stakeholder analysis
- Facilitate formation of Producer Business Groups and provide business services to them as well as monitor their functioning
- Enable aggregation to become more efficient
- Explore possibilities of value addition (through processing / design / efficient production / change in package of practices / product development)
- Analyse and understand the value chain relating to the product / commodity by identifying key actors in the value chain and establishing strategic links with them
- Set up systems for information flows
- Explore financial and strategic business leverage
While SPARC may be set up through a grant support in the beginning, by the end of year FOUR, it is expected that
SPARCs are either not required by the local cluster / community or are able to self sustain entirely on the basis of
fees from services.
