Farmer organisation has been identified as a key factor in enhancing farmers’ access to markets. In response, policy makers and development practitioners have focused on supporting small scale producers to associate, collaborate and coordinate in order to achieve economies of scale in their transactions with input suppliers and buyers. The enthusiasm for farmer organisations has, at times, obscured the fact that establishing viable organisations is not a simple process. There is, hence, a need to examine what we mean by farmer organisations and to understand better when farmer organisations make sense, when they do not and how they can best be established and maintained. More information is needed on: the most appropriate types of organisation if any; whether the public and/or private sector is best placed to support their formation; and the conditions necessary for ensuring their economic viability. These issues are explored in the context of high-value vegetables in Honduras and El Salvador, and commodity maize in Mexico.
