Strengthening the financial resilience of professional organisations – Example of the UNCPM in Mali

Mali’s leading agricultural umbrella organisation, the Union Nationale des Coopératives de Planteurs et Maraîchers du Mali (UNCPM), was established in 1985 to act as a liaison between the government and horticultural producers. Consisting of 17 horticultural unions and 150 cooperatives, the UNCPM now has over 15,000 producer members nationwide.

As part of its development, the UNCPM has created a strategic plan to clarify and prioritise the services offered to its members. These include promoting agroecology, providing representation and building technical capacity, supplying seeds and agricultural equipment, advocating on land issues and facilitating access to markets and finance.

Support to strengthen resource mobilization

Despite this structured vision, the UNCPM is facing difficulties in mobilising the resources needed to implement its roadmap. Against this backdrop, COLEAD, via the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, has provided support to analyse the union’s financial requirements and current financing arrangements, with the aim of identifying realistic options appropriate to its environment.

Several priority levers identified

The joint analysis identified several priority areas for strengthening the UNCPM’s financial resilience and consolidating its leading role in Mali’s horticultural sectors:

• Strengthening members’ capacities to improve agricultural practices and yields (a key element in ensuring sustainable incomes);
• Establishing strategic partnerships with public and private actors to diversify sources of funding and technical support;
• Optimising the union’s communication and visibility strategy to better promote its actions and attract new partners;
• Stimulating innovation in the services offered and approaches adopted to better meet the evolving needs of producers and markets.

Towards more competitive and sustainable value chains

The implementation of these recommendations should enable the UNCPM to better support its members while strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of Malian agricultural value chains. This support is fully in line with COLEAD’s mission to strengthen the capacities of professional agricultural organisations, enabling them to become effective drivers of sustainable agri-food system transformation.

This activity is supported by the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, implemented by COLEAD within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union. This publication receives financial support from the European Union and the OACPS. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the OACPS.