Policy and Market Options (PMO)

At PMO we are honored to be part of this initiative. AgriGRADE is indeed a different way of doing things, of looking at things in building the capacity of cooperatives.

Yesterday was a good day! Yesterday was dairy day! On February 13th, 2025, we officially launched AgriGRADE in Kenya, bringing together cooperatives, government, financial institutions, development partners, private sector players, and research institutions. The presence of Patrick Kilemi, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Cooperatives & MSMEs, highlighted the importance of this initiative. Scaling Up: MDCU’s Success Story At the heart of the discussions was Kenneth Gitonga, CEO of Meru Dairy Cooperative Union (MDCU) – Kenya’s #2 in processed milk (Mount Kenya Milk) with a 31% market share. MDCU has grown from 15,000 members in 2013 to 146,000 today, creating 1,229 jobs and driving economic transformation. Their ambition to scale aligns with AgriGRADE’s mission: ✔ Supporting cooperative growth in a data-driven way ✔ Strengthening MDCU for scalable expansion ✔ Bundling expertise to maximize impact Gitonga spoke about a “second generation of cooperatives”, innovating with farmers as shareholders, building sustainable value chains, creating jobs, and investing in climate resilience. 🔹 Government Perspective The Principal Secretary stressed aggregation and value creation to boost Kenya’s dairy sector. Despite being Africa’s second-largest producer, per capita milk production remains low due to high costs and expensive inputs. 🔹 Access to Finance – No More Lending in the Dark! Financial institutions like Cooperative Bank and Equity Bank face challenges financing cooperatives and smallholder farmers, including: High risk due to weak governance. Lack of collateral and credit history. Mismatch between financial products and farm incomes Nothing new under the sun, but what steps are being taken to elevate agro-lending? Can tools like SCOPEinsight support pre-due diligence, pipeline building, and risk prediction? Yes, Cooperative Bank responded—but only if involved in the tool’s development. This is understandable but raises a bigger question: How do we create a standardized banking profile for cooperatives? I believe a pre-competitive approach is essential to deliver financing to cooperatives and the missing middle. No excuse, the tools are there... 💡 My Closing Remarks: 🔦 Agriculture is a business. A cliché? Maybe. But only with this focus can the sector grow. 🔦 Cooperatives must maximize member value. Not all are the same—data enables differentiation. 🔦 Quality and efficiency drive success. 🌍 The Big Challenge? Agriculture is evolving fast—today’s solutions may not work tomorrow. A collaborative, data-driven framework can drive continuous improvement across production, supply chains, processing, marketing, and finance. In other words: Data as the convener for market-driven problem solvers. Let’s align, pool our expertise, resources, and… data. 🚀 Let’s AgriGRADE! Special credits to Agriterra for being a great host! IDH Oikocredit Policy and Market Options (PMO) Africa Turnaround Limited [ATL] Bart Pauwels

Reflecting on the 11th anniversary of Policy and Market Options, I share key lessons learned from growing the firm since its first assignment with SNV in 2014 to successfully delivering over 40 assignments in collaboration with a diverse range of partners, including international development organizations, national and county governments, embassies, and other consulting firms. Here are the key takeaways: Listen to Your Client: Actively listen to the client’s needs, including understanding what is not explicitly stated. Regularly consult with the client throughout the assignment to ensure alignment with their expectations. Timely Delivery: Strive to deliver assignments on time. However, if unforeseen challenges arise, communicate promptly with the client about potential delays to manage expectations. If necessary, request an extension to ensure quality delivery without disappointing the client. Exceed Client Expectations: Deliver high-quality reports and provide valuable insights that may have been overlooked by the client. Go beyond the basic requirements to add value and demonstrate expertise. Build a Competent Team: The success of the firm depends on the strength of the team. Invest in building a skilled and reliable team. Listen to team members, honor contracts with them, and consistently work with the same team where possible to leverage their expertise. Understand each team member’s strengths and weaknesses to foster complementarity and improve overall performance. These lessons have been instrumental in the PMO's growth and success, enabling us to navigate the evolving development landscape and maintain strong partnerships with a wide array of stakeholders.