OSRA started promoting cereal bank associations in 1998 with the objective of improving food security at household level through increasing the availability and accessibility of food grain. Besides, cereal bank was also aimed at providing alternative market outlets and thereby increase farmers’ income through improving market access.

The Cereal banks also serve as a social forum where members discuss and try to make effort to mitigate their socio economic problems.
In this program, OSRA supported farmers to get organized through providing infrastructures such as grain stores, offices, and equipments, seed money, technical support and market advice so that the associations engage in purchase, storage and sell of grains. It has also helped them build their capacity through training, learning and exchanges among themselves.
OSRA has so far supported establishment of 24 cereal bank associations that have 1976 members with a current total  capital of birr 2,663026.17 in different villages of its operational areas- Akaki, Adaberga, Becho, and Ilu districts. Since 2008, some of the cereal bank associations have been focusing more on marketing with the aim of improving the income of their member farmers through increasing their competitiveness in the market.

They have moved from traditionally buying and selling grains to more dynamic market oriented farmer marketing organizations (FMOs). OSRA has been supporting these FMOs to access remunerative markets through value chain development approaches and strengthening their capacity in various aspects.

OSRA adopted value chain approach to support farmers marketing organizations competitiveness in the market based on the analysis of the experiences and challenges that the cereal banks have been facing in past years. The value chain approach is focusing on specific agricultural commodities like teff, wheat and chickpea. The approach employs a series of production and marketing analysis and identification of various chain actors and supporters at different levels which are involved in the production, input supply and marketing of the crops along the chain.

OSRA is supporting the FMOs in identifying marketable commodity, building their capacities through training on value chain concepts and approaches, business management skills, and leaderships and facilitation of various discussion forums among the chain actors and supporters and creation of market linkages among buyers and farmers marketing organizations (FMOs), and access to financial resources.

In order to strengthen the competitiveness of FMOs, OSRA along with other partners has been supporting FMOs to establish different clusters and coordinates their activities together. In this respect,12 Farmers marketing organizations organized by OSRA and 19 FMOs organized by Facilitators for Change (FC), which is a local NGO and one of the partners of OSRA, have jointly established a Union called /Handura Becho Farmers Marketing Service Cooperative Union/ in Becho district, South West Shewa zone.

The union has 2051 male and 625 female members with a total capital of 2,640496.84 Ethiopian Birr. Some of the main services that the union is providing to its member FMOs and their respective Smallholder farmers include:

• Create enabling market outlet for all applicable members through pooling together the agricultural produce of FMO members so as to become competent and access fair market price for their production.
• Provide and disseminate updated market information on agricultural product.  Offered various agricultural input (fertilizer, improved Varity seed which is highly demanded and etc) to its members. as well as provide various consumable goods to FMO members based on their needs.
• Facilitate market linkage with regular buyers of the grain products by each FMO members
• Organized various training for respective FMO leader in order to capacitate and overcome their skill gap identified.

In order to improve the position of farmers and farmer organizations in value chain requires that farmers get reliable market information on type, quality and quantity demanded, price and other valuable information. Moreover, farmers need information on improved agronomic techniques and practices to produce the required quality and quantity. It is believed that integration of ICT in the activities of the FMOs would improve the position of smallholder farmers and their organizations in value chain

Accordingly, OSRA along with its partners is integrating information communication technologies in FMOs’ daily activities with the main purpose of enhancing the competitiveness and effectiveness of FMOs. Currently, OSRA is piloting this project with ten FMOs in four districts.

The project mainly focus on enhancing competitiveness of FMOs in the decision making process of their member households through accessing relevant and reliable market information improving efficiency and effectiveness of FMOs and their Union using ICT services that improve their member households’ productivity.