In late 2003, under a USAID-funded grant, CARE began working with the Ministry of Agriculture in Upper Egypt to select more than 100 farming communities that have progressive leaders who want to change their traditional cropping patterns and raise their incomes and living standards. CARE helped to organize and register voluntary, member-based, service-orientedFarmer Associations (FAs) as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in order to differentiate them from the state-managed Agricultural Cooperatives. These FAs initiated new agricultural services as well as micro-finance for women and lobbying and advocacy activities. CARE introduced the notion that no seed should be planted unless a farmer has a buyer for what he will grow. CARE also pioneered the idea that FAs should enter into forward contracts with buyers or exporters for high-value fruits and vegetables or medicinal and aromatic plants. These innovations gradually took hold and began to spread. High-value crops began to displace the broad field crops and sugar cane that have been cultivated for generations by Upper Egyptian farmers. Indeed, a vast socio-economic transformation began as farmers came to realize that farming is a business and not merely a way of life. Today, there are more than 11,000 members of 105 FAs in 9 governorates of Upper Egypt that are involved in high-value production, especially for the EU market. Relationships of trust have been forged between buyers and the FAs as these farmers have proven that with the right technical assistance and training, they are capable of producing high quality produce that meets the rigorous standards of EU consumers.
