Description

Chambers of agriculture are usually public bodies at local, regional, or national level that require farmers to be members qua profession. The chamber is usually funded by public sources and by membership fees (e. g. according to farm size). Hence, members usually have a say in defining the chamber’s areas of work, which are usually laid down in its rules of procedure. These working areas typically comprise practical field research and the dissemination of the findings, education and training, information services and more. Due to their proximity to agricultural farm enterprises, chambers of agriculture are often also assigned governmental and/ or statistical tasks.

Requirements

• A properly functioning country-wide administration and monitoring system with access to the relevant information and sufficient technical and human capacities for its design, implementation and monitoring
• Clear and coherent political strategy and targets for policy-makers and public authorities
• Legal frameworks (laws on cooperatives, taxation, competition and voluntary associations) that support farmers’ self-help organisations and do not discriminate against other entrepreneurial joint ventures (level playing field)
• Private sector initiative
• Properly functioning external audit structures (e.g. via regional or national auditing associations)
• Skilled / specialised personnel to man the respective institutions / provide the respective services

Possible Negative Effects

• Poorly functioning audit structures could result in members losing trust in their organisation