The book provides step-by-step guidance for development practitioners, managers, and all those interested in how development organisations can help small-scale producers build effective collective businesses.

"The role of producer organizations in market chains has received increasing attention in recent years, both from governments and donors. In order to lower transaction costs, markets demand that smallholder farmers operate in an organized manner. However, though the policy openings for support seem promising, smallholder market access through farmer-led economic organisations is not easy. This book presents various approaches to support producer organisations in terms of providing economic services to their members, with a focus on developing countries. Markets are increasingly fragmented in value chains that link farmers with specific processors, retailers and consumer segments. Several contributions in this book analyse these dynamics in specific value chains, such as the fair trade and organic agriculture and their potential to provide market outlets for smallholder farmers. This book is the result of a Dutch partnership between policy makers, researchers and practitioners designed to confront ideas with realities. Organized in a platform called Agri-ProFocus, members aim to provide more and better support to producer organisations in the South. Through so-called expert meetings, staff from donor organisations and knowledge centres, government officials, and business representatives, share their experiences and lessons learned. The experiences presented in this book are not recipes for instant success, but instead, highlight that support processes are often more fragile and slower moving than policy makers realise. This book is essential reading for scholars, practitioners and researchers interested in supporting and facilitating trajectories of change led by producer organisations in developing countries."

This book studies the management challenges and possibilities in sustaining farmer producer organisations (FPOs). It goes beyond the conventional metrics of cost-benefit analysis by drawing on 15 case studies of diverse FPOs spread across India to fill a significant knowledge-practice gap in the domain of producer collectives. The book explores issues of ownership and governance, studies the empirical basis for policy decisions on FPOs, and provides actionable insights and knowledge, keeping in mind the complexity of the institutional design of an FPO. It also discusses the envisioned role of civil society organisations in supporting FPOs and looks at the kind of institutional innovations that are needed to create a cohesive ecosystem for FPOs. A unique collaborative project jointly authored by academics and development practitioners, the book will be of use to students and researchers of agricultural economics, environment and business, agricultural development, environmental economics, rural studies, entrepreneurship, and South Asian studies. It will also be of interest to development professionals, civil society organisations, and policymakers.

Due to increased purchasing power of certain consumer segments all over the world and the related growing demand for food specialties for differentiated goods in the international markets, agri-food trade and marketing is no longer focused on commodities only. Key concepts of 'Marketing', 'International Trade' and 'Quality' are taking the forefront in the scientific debate among agricultural economists dealing with agricultural and food products markets. The need for scientific knowledge about several aspects of marketing for quality food products is growing. The aim of this book is to link these key concepts together and consider connections, overlaps, contradictions and complementarities between them. This book contains peer-reviewed articles covering a range of studies on international marketing and trade for quality food products and is edited with the support of the BEAN-QUORUM project, funded by the European Union's Asia Link Programme. The topics covered by the studies range from geographical indications to organic food; from fair trade to functional food; from knowledge about quality requirements to the impact of the quest for quality. The geographical scope of the studies is broad and the perspectives vary including the consumer, the producer and the supply chain side. The focal interest of the studies also range from competitiveness, to policy, to potential demand. The book is of interest to researchers and practitioners in international food networks of all types.

In an effort to promote agro-enterprises and agro-industries as viable forms of inclusive development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and The Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) in collaboration with the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), organized an international symposium on the topic “Innovative Institutions, Public Policies, and Private Strategies for Inclusive Agro-Enterprise Development”, as part of the Triennial Meetings of the IAAE held in Foz do lguaçu, Brazil, in August 2012. This book contains the major papers presented at the symposium, which feature a wide range of country and regional experiences and examine the influence of markets and technology transfer to agro-enterprises on food security, poverty, and economic growth. The contributions also identify alternative market access strategies for sustainable economic development. This volume will enrich existing knowledge of agro-enterprises as a channel for promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty levels across developing and emerging markets. Contents:PrefaceAbout the EditorsAbout the ContributorsAcknowledgementsIntroductionInstitutional Innovations Linking Small-Scale Farmers to Produce Markets in South Africa (Joyce M Chitja and Edward Mabaya)Innovative Business Models in the Thai Horticultural Sector: A Panel Data Analysis of the Impacts of GlobalGAP Certification (Sarah Holzapfel and Meike Wollni)Innovative Networks in Conservation Agriculture: Bajio Hub Case Study, Mexico (Gabriela Monsalvo-Velázquez, Ricardo Romero-Perezgrovas, Bram Govaerts and Roberto Rendón-Medel)Geography Matters: Evidence and Implications of Spatial Selection in Contract Farming Schemes in Southern India (Sudha Narayanan)Capabilities and Performance in Collective Marketing: The Importance of Learning to Cope with Agency Dillemas (Giel Ton, Lithzy Flores, Rubén Monasterios and Evaristo Yana)Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship and New Green Jobs: Successful Experiences in Mexico (Artemisa Montes Sylvan)Sweet Sorghum: A Smart Crop to Meet the Demands for Food, Fodder, Fuel and Feed (G Basavaraj, P Parthasarathy Rao, C Ravinder Reddy, A Ashok Kumar, S Datta Mazumdar, Y Ramana Reddy, P Srinivasa Rao, S M Karuppan Chetty and Belum V S Reddy)Promoting Food Processing Through Food Parks and Food Processing Special Economic Zones: The Indian Experience (Aradhna Aggarwal)Autonomy, Competence and Market Structure: Self-Determination Theory Applied to Small Agricultural Exporters from Latin America (Linda M Young and Theresa C Bushman)Promoting Agro-Enterprises in the Highlands of Ethiopia Through Improved Institutional Support Services: Experiences of Market-Oriented Dairy and Fattening Development (Berhanu Gebremedhin, Dirk Hoekstra and Azage Tegegne)The Role of Government in Ensuring a Level Playing Field: The Case of South Africa's Competition Commission and the Maize Milling Industry (Lulama Ndibongo Traub)The Quiet Revolution in Agri-Food Value Chains in Asia: Understanding the Fast Emergence of Cold Storages in Poor Districts in India (Bart Minten, Thomas Reardon, K M Singh and Rajib Sutradhar) Readership: Students of development studies, agribusiness practitioners, agricultural economists, food policymakers, and practitioners interested in finding out more about agribusiness and agri-industries across developing and emerging markets. Key Features:The book presents innovative institutional arrangements, novel analytical methods for analyzing them, and key policy prescriptions for bringing these innovations to scale in emerging/developing marketsIt offers, in a single volume, a unique set of cross-disciplinary research on agro-enterprise development conducted by practitioners and academics from around the worldKeywords:Agribusiness;Policy;Innovation;Development;Private enterprise;Food and Agriculture Organization;Cornell University;Rural infrastructure;Agro-industries;Competitiveness;Resource mobilizatiom

Adopting a 'global value chain' approach, Value Chain Struggles investigates the impact of new trading arrangements in the coffee and tea sectors on the lives and in the communities of growers in South India. Offers a timely analysis of the social hardships of tea and coffee producers Takes the reader into the lives of growers in Southern India who are struggling with issues of value chain restructuring Reveals the ways that the restructuring triggers a series of political and economic struggles across a range of economic, social, and environmental arenas Puts into perspective claims about the impacts of recent changes to global trading relations on rural producers in developing countries

With a Foreword by Dr Lisa Kitinoja, Founder of the Postharvest Education Foundation, this book includes information on the many topics related to cold chain management of fresh produce, from the farm until it reaches the final consumer. While there are other cold chain management books, few focus on the preservation of fresh produce, of particular importance in developing countries. This book will find utility with readers from different Universities and other research institutions involved in teaching, research and extension staff as well as students will be interested in the content. Additionally, extension agencies in different government departments in various countries, private consultants, trainers, NGO staff who work in the field, functional cold chain operators will also be interested.