Author: Suzana Milosevic Publisher: ISBN: 9789276361855 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
The overall objective of this report is to identify and conduct analysis of short food supply chains (SFSCs) among small farmers in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The report's analyses are based on the primary data collected from 397 smallholder farmers through semi-structured interviews in all Western Balkan countries/territories (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) and Turkey. The report analyses shed light on several issues related to smallholders and SFSCs, such as types of sales channels used by small farmers for selling their products; the level of information about and knowledge of the SFSC; contractual arrangements applied; the use of food safety and quality standards; best practices of and barriers to small farmers' participation in SFSCs; the role of SFSCs in promoting environmentally friendly farming practices; the role of SFSCs in promoting the economic viability of small farms; and the role of agricultural policy in supporting small farmers' access to SFSCs. Based on these analyses, the report also derives policy recommendations. Overall, the report concludes that SFSCs are an attractive way of adding value to primary food production and improving small farmers' livelihoods in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Key policy measures that could boost small farmers' participation in short value chains are improvement of advisory services; provision of investment support targeted to small farmers and SFSCs; better access to finance; and enhanced support for cooperation and bottom-up initiatives for partnerships.
Author: Jean Vasile, Andrei Publisher: IGI Global ISBN: 1668488124 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 355
Book Description
In the process of transitioning to the New Normal model of society and economy, business models, development patterns, and structural transformations have started to become major instruments in creating the new reality. Creating the basic conditions and promoting the sustainable economic development criteria for contemporary communities needs not only a massive rearrangement of the classical structures but also a rethinking of the old economic paradigm to promote new business models and sustainable entrepreneurship. Sustainable Growth and Global Social Development in Competitive Economies fulfills a gap between theory and practice in the field of resilient economies, sustainable growth, and global social development in the New Normal. It also provides some holistic approaches regarding business models, development patterns, and transformations in the New Normal paradigm. Covering key topics such as globalization, business process modeling, and resource economics, this premier reference source is ideal for business owners, managers, government officials, policymakers, industry professionals, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.
Author: International Finance Corporation Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 1464812780 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 357
Book Description
The world’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. Meanwhile, concurrent rises in incomes and urbanization are driving increased consumption of meat, dairy, and biofuels. Meeting the demand for food, feed, and biofuel will require a global production increase of almost 50 percent relative to 2012. Production in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa—where 95 percent of farms are smaller than five hectares—must double at a minimum. A key element of policies to increase food production will be promoting improved food quality, as the health costs of too much, too little, and the wrong types of food become increasingly evident. Additional initiatives must address how to reduce food losses; globally, one-third of food production is lost or wasted at different stages in the food chain each year. Climate change is bringing further stressors. These challenges also present opportunities. Around the world, 450 million smallholder farmers are plagued by low productivity and poor access to inputs, technology, knowledge, financing, and markets. Agribusinesses are increasingly working directly with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to help secure a sustainable supply of key agricultural commodities while boosting rural incomes and economic growth. Sourcing directly from smallholders can expand a firm’s supply base, reduce margins paid to collectors and middlemen, facilitate improvements in quality and yield, and deliver premium prices for a certified fair-trade or sustainably produced product. Smallholders also represent a growing market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Agribusiness firms can help smallholders to increase productivity and improve crop quality; access know-how to mitigate social and environmental impacts; develop farm management skills and combine their production with other farmers to achieve sufficient scale to be effective market players; and meet the growing demand for safe, sustainable food by improving practices and introducing traceability and certification systems. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains shows how agribusinesses can develop more sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains and illustrates the substantial impact of doing so on development. The book compiles innovative solutions and cutting-edge ideas to meet the challenges, and it incorporates a diverse collection of hands-on case studies from across the world that cover a variety of agribusiness sectors. This second edition builds on the lessons learned and provides updates in leading trends and technologies from those provided in the first edition published in 2014.
Author: Christopher B. Barrett Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 40
Book Description
Supermarkets, specialized wholesalers, and processors and agro-exporters' agricultural value chains have begun to transform the marketing channels into which smallholder farmers sell produce in low-income economies. We develop a conceptual framework through which to study contracting between smallholders and a commodity-processing firm. We then conduct an empirical meta-analysis of agricultural value chains in five countries across three continents (Ghana, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Nicaragua). We document patterns of participation, the welfare gains associated with participation, reasons for non-participation, the significant extent of contract non-compliance, and the considerable dynamism of these value chains, as farmers and firms enter and exit frequently.
Author: Shepherd, A. Publisher: CTA ISBN: 9290816074 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 60
Book Description
This paper reports on six case studies commissioned by CTA to examine factors contributing to the success of inclusive value chains in ACP countries. All six studies are from Africa. They cover: (1) jatropha chains in Burkina Faso and Mali; (2) oilseeds in Uganda; (3) litchi in Madagascar; (4) cashew in Benin; (5) milk products in Senegal; and (6) bananas, pigs and aquaculture in Uganda. There is a range of definitions of inclusive value chains but such chains are generally considered to be those that seek to obtain supply from poorer farmers, thereby maximising farmers’ access to market opportunities. Recent developments in production and marketing systems do not automatically benefit small-scale farmers and conscious efforts need to be made to achieve positive results for them. Even so, not all farmers can be included, for reasons such as their location, farm size and natural resources, capacity to meet increasingly strict product standards, and the farmers’ aversion to risk.
Author: Rene C. Tacastacas Publisher: ISBN: Category : Electronic Dissertations Languages : en Pages : 253
Book Description
This study explores the conditions for the possibility of an effective participation of small vegetable farmers in the modern value chains and the effects of this participation on the farmers' livelihood sustainability. Taking a confluence of ideas from the literatures on value chains, clustering, and sustainable livelihoods, it examines how market relationships could be shaped through structures of producer-buyer reciprocity and horizontal cooperation among farmers that could mediate impacts on farmer households. Markets constantly evolve and may thus be re-engineered to favor relationships that potentially benefit both the upstream vegetable producers as well as the downstream end-buyers. Based on an examination of the processual dynamics engaged in by the small farmers in supplying a fast-food company with assistance from external agencies, I generate a number of generalized observations about the possible conditions through which participation in the modern value chains improves the prospects of livelihood sustainability of the small farmers. I argue that attaining sustainable livelihoods through participation in modern value chains is challenging and difficult, involving a continuous and arduous process of innovative learning on the part of small farmers and an unremitting assurance from the side of the end-buyers to integrate small producers in their supply chain. The role of external development agencies proves critical in establishing the reciprocal and redistributive patterns of relationships between producers and buyers. In the final analysis, a value chain vision of external interventions helps facilitate the inclusion of small farmers in the modern markets and promotes their competitive advantage in the long run.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: 9789276326663 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
This publication shows how agricultural producers from the Western Balkans and Turkey can get together in various forms of producer organisations and strengthen their position in the food chain, capitalise on their rich traditional and organic products and benefit their local communities and consumers alike. The paper focuses on presenting examples of opportunities for organisations of agricultural producers to come together in the short supply chains. It shows how to set up a short supply chain for local products (including quality products) and how a producer organisation can benefit from the IPARD programme.
Author: Katrin Kuhlmann Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Like agricultural value chains themselves, laws, regulations, and policies form an intricate system that impacts agricultural development and opportunities for small farmers. This system, often collectively referred to as the “enabling environment,” affects all aspects of value chain development and includes a variety of functions and actors. Law, regulation, and policy can influence farmers' ability to use land and water, obtain financing and inputs, and access services and broader markets. A deeper understanding of the role of legal and regulatory issues in value chain development is needed both as a component of inclusive agricultural development and as a system in and of itself. How legal and regulatory systems are designed and, importantly, implemented, will impact the degree to which markets in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world can grow in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable way. The enabling environment is a critical factor in determining whether value chain interventions will succeed and can be brought to scale, particularly in a way that is inclusive of the needs of small farmers and women. This work examines the legal and regulatory framework around value chain development, relying upon a body of work and methodology developed by the New Markets Lab (NML) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), including IFAD's Scaling Up framework and initiatives on south-south collaboration. It represents the first stage of a timely and necessary exploration of these issues and will be followed by additional work by the authors and other partners. This Occasional Paper presents a framework for approaching legal and regulatory challenges to help bring value chain development to scale. It explores common legal and regulatory challenges at different stages in the value chain, namely: access to land, water, and productive resources; access to finance; access to inputs; access to services; and access to markets. Appendices one and two outline the scope of this project and propose a second, more in-depth stage to follow.Without question, land tenure is a significant issue in value chain development and food security. Land is a main source of employment and a critical factor in increased agricultural investment, and balancing the needs of small farmers and communities with agricultural investment is of particular significance for inclusive value chain growth. Land tenure is also particularly important issue for women in the agricultural sector, many of whom must also contend with gender discrimination. Laws and regulations governing land tenure can be complex, with customary and formal land tenure systems operating alongside each other in many countries. Enabling small producers and women to better understand and enforce their rights within these systems is critical to value chain development. Incomplete and inequitable systems for registering land and resolving disputes can limit opportunities for employment and investment and constrain productivity. Laws and regulations around water access are another factor in increasing productivity and improving value chains, as is the system regulating labor. Closely related to issues around land tenure are legal and regulatory issues around access to finance. These issues impact farmers of all sizes and intersect with other areas of law and regulation. Since land rights are often looked to as a form of security in financial transactions, insecure or unclear property rights can impact farmers' ability to obtain financing. In addition, gaps in laws and regulations governing deposits, loans, investment, contracts, and insurance all present particular challenges for small and medium-sized farmers' access to credit. Laws and regulations around remittances are also significant due to their increasingly important role as a means of finance in developing countries. Third, laws and regulations governing inputs, especially seeds and fertilizer, play a significant role in value chain development. Lengthy processes for release of new seed varieties, costly seed certification processes, and uncertainty around application of quality standards and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules can limit the availability of (and access to) high-quality seed. Regulations around fertilizer can also affect access to a much-needed input. Access to essential market services, including transport, storage, and distribution services, along with financial and legal advisory services, are also integral to well-functioning agricultural value chains and are directly impacted by law and regulation. In many countries, regulations may limit market entry, making it difficult to ensure adequate competition in the market and the availability of services that can respond to the needs of small farmers. Finally, laws and regulations around access to markets, at the domestic, regional, and international levels, impact agricultural value chain development. Harmonizing and coordinating administration of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards at multiple market levels (within and between regions and internationally), implementing clear and consistent packaging and labeling requirements, and improving customs and borders procedures can improve access to larger markets and impact the growth of value chains. Understanding and addressing these legal and regulatory components comprehensively and in a manner that incorporates the needs of small farmers and women, who are often left out of rulemaking systems, will result in greater opportunity as value chains develop. As a result, this work focuses in particular on various issues within legal systems and how individual issues are addressed within these systems. Taking value chain development to scale and achieving systemic change may also call for new approaches that implement best practices in law and regulation (including those arising from regulatory best practices in the global south and south-south collaboration), ways in which to bridge public and private efforts, and an increased ability to work through challenges in the system as they arise.
Author: Julian Lampietti Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 0821379313 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 181
Book Description
Although at different stages of development, the countries of the Western Balkans—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia—face similar challenges in transforming and modernizing their agricultural food production (agri-food) sectors. Their rural sectors have lagged behind the rest of the economy in growth and poverty reduction, their agri-food sectors are undercapitalized and highly fragmented, and their agro-processing capacities limited. Agricultural trade deficits are widening, climate change is posing increasing risks to farm incomes, and low-cost imports and changing consumer preferences are further eroding competitiveness. Added to this scenario are the challenges and opportunities of adopting the EU 'acquis communautaire' relating to agriculture. Based on recent World Bank reports prepared in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the European Commission Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development, 'The Changing Face of Rural Space: Agriculture and Rural Development in the Western Balkans' identifies what is constraining agricultural competitiveness in these countries, examines public expenditures in agriculture, and diagnoses key challenges for agricultural policy makers. The book expands on previous findings to provide a strategic policy framework for transforming and modernizing the agri-food sector and, in the context of region’s ongoing process of integration with the European Union, creating a dynamic rural space in the Western Balkans. The book offers Western Balkan governments and international donors a shared vision of the goals and directions their agriculture and rural development policies and programs might take.
Author: Suzana Milosevic
Author: Jean Vasile, Andrei
Author: International Finance Corporation
Author: Christopher B. Barrett
Author: Shepherd, A.
Author: Monika Matusiak
Author: Rene C. Tacastacas
Author: 
Author: Katrin Kuhlmann
Author: Julian Lampietti