This article investigates determinants and impacts of cooperative organization, using the example of smallholder banana farmers in Kenya. Farmer groups are inclusive of the poor, although wealthier households are more likely to join. Employing propensity score matching, we find positive income effects for active group members. Yet price advantages of collective marketing are small, and high-value market potentials have not yet been tapped. Beyond prices, farmer groups function as important catalysts for innovation adoption through promoting efficient information flows.
Many developing countries are experiencing a rapid expansion of supermarkets. New supermarket procurement systems could affect farming patterns and wider rural development. While previous studies have analyzed farm productivity and income effects, possible employment effects have received much less attention. Special supermarket requirements may entail intensified farm production and post-harvest handling, thus potentially increasing demand for hired labor. This could also have important gender implications, because female and male workers are often hired for distinct farm operations.
The recent proliferation of mobile phones in rural Africa has also led to increased interest in mobile financial services (MFS), such as mobile money and mobile banking. Such services are often portrayed as promising tools to improve agricultural finance, especially among smallholders who are typically underserved by traditional banks. However, empirical evidence on the actual use of MFS for agricultural activities is thin. Here, we use nationally representative data from Kenya to analyze the use of mobile payments, mobile savings, and mobile credit among the farming population.
It is often assumed that voluntary sustainability standards – such as Fairtrade – could not only improve the socioeconomic wellbeing of smallholder farmers in developing countries but could also help to reduce negative health and environmental impacts of agricultural production. The empirical evidence is thin, as most previous studies on the impact of sustainability standards only focused on economic indicators, such as prices, yields, and incomes.
This literature review was developed by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as part of the Policies, Institutions and Markets Program of the CGIAR. Its objective is to gain a better understanding of scale up processes, strategies and practices in programmes aimed at reducing poverty through improved markets. Its focus is the dissemination of new behaviour through these markets as a result of the interventions of said programmes.
En Colombia la política pública de cadenas productivas del Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR) se ha consolidado como una estrategia de desarrollo para el agro. Los Comités Regionales (CR) planean e implementan buena parte de las iniciativas de apoyo público en conjunto con el sector productivo-privado local.
Las políticas de desarrollo rural han evolucionado considerablemente en América Latina. Durante los últimos 15 años, una de las principales áreas de énfasis ha sido el desarrollo de iniciativas que promuevan la formación de cadenas productivas en el sector agrícola en torno a unos productos estratégicos, los cuales generan economías rurales mucho más competitivas. En Colombia, el enfoque es novedoso, ya que se centra en el establecimiento de organizaciones de cadenas en el ámbito nacional y regional.
En Colombia, el desarrollo rural requiere de una institucionalidad que contribuya a cerrar la brecha urbano-rural, que cuente con los instrumentos de política necesarios para la inclusión productiva y la promoción de una asociatividad orientada a una ruralidad competitiva. Los 12 años de experiencia de la implementación del Proyecto de Apoyo para las Alianzas Productivas (PAAP) del Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR) aportan lecciones en esta dirección.
Innovation Platforms are increasingly being proposed and used in agricultural research for development project and programs. Innovation Platforms provide space to farmers, agricultural service providers, researchers, private sector and other stakeholders to jointly identify, analyse and overcome constraints to agricultural development. Although innovation platforms have been successful in addressing agricultural challenges, there is a risk that they are promoted as a panacea for all problems in the agricultural sector... which would clearly be a big mistake.
How we eat has a major impact on our individual health status, our quality of life and our well-being. Many of the foods we eat have a major social, environmental, climate and animal welfare footprint. This expertise defines policies to promote sustainability in food consumption as policies that integrate all four target dimensions: human health, social aspects, the natural environment (including climate) and animal welfare. Achieving greater sustainability in food consumption poses great challenges.