The quiet revolution in India's food supply chains:

There has been a rapid transformation of food supply chains in India over the past two decades. Modern retail sales are growing at 49 percent per year and quickly penetrating urban food markets and even rural markets. The food-processing sector is growing quickly while also concentrating and undergoing a rapid increase in the capital-output ratio, with little increase in employment. A modern segment is emerging in the wholesale sector, with the penetration of modern logistics firms and specialized modern wholesalers.wholesale markets, Supply chains, Farmers, Supermarkets, Food processing, logistics, cold chain, Food markets,

The supermarket revolution in developing countries: Policies for "competitiveness with inclusiveness"

"A “supermarket revolution” has been underway in developing countries since the early 1990s. Supermarkets (here referring to all modern retail, which includes chain stores of various formats such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and convenience and neighborhood stores) have now gone well beyond the initial upper- and middle-class clientele in many countries to reach the mass market. Within the food system, the effects of this trend touch not only traditional retailers, but also the wholesale, processing, and farm sectors. The supermarket revolution is a “two-edged sword.” On the one hand, it can lower food prices for consumers and create opportunities for farmers and processors to gain access to quality-differentiated food markets and raise incomes. On the other hand, it can create challenges for small retailers, farmers, and processors who are not equipped to meet the new competition and requirements from supermarkets. Developing-country governments can put in place a number of policies to help both traditional retailers and small farmers pursue “competitiveness with inclusiveness” in the era of the supermarket revolution. Some countries are already taking such steps, and their experiences offer lessons for others." from Author's textSupermarkets, Wholesalers, Modern retail, Small farmers, Traditional retail, Supply chains, Competitiveness, Inclusiveness,

THE RISE OF KENYAN SUPERMARKETS AND THE EVOLUTION OF THEIR FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS

Supermarkets are rapidly penetrating urban food retail in Kenya and spreading well beyond their initial tiny market niche into the food markets of lower-income groups. Having penetrated processed and staple food markets much earlier and faster than fresh foods, they have recently begun to make inroads into the fresh fruits and vegetables category. The important changes in their procurement systems bring significant opportunities and challenges for small farmers, and have implications for agricultural diversification and rural development programmes and policies.Marketing,

Population and Sustainability: Understanding Population, Environment, and Development Linkages

The triple challenge of rapid population growth, declining agricultural productivity, and natural resource degradation are not isolated from one another; they are intimately related. However, strategic planning and development programming tend to focus on individual sectors such as the environment, agriculture, and population; they do not explicitly take into account the compatibilities and inconsistencies among them. Farm households and their livelihood strategies are at the core of the intersectoral linkages approach advocated in this chapter. Three key aspects of the population-environment-development debate are discussed: first, the finding that inconsistencies between public and individual household behavior regarding childbearing and family planning constitute a veritable "demographic tragedy of the commons;" second, the tendency to conceptualize population variables as "unmanageable," and exogenous to environmental and economic change; third, the importance of land markets and land tenure as critical population-sustainability policy issues.Africa, agriculture, Rwanda, population, sustainability, environment, food security, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q56,

ASSET, ACTIVITY, AND INCOME DIVERSIFICATION AMONG AFRICAN AGRICULTURALISTS: SOME PRACTICAL ISSUES

This paper starts from the premise that diversification of assets, activities, and incomes is important to African rural households, in that diversification into nonfarm income constitutes on average about 45 percent of incomes, and the push and pull factors driving that diversification are bound to persist. From that premise, we noted that the empirical study of diversification has been beset by practical problems and issues relating to (1) definitions and concepts, (2) data collection, and to (3) measurement of the nature and extent of diversification. The paper addressed each of those problems. Two points are of special interest to the overall conceptualization of diversification research. The first is that empirical studies have exhibited a wide variety - bordering on confusion - of systems of classification of assets, activities, and incomes as pertains to diversification behavior. We argued that the classification should conform to that used in standard practice of national accounts and macro input-output table construction, classifying activities into economic sectors that have standard definitions, and the classification of which does not depend on the location or functional type (wage- or self-employment) of the activity. We further argued that given a sectoral classification, it is useful to make a functional and locational categorization of the activity, and keep each of these three dimensions of the activity - sectoral, functional, and locational - separate and distinct so as to avoid confusion. The second is that it is useful to have an image of a production function in mind when analyzing the components of diversification behavior: (1) assets are the factors of production, representing the capacity of the household to diversify; (2) activities are the ex ante production flows of asset services; (3) incomes are the ex post flows of incomes, and it is crucial to note that the goods and services produced by activities need to be valued by prices, formed by markets at meso and macro levels, in order to be the measured outcomes called incomes. "Livelihoods" is a term used frequently in recent diversification research, and while its meaning differs somewhat over studies, it generally means household and community behavior, with respect to holdings and use of assets and the productive activities to which the assets are applied. The link between livelihoods and incomes needs to be made by valuing the output of livelihood activities at market (and/or virtual) prices. That valuation permits an analytical link between household/community behavior (thus a micro view of diversification) and the aggregate functioning of markets (thus a link with the meso and macro levels and the policies pertaining thereto).Agribusiness, O, Q12,

Linking urban consumers and rural farmers in India: A comparison of traditional and modern food supply chains

"Food supply chains are being transformed in a number of developing countries due to widespread changes in urban food demand. To better anticipate the impact of this transformation and thus assist in the design of appropriate policies, it is important to understand the changes that are occurring in these supply chains. In a case study of India, we find that overall urban consumption is increasing; the urban food basket is shifting away from staples toward high-value products; and modern market channels (modern retail, food processing, and the food service industry) are on the rise. We document differing practices in traditional and modern food supply chains and identify an agenda for future research." from authors' abstractAgricultural marketing, Market transformation, Rural-urban linkages, Globalization, Markets,

The quiet revolution in agrifood value chains in Asia: The case of increasing quality in rice markets in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh—one of the poorest countries in Asia, where rice accounts for almost 70 percent of consumers' caloric intake—the share of the less expensive, low-quality coarse rice is shown to be rapidly decreasing in rice markets and the quality premium for the best-quality rice has been consistently on the rise in the last decades. It thus seems that the role of rice as only a cheap staple food is being redefined. The off-farm share in the final consumer price increases from 27 percent to 35 percent to 48 percent for low-, medium-, and high-quality rice, respectively, and the increasing demand for higher quality is thus seemingly associated with a more important off-farm food sector—in particular, milling, retailing, and branding—as well as a transformed milling industry. We further find that the labor rewards for and the technical efficiency of growing different rice qualities are not significantly different, and farmers do not benefit directly from consumers' increased willingness to pay for higher rice quality.Markets, milling, Quality, rice, value chains,

Market Power and Supply Shocks: Evidence from the Orange Juice Market

The orange juice market is a weather market because of its high geographical concentration and the natural characteristics of orange trees. A few hours of a freeze in Florida is enough to cause a supply shock to the orange juice market. How do oligopolistic firms react to supply shocks do they become more collusive or more competitive? This paper empirically examines the proposition and finds that the level of market power of orange juice firms decreases significantly, and the market becomes more competitive during supply shocks even though prices rise.Marketing,

Tomato Farmer Participation in Supermarket Market Channels in Guatemala: Determinants and Technology and Income Effects

The paper shows that in a comparison between supermarket channels (working via dedicated wholesalers) and traditional channels, farmers selling to supermarkets tend to be in the upper-end of the "small farmer" category (whereas the traditional-channel growers are in the smaller end), have more capital (in particular, irrigation, which allows them to supply all year and attain greater productivity and consistency), and be much more specialized in commercial horticulture in general and in tomatoes in particular, as compared to the traditional farmers. While they have higher yields, they also have higher input use, including use of chemicals, and these greater input expenditures (accompanied by more credit and technical assistance from the chemical companies) means that their profit rate is roughly similar to the farmers in the traditional channel. They tell us that they prefer still the more demanding wholesale-supermarket channel because it offers a lower risk and lower transaction cost outlet for the variety of their qualities and grades, all year. In turn, the supermarkets, who do not buy direct but rather source from a few dedicated wholesalers, rely on this year-round supply, lower transaction costs, and consistency. While the share of supermarkets in the produce market in Guatemala is still minor, these results mean merely that the more capitalized-tier of small farmers enjoy some advantages with the new channel, but also some entry costs that the traditional farmers as of yet do not face. As the supermarket channel grows, it is expected that more and more farmers will need to capitalized in ways that will either make them competitive in the new market, or in the traditional markets that will doubtless evolve to maintain competitiveness themselves. Development programs over the medium-long run will need to take into account the changing nature of farm-level investments thus implied.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

Supermarkets, New-Generation Wholesalers, Tomato Farmers, and NGOs in Nicaragua

Based on a survey of 145 tomato farmers and interviews with supermarket chains, NGOs, wholesalers, and farmer organizations in 2004, this paper examines the determinants and effects of farmers' participation in supermarket channels, with and without assistance from NGOs in "business linkage" programs. It finds that absent that assistance, the farmers that work with supermarket chains tend to be the "upper tier" of small farmers, better capitalized with various assets. The smaller and less-capitalized farmers that work with supermarkets tend to do so in association with NGO assistance. Despite higher input expenditures and entry requirements, farmers in the supermarket chain earn more. The paper discusses the issue of whether this development program approach is sustainable and can be upscaled, and wrestles with the tradeoff of helping poor farmers gain access to dynamic markets, of making it affordable at a larger scale by national governments with tight budgets, and at the same time field programs that are market-sustainable and market-responsive.Marketing,