Inclusive and adaptive business models for climate-smart value creation

Climate-smart business models target multiple Sustainable Development Goals by fostering agricultural productivity, supporting farm and farmer livelihood resilience, and encouraging climate mitigation. While many business models (cl)aiming to create climate-smart value already exist both in agricultural development and business practice, little scholarly attention has so far been directed toward their functioning. In this paper, we argue that business models need to be inclusive and adaptive to generate climate-smart value equitably for all stakeholders involved and sustainably over time. Inclusivity involves not only providing the poor at the Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) with access to resources (e.g. finance, technology, access to markets) in business models but also, according to some scholars, with guaranteeing their representation in decision-making over the use of these resources. Adaptability entails the capacity to smoohtly adjust structures and processes of enterprise-BoP partnerships that underlie business models. We suggest that building inclusive and adaptive climate-smart business models is non-trivial work which, in the future, will require rapid cycles of collective experimentation and reflection between decision-makers in climate-smart business models and researchers studying them.</p

Unlocking the potential : challenges and factors influencing the use of ICTs by smallholder maize farmers in Zimbabwe

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data and materials supporting the results and analysis presented in this paper is readily available upon reason- able request.The study aims to investigate the challenges faced by smallholder maize farmers and identify the pivotal factors influencing the adoption of ICTs in agriculture. A blend of descriptive and probit regression analytical techniques is applied by analyzing cross-sectional survey data from a selected multistage random sample of 155 maize farmers in Marondera Rural District, Zimbabwe. The study findings revealed that the foremost obstacles hampering ICT adoption include electricity shortages attributable to load-shedding and persistent communication network challenges. Additionally, it was observed that the utilization of mobile phones for agricultural purposes remains moderately low, while the use of computers in agriculture is strikingly minimal. The probit regression model results revealed that age, gender, access to credit, and extension contact are significant determinants for computer use in agriculture. Furthermore, critical influencers of mobile phone adoption for agricultural activities that were identified include farming experience, engagement in non-farm activities, credit access, remittances, and extension visits. The study recommends fostering an enabling environment to encourage farmers to embrace ICTs for agricultural purposes. To support this endeavor, the study advocates an improved agricultural training and extension system, with particular attention to less experienced and elderly farmers who may exhibit resistance to technological advancements.https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/OAEFhj2024Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural DevelopmentSDG-02:Zero HungerSDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur

The private sector is already creating climate-smart value

However, the prevailing narrative suggests an endless search for inclusive business models that support a transition towards climate-smart agriculture (CSA). Our approach is a literature review of business models and CSA and qualitative fieldwork with four business models in Southern Africa to investigate the extent and way business models work to support CSA

Systems Thinking, Mapping and Change in Food and Agriculture

Societal actors across scales and geographies increasingly demand visual applications of systems thinking – the process of understanding and changing the reality of a system by considering its whole set of interdependencies – to address complex problems affecting food and agriculture. Yet, despite the wide offer of systems mapping tools, there is still little guidance for managers, policy-makers, civil society and changemakers in food and agriculture on how to choose, combine and use these tools on the basis of a sufficiently deep understanding of socio-ecological systems. Unfortunately, actors seeking to address complex problems with inadequate understandings of systems often have limited influence on the socio-ecological systems they inhabit, and sometimes even generate unintended negative consequences. Hence, we first review, discuss and exemplify seven key features of systems that should be – but rarely have been – incorporated in strategic decisions in the agri-food sector: interdependency, level-multiplicity, dynamism, path dependency, self-organization, non-linearity and complex causality. Second, on the basis of these features, we propose a collective process to systems mapping that grounds on the notion that the configuration of problems (i.e., how multiple issues entangle with each other) and the configuration of actors (i.e., how multiple actors relate to each other and share resources) represent two sides of the same coin. Third, we provide implications for societal actors - including decision-makers, trainers and facilitators - using systems mapping to trigger or accelerate systems change in five purposive ways: targeting multiple goals; generating ripple effects; mitigating unintended consequences; tackling systemic constraints, and collaborating with unconventional partners

Multi-stakeholder perception analysis of the status, characteristics, and factors affecting small-scale carp aquaculture systems in Bangladesh

Inland aquaculture is essential for the food and livelihoods of millions of small-scale producers across the global South. Very diverse actions from national governments, civil sector and international organizations have been seeking to enhance the performance of small-scale aquaculture systems. However, many of these efforts are constrained by the general lack of information about the status and characteristics of the sector. In many cases, data are unavailable, highly aggregated or outdated, thus failing to provide a clear picture of the situation on the ground to inform relevant efforts. Bangladesh is one such country, where, on the one hand, the aquaculture sector is extremely important for national economic growth, rural development and food and nutrition security, but on the other hand suffers from a general lack of quality data to inform relevant actions. In this study, we report the findings generated though eight workshops that engaged 215 stakeholders involved in the Bangladesh small-scale carp aquaculture sector. By leveraging the expertise of the participants, we obtain an overarching picture of the characteristics of small-scale carp production models around the country. The findings suggest a large variability of production models and levels of intensification, which are mainly based on polyculture involving species such as rohu, catla, and mrigal. These systems have been roughly categorized in four types characterized by different levels of intensification and dominant species, which are present across the country with varied socio-economic, infrastructure and environmental conditions. The study also identified an unfolding shift in the last years, from subsistence-based to commercially oriented production. In terms of market preference, quite different carp attributes are valued among small-scale producers across the country, with large size of carp, its rapid growth and the availability of improved strains being the most valued. As aquaculture, and particularly carp aquaculture, is important for rural development in Bangladesh by sustaining households’ income and livelihoods in different ways, we argue for the need to undertake more detailed studies to understand the characteristics and performance of these types of small-scale aquaculture systems. This will be indispensable for informing policies and actions that aim to target more effectively the different types of producers, and to improve the overall performance and sustainability of the sector

Tilapia aquaculture systems in Egypt: Characteristics, sustainability outcomes and entry points for sustainable aquatic food systems

The future demand for fish and other aquatic foods requires the sustainable intensification of related production systems. However, policy and investment decisions for the sustainable intensification of aquaculture systems are usually hindered by the lack of benchmarking data about their actual sustainability performance, often resulting in poorly developed and implemented interventions that ignore potential sustainability trade-offs. This is a reality in many of the leading aquaculture producers in the developing world like Egypt. In this study we analyzed farm-level data from 402 aquaculture producers in the Kafr El Sheikh governorate in Egypt, to characterize and benchmark the performance of tilapia production systems against key sustainability outcomes. For the analysis we used a combination of statistical tools such as ordinary least square regressions, simultaneous quantile regressions and propensity score matching. We focussed on how the production characteristics and practices of different tilapia production systems intersect with economic, food security, and environmental outcomes that cover multiple dimensions of sustainability. We found that differences in these production characteristics and practices were significantly associated with the sustainability performance of tilapia production systems. In particular, our results show that yields in monocultural systems (10,460.5 ton/ha) were significantly higher than in polyculture systems (8404.7 ton/ha). Furthermore, despite the generally positive economic, food security, and environmental outcomes of several of the studied systems, some trade-offs emerge both between and within these sustainability dimensions

Benchmarking Tilapia Aquaculture Systems in Egypt: Synergies, Trade-offs, and Entry Points for Sustainable Development

The growing demand for aquatic foods requires the sustainable intensification of aquaculture systems. However, policy and investment decisions for sustainable intensification of aquaculture systems are often hindered by a lack of benchmarking data related to performance of such systems. Abstract accepted and presented at WAS2022 – published in the book of abstracts at pag 606

Linking value chain partnerships to entrepreneurial learning: implications for agrifood systems resilience

In today’s increasingly turbulent and rapidly changing agrifood systems, the role of collaborative institutional arrangements in tackling long-standing socio-ecological challenges of food insecurity, poverty, inequality, biodiversity loss and climate changes represents a topic of persistent and lively debate among policy makers, civil society and scientists. However, what remains controversial in this debate is the role governance mechanisms of these collaborative institutional arrangements play in supporting resilience in local agrifood systems. To contribute to this debate, this thesis provides insights on how value chain partnerships, as a form of collaborative institutional arrangements involving private companies, smallholder farmers and other stakeholders organise in ways that stimulate entrepreneurship and support outcomes of agrifood system resilience.Contributing towards this overarching research objective, this thesis addresses four key limitations in extant literature. First, literature on how governance mechanisms of value chain partnerships shape farmer entrepreneurship and support or hamper resilience in agrifood systems is poorly connected and scattered across several disciplines: lacking a coherent and parsimonious framework. Second, there is little empirical research on how governance mechanisms of value chain partnerships provide space for developing entrepreneurial behaviours overtime, and how entrepreneurial behaviours in turn influence outcomes of agrifood system resilience. Similarly, few studies have explored how governance mechanisms of value chain partnerships individually or collectively interplay with individual’s attributes to shape entrepreneurial behaviours. Along with these three limitations, there is limited research assessing farmer entrepreneurship in terms of effectuation and causation behaviours in resource constrained and turbulent rural contexts, either at one point in time, or their development over time.In order to address these four limitations, the first study involves the use of a theory synthesis approach to provide a conceptual framework on how value chain partnerships organise in ways that stimulate farmer entrepreneurship and support agrifood system resilience. Relying on searching for literature across search engines – google scholar, Scopus and Web of science – to explore how the three concepts: governance mechanisms, farmer entrepreneurship and resilience, relate with each other; this chapter results in an integrative framework, corroborated with illustrations. This framework suggests that the governance mechanisms of value chain partnerships in terms of intensity of resource pooling, distribution of decision-making rights and a combination of formal and informal coordination mechanisms influence farmer entrepreneurship. In turn, farmer entrepreneurship supports the resilience of agrifood systems through three outcomes: improved rural livelihoods, valorisation of socio-cultural services, ecological services.Given the lack of research in assessing farmer entrepreneurship in resource constrained and turbulent rural contexts of low-income markets, the second study explores farmer entrepreneurial behaviour in terms of effectuation and causation. Relying on data from 430 smallholder farmers involved in a seed multiplication business initiative, this chapter uses multivariate statistics in the form of exploratory factor analysis, Cluster analysis, Pearson’s chi-squared test and Analysis of Variance. Findings of this study touch upon our understanding of entrepreneurial behaviour in resource-constrained and turbulent rural contexts. Second, this chapter reveals that smallholder farmers are heterogenous in terms of their entrepreneurial behaviours. Four clusters were identified: non-entrepreneurial, goal-driven, means-driven and ambidextrous. Along with entrepreneurial behaviours, these clusters differ significantly in terms of demographics, education levels, farm size, distance to the market, social connections, seasonal sales and farm income.Relying on data from 96 interviews, the third study involves a multiple-case study design in the form of inductive data analysis to explore the processes and patterns of causality between the governance mechanisms of seven value chain partnerships and changes in causation and effectuation behaviours of smallholder farmers, and in turn how changes in these behaviours relate with their livelihood resilience. Contributing to addressing the overarching research question, this partnership-level analysis reveals three insights: first smallholder farmers sustain their livelihood resilience when they develop a combination of effectual and causal behaviours; second, smallholder farmers develop causal behaviours when value chain partnerships involve mandatory resource pooling, centralised decision making and formal coordination mechanism. Vice versa, smallholder farmers develop effectual behaviour when value chain partnerships configure voluntary resource pooling, decentralised decision making and informal coordination mechanisms. In addition, the chapter inductively reveals processes through which causal and effectual behaviours were shaped, and in turn how these behaviours influence their livelihood resilience.To understand how governance mechanisms of value chain partnerships individually or collectively interplay with the individual farmer’s attributes to shape the joint development of causal and effectual behaviours, the fourth study involves a configurational analysis in the form of Qualitative Comparative Analysis QCA – a set theoretic approach used to distil complex causality. The chapter relies on survey data from 423 smallholder farmers involved in seven value chain partnerships in Zimbabwe. The chapter reveals finer grained insights which speaks to our understanding of entrepreneurial learning in value chain partnerships. First the chapter reveals that entrepreneurial learning is complex, and a contingent process, where each causal factor does not exist in isolation but with interactions. In particular, the chapter demonstrates that participation in key decision-making processes over the use of resources and key activities of the partnership is a necessary but not always a sufficient condition for entrepreneurial learning. In addition, this chapter demonstrates that entrepreneurial learning is easier to fail for distant female entrepreneurs than their male counterparts.The four studies in this thesis challenge or at least extend existing debates in the scientific fields of entrepreneurship, organisation of value chain partnerships and international development . These findings have several have several policy and managerial implications, first, on how value chain partnerships communicate value creation in low-income markets; suggesting that leaders of value chain partnerships or external stakeholder such as donors or government may demonstrate legitimacy of a value chain partnership based on the potential to support farmer entrepreneurship. Second, findings of this thesis have implications on entrepreneurship development suggesting that fostering effectual and causal behaviours should be brought to the core of capacity-building among smallholder farmers. Third, rather than distributing resources to individual farmers, governments and donors might better support smallholder farmers by pooling resource on or strengthening institutions of existing value chain partnership they are part of

Economic impact of the composition of public expenditure on agricultural growth: case studies from selected SADC

MSCAECDepartment of Agricultural Economics and Agribusines

Value chain partnerships and farmer entrepreneurship as balancing ecosystem services : Implications for agri-food systems resilience

Both in the European Union (EU) and worldwide, the resilience of agri-food systems depends on the human ability to balance between socio-economic and ecological trade-offs. Recent ecosystem services literature acknowledges that smallholder farmers’ participation to stakeholder partnerships and continuous learning influences their balancing ability. Yet, little research has so far focused on how smallholders’ participation in partnerships with other value chain actors - such as companies supplying or procuring from them - shape their learning processes and, in turn, how their mindset and behavioral change influences agri-food systems resilience outcomes. To address this gap, this conceptual paper advances a framework suggesting plausible linkages between: the organization of value chain partnerships; smallholder farmer entrepreneurship (meant as the ability to redeploy resources innovatively in and around farms); and agri-food systems resilience outcomes (such as stabilizing rural livelihoods, supporting ecological services and enhancing socio-cultural services). This framework suggests that value chain partnerships are more effective in supporting the smallholder farmers’ entrepreneurial learning: when they pool more resources (both tangible, like financial or physical assets, and intangible as knowledge or market information) among partners; when they distribute decision-making rights over their use more evenly; and when they balance between formal and informal coordination mechanisms. On the basis of empirical examples, these conceptual arguments suggest that policy incentives – such as the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the EU – should be directed towards resource pooling, experimentation and learning to effectively support smallholder farmer entrepreneurship and their contribution to the achievement of agri-food systems resilience outcomes.</p