Innovative Policy

These are short studies addressing a specific policy innovation in the public or private sector that improves the conditions for small-scale producers to access dynamic markets at national, regional and global level.

 

Argentina: Best Commercial Practices Code (Argentina 2000-2006) as an efficient policy innovation to prevent conflict and solve controversies between suppliers, processors and supermarkets

This short article describes the Best Commercial Practices Code (BCPC) adopted in 2000 in Argentina by the leading actors of the private sector, with the support of the government, to improve the commercial relations between suppliers, processors and supermarkets. The article reviews the process leading to the approval of the Code, how the Code works in practice and the results and effects of this private sector policy.

 

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Australia: Farmer collective bargaining, Australia's revised Trade Practices Act

By Charles McElhone

This report shows how collective bargaining has helped level out the power imbalance often inherent in farmer contract negotiations, ensuring that Australian farmers attain the rewards they are entitled to in producing the highest quality goods. It also shows how the recent amendments are an important example of a policy change that has enhanced market participation by small-scale agricultural producers.

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Bolivia: Government procurement policies in Bolivia: Creating a learning environment for smallholder value chains to serve more demanding markets

By Giel Ton and Marco Mendoza

The paper is based on the experiences of smallholder organisations1 in Bolivia.
Linked to National Dialogue 2000 around the Highly Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) debt reduction initiative, CIOEC-Bolivia (part of the Liaison Committee of Small Producers - Comité de Enlace) organized a participatory process to identify the most important legal obstacles limiting market access and economic development for the smallholder sector (CIOEC 2000). After a series of workshops a consultancy team assisted producer organisations in improving the consistency of the workshop outcomes and in re-stating the problem using legal terminology. This research focuses on activities around one policy issue that was prioritised in the discussions and lobby strategy of the producer organisations and that effectively resulted in special legislation to facilitate increased smallholder access to markets: the Bolivian government procurement policies "Compro Boliviano" ("I Buy Bolivian").

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Canada: Maple syrup production in Quebec: Farmer self-determination for market control

By Isabelle Gagné

This desk study describes the collective strategy adopted by Quebec's maple syrup producers in order to improve marketing conditions for their product.

 

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Canada: Marketing boards used to connect and empower small- to medium-scale farmers in domestic and international markets

By Clinton Monchuk and Justin To

This case study focuses on the establishment of marketing boards in Canada and the rationale underpinning them. Historically, where farmers have not been empowered, commodity prices have been kept low for long periods of time, forcing producers to increase their efforts to extract value from the supply chain. As a result of policy changes and legislation, producers have become actively involved in marketing their products collectively in the domestic and international marketplace.

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China: An example of an agricultural brokers' association: The Tongzhou Agricultural Brokers' Association

By Z Shudon

Farmers in Tongzhou produce a wide range of typical cash crops. Although the quality of their produce is high, they are unable to obtain a good price for it, because local markets are small scale, and farmers lack the marketing channels to reach markets outside their local areas. This case study shows how an agricultural brokers' association can act as a bridge between small farmers and wider markets.

 

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China: Agribusiness and the cooperative farmer model: The Jing Hai chicken production cooperative

By Z Shudon

This case study of the Jin Hai Chcken Cooperative in Hai Men county, Jiangsu, is an example of how a cooperative acted as intermediary and played an important role in connecting the Pillar agribusiness enterprise and a very large number of small-scale farmers.

 

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Kenya: Policy innovations in small-scale milk markets in Kenya and East Africa

By Nicholas Horton and Amos Omore

The policy innovation described in this paper is the proactive engagement of government, regulatory and service delivery actors in supporting the previously .informal.1 raw milk market actors in Kenya and more widely in East Africa. The way this engagement has happened in Kenya suggests that alternative models of dairy development, relevant to local conditions and needs, could successfully be applied to bridge the informal-formal gap in the region and elsewhere.

 

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Mexico: Mexico Strategy for the inclusion of small and medium-sized avocado producers in dynamic markets as a result of phytosanitary legal controls for fruit transport in Michoacan

By Ruben Medina and Marx Aguirre

Michoacan is, by far, the principal Mexican and world producer of avocado. At present, 75 per cent of production is destined for the local market, with the rest being exported to the world market, mainly the United States (US). Mexico is also the world's biggest consumer of avocados. Small producers are responsible for most avocado production in the State of Michoacan.

 

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Poland: Government incentive schemes offering financial support for farmers' marketing organizations and the response: Example of how the law affects producer groups in Poland

By Ilona Banaszak and Dr Volker Beckmann