New book: Inclusive Value Chains in India

Inclusive Value Chains in India: Linking the Smallest Producers to Modern Markets

by Malcolm Harper, Emeritus Professor, Cranfield School of Management, UK

The inclusion (or exclusion) of the poor, particularly small farmers and artisans, from modern value chains such as supermarkets and export markets is a highly topical subject. This book will address the issues in a positive way by showing that the poor can be and are being included, not as an "act of charity" or "corporate social responsibility", but because their inclusion is profitable for all parties, including the producers themselves.

The aim of the book is to show by example that "modern" integrated value chains need not necessarily exclude the smallest producers. Following a brief introduction to the problem, 14 case studies are presented to illustrate how it is being solved in practice. The book also discusses the impact of organized retailing on small-scale traders, and finally analyses the case studies and draws conclusions from them.

Contents:

Development, Value Chains and Exclusion; Retail Winners and Losers - The Impact of Organized Retailing; Inclusive Value Chains in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables; Inclusive Value Chains in Commodity Crops; Inclusive Value Chains in Fisheries, Honey Coffee and Poultry; Inclusive Value Chains in Non-food Artisan Products; What Do the Case Studies Tell Us? Lessons for the Future.

Key Features

• Includes 14 detailed case studies of value chains which include the poorest producers and which are profitable for everyone

• Studies products including fresh produce, food grains, forest products, fish, poultry and handicrafts, featuring producers from various states/provinces of India

• Analyses the examples and helps the reader to learn what types of inclusive value chains work and what types do not.

Published by World Scientific Publishing, Singapore. Distributed by www.booksfordevelopment.org