Strategies for boosting the agricultural economies of developing countries usually focus on small farms, attempting, for example, to link smallholders with markets through production chain development. This survey found strong inequalities in landholding distributions within Ghana's small-farm sector in all regions of the country, and found that many of the broadly perceived defining characteristics of smallholder agriculture - such as low input use and low market engagement - are negatively correlated with landholding size. The crowding of farms at the smaller end of the small-farm spectrum in Ghana suggests that rural development strategies based on expanding existing market chains will face challenges in connecting with the bulk of small producers, who are less well endowed than average statistics indicate.

A workshop on "Emerging Links between Retail Transformation and Agrifood Trade in Asia" will be held in association with the meetings of the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium (IATRC) in Beijing from July 8-9 2007.  The Regoverning Markets program partners from SE Asia will present findings. The Workshop keynote on the "Asia Supermarket Revolution and Potential Trade Implications" will be delivered by Thomas Reardon. There are also speakers from Carrefour, Metro, focusing on fresh productsand Lanbo, a leading supplier of mushrooms to supermarkets in China.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has launched a new initiative to integrate sustainability into food systems in China. IATP President Jim Harkness met last week with researchers, international organizations and non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders in Beijing to discuss the program.

Regoverning Markets is pleased to announce a special call for short desk studies about policy innovations in the public or private sectors that have led to enhanced market participation by small-scale producers.

The CAPRi Research Workshop on Collective Action and Market Access for Smallholders was held on October 2-5, 2006 in Cali, Colombia to enhance the conceptual and empirical understanding of the role of collective action institutions (e.g. rules and norms, producer organizations, cooperatives, etc.) in improving market access for the rural poor.

by Johan F.M. SWINNEN and Miet MAERTENS 

Abstract. Food and agricultural commodity value chains in developing and transition countries have undergone tremendous changes in the past decades.  Companies and property rights have been privatized, markets liberalized, and economies integrated into global food systems. The liberalization and privatization initially caused the collapse of state-controlled vertical integration.  More recently, private vertical coordination systems have emerged and are growing rapidly as a response to consumer demand for food quality and safety on the one hand and the farms' production constraints caused by factor market imperfections.  In this paper we (a) demonstrate the importance of these changes, (b) discuss the implications for efficiency and equity and (c) provide empirical evidence on the effects in several developing and transition countries.

New OECD publication:

Supermarkets and the Meat Supply Chain: The Economic Impact of Food Retail on Farmers, Processors and Consumers

This volume examines developments in the food economy, focusing on the economic impacts of increasing retailer concentration on consumers, processors and farmers. The document estimates retail market power and assesses price transmission in the beef, pork and poultry supply chains of Canada, the Czech Republic, Japan and the Netherlands. In addition, farm marketing strategies are examined in three case studies: retail versus other labelling in the Belgian pork and beef supply chains; producer organisation in Dutch horticulture; and contract rearing in livestock production in the EU.

Regoverning Markets is pleased to announce a call for case study analyses for Component 2. We are seeking case study analyses of two types: (1) Full studies of innovative practices in connecting small-scale producers with dynamic markets; and (2) Short policy snapshots of policy innovations in the public or private sectors that have led to enhanced market participation by small-scale producers

Authors: Moustier, P. (et al.)
Produced by: International Finance Corporation (IFC) (2005)
 
The study assesses conditions for an increased involvement of the poor in the food value chains driven by supermarkets and other value-adding outlets. The trends of the different distribution chains were analysed through the gathering of secondary data. Surveys on poor consumers' access to different retailing points were made in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Moc Chau, as well as comparison of prices between the different points of sale in these cities. Four case studies investigated poor farmers' and traders' participation in distribution value chains.

Windsor UK, 27 September 2006

The 'Regoverning Markets' international research consortium gathers today in Windsor UK for 3 days of review and strategic planning. The programme, which aims to improve our understanding of the way modernization and re-structuring of food supply chains is affecting food production and distribution systems, and to identify best-practice in involving small-scale producers in dynamic supply chains, is at a crucial half way stage.