Most studies of doing business at the “bottom of the economic pyramid” focus on viewing the poor as consumers, as micro-entrepreneurs, or as potential employees. Almost no analysis focuses on the poor as primary producers of agricultural commodities – a striking omission given that primary producers are by far the largest segment of the working-age population in developing economies. Making Markets More Inclusive bridges this gap with original research on agricultural value chains in developing and emerging economies. McKague analyzes one of the leading agricultural value chain initiatives in the world, which is being replicated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in several value chains in Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, India, and Mali. A series of videos illustrate examples from throughout the book.
This is a timely contribution to the literature on market and value chain development, which provides unique and practical insights. It should feature as a key reading for practitioners considering designing interventions in this area.
Trade – whether within countries or global – is increasingly organized in value chains. Linking up with the lead firms of such value chains is thus very important for smallholders. At the same time, NGOs have an important role in supporting inclusive value chains. Based on the experience of CARE, McKague and Siddiquee provide new and very practical insights into the success factors of agricultural value chain development.
Value chain is a widely used concept in the recent literature on agricultural market development in developing countries. McKague and Siddiquee’s analysis of dairy value chain development in Bangladesh will be particularly useful to investors in markets and development agencies.
Companies have enormous potential to fight poverty if the market systems they share with the poor can be strengthened – a complex, daunting task involving many stakeholders. By offering specific and replicable ‘how tos,’ this book fills a critical gap in the literature for all those willing to step up to the leadership challenge.
Three critical themes for policymakers, donors, corporations, project implementers, entrepreneurs, and farmers make this practical contribution to the all-too-scarce literature of inclusive value chain development essential reading: how to drive scale, how to engage stakeholders equitably across the chain, and how to apply continuous learning to improve impact.
Strategies to increase the income of smallholder farmers are central to poverty reduction. McKague and Siddiquee provide an in-depth case study of CARE’s successful work in the dairy industry in Bangladesh. More importantly, they draw out lessons that will be useful for value chain development for other agricultural products in any country.
Making Markets More Inclusive shows how sustained support across the range of value chain activities is essential in assisting poor producers to grasp new market opportunities.
There are relatively few value chain development publications that successfully combine a practical ‘how to’ approach with a strong conceptual underpinning and, perhaps most importantly, strong evidence for what works. This synthesis of CARE’s work in Bangladesh, with its foundations in a robust understanding of current thinking and best practice, is an important contribution to the inclusive market development evidence base.
With insight and clarity, Making Markets More Inclusive brings to life the challenges, successes, and lessons learned from the complex but rewarding task of enhancing value chains for the benefit of smallholder farmers. Required reading for anyone interested in market-based approaches to development.
This is a rare book that makes the local relevant for the global by drawing out lessons from CARE’s project work in Bangladesh’s dairy industry. The result is highly relevant for other countries, sectors, and aid agencies. McKague and Siddiquee achieve this through a flexible, pragmatic, and ultimately satisfying application of value chain tools, from the presentation of simple sector selection and mapping methods to drawing out key insights from global value chain governance theory. The eyes are always on the prize: achieving poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability by ‘intervening to enhance women’s-decision making power and control over assets or otherwise change women’s roles and relationships in the value chain’. There’s much to be commended in this book!”