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Rice is staple food for Bangladeshi people. Although rice markets were liberalized in 1992, the government continued to intervene in this sector. This study examines the farmers’ and private traders’ response in liberalized rice marketing system in two regions. 40 farmers and 20 traders were interviewed by using a structural questionnaire for collecting the necessary information. The liberalization of the rice market, in particular, has been embraced more by the private traders then by the farmers. Although there has been a rapid emergence of private traders, the emergence of a vibrant trading sector that would fill the gap left by the state has been slow. The rice market is segmented with the private traders supplying different market circuits. Farmers on the other have not responded positively due to the lack of capital, lack of storage facilities, lack of market information, dominance of intermediaries and low price during the harvest period. Most of the farmers are unwilling to expand their acreage due to the family requirements of other crops. In rural remote areas where the road infrastructure is poor, private sector marketing activities have not yet emerged. Thus government can foster private participation and market integration by improving the road and storage infrastructure. Furthermore, government needs to take measures that strengthen the agricultural price and marketing information system targeted at both farmers and traders.

An investigation into the viability, sustainability and future developments of farmers’ markets in North West England was carried out in 2001. For this purpose, the attitudes of consumers, traders and organisers were surveyed. A primary research study was developed specifically to study North West farmers’ markets and to survey consumer attitudes to other direct selling initiatives. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data collection. A total of 34 farmers’ markets were active in the North West .The highest density was found in Cumbria. Over half of the markets in the North West were thriving or developing. However, more than 60 per cent of those in Lancashire were classified as surviving. Findings showed that customer loyalty was a key factor. A lack of funding for promotion and low produce diversity were identified as major problems. The study concluded that there appears to be a potential for growing and sustainable farmers’ markets, provided that the problems identified by this study are addressed.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the volume and quality of information and communication channel use at various stages of the malt barley value chain (MBVC) in Ethiopia and to investigate how metrics of these variables influence the extent of integration of the chain.

The study is based on survey data collected from 320 farmers and 100 traders and interview responses compiled from 76 respondents. Descriptive statistics and ordered logistic regression were used for data analysis.

The descriptive statistics show a lower volume and poor quality of information is being shared at farmer-trader interface and that value chain integration (VCI) is weak at all studied interfaces. Results of ordered logistic regression show that information volume and quality positively influence VCI, whereas a positive relationship between channel use and VCI was found only at farm level interfaces. Evidences found suggested that inconsistent information systems, lack of information sharing plans, low level of members’ awareness about the value of information, and lack of trust to share information were factors that inhibited information sharing in the MBVC.

The study offers pioneering evidence of the relative role of information volume and quality and channel use as factors that influence the extent of integration of the value chain.

Farmers in developing countries are used to recycling and purchasing seeds of old and low-yielding varieties, leading to low seed and varietal replacement rates. Seed companies in Nepal have started to conduct traders' meetings (TMs) to promote new rice varieties. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of this approach in promoting new rice varieties.

The authors assess the effectiveness of TMs by surveying 238 agrodealers from 7 districts of Nepal. The authors used the binary logit model to study the determinants of participation in TM and an instrumental variable approach to estimate the impact of TMs on sales of the promoted rice varieties.

Results indicate that the TM significantly influences traders' knowledge and increases the probability of selling new rice varieties promoted. However, TMs did not significantly increase the overall sales of promoted rice varieties.

The study is based on cross-section data; thus, unobserved fixed effects could not be accounted for. The study finds only one relevant and valid instrumental variable and therefore could not conduct any exogeneity test.

Seed companies in Nepal started to conduct TMs to promote new rice varieties since 2019. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the usefulness of TMs and the impact of these events in changing traders' attitudes toward domestic rice seed varieties or in business performance (annual sales of the promoted varieties) have not been assessed. Therefore, the study findings will help to promote the market-driven seed system and increase the seed replacement rate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing Indonesian farmers’ use of the warehouse receipt system (WRS) and their choice of private and public warehouses.

Primary data were collected through questionnaires administered to 500 farmers in two districts, Subang and Cianjur, in West Java Province in Indonesia. Binary logit regression was employed to examine the factors influencing farmers’ use of the WRS. Binary and bivariate probit regressions were employed to determine the factors influencing farmers’ choice of private and public warehouses.

The empirical results of the binary logit regression revealed that age, land ownership, selling price, the use of the warehouse receipt as collateral security and the availability of transportation facility positively influenced farmers’ use of the WRS, whereas education, income, farm profit and participation in farmers’ group negatively influenced farmers’ use of the WRS. The results of the binary probit regressions revealed that profit, availability of insurance and processing facility positively influenced the farmers’ decision to use the private WRS, whereas education, production, selling price and distance from the farm to the warehouse negatively influenced farmers’ decision to use the private WRS. Age, education, selling price and distance from the farm to the warehouse positively influenced the farmers’ decision to use the public WRS, whereas production and availability of processing facility negatively influenced the decision of farmers to use the public WRS.

This study highlights the importance of education and government assistance regarding the provision of facilities and price indemnified insurance for successful implementation of the WRS.

This study provides an empirical contribution to the existing literature on the development of WRS in Indonesia. In terms of methods of analysis, previous studies used purely qualitative and descriptive methods, whereas this study employed econometric techniques (i.e. binary logit, binary probit and bivariate probit regressions) to examine the WRS in Indonesia. In addition, whereas previous studies explored the WRS in general, this study investigated the farmers’ use of the public and private warehouses in addition to exploring the WRS in general. Finally, the finding that the average annual profit of non-users was significantly higher than that of the users of the WRS is striking, and this could be attributed to the current challenges of the implementation of the WRS, including high transportation and warehouse rental costs.

This chapter focuses on a pathway for the creation of a just and equitable food system in South Africa that contributes to achieving the right to food and livelihoods for all. It is based on years of ongoing research on food systems in South Africa and Tanzania as well as a current research project on the impact of COVID-19 regulations on food systems in South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania. The chapter starts with looking at the challenges of the food system in South Africa, the problematic approaches to addressing these challenges and how the situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Then it explores a different way of looking at and transforming the food system that moves away from the focus on corporate driven solutions and applies a different lens to analysing who the stakeholders are. The argument is for the advancement of economic actors identified by where they sit on the intersecting continuums from more marketised to more socially embedded, from more elite to the subaltern, and from larger to smaller scale. This lens makes it clear which type of enterprises and economic actors need to be supported and the alliances that need to be built to create a pathway to a better food future in the urbanising South African society and perhaps elsewhere as well.

The nature of farm animals in the marginalized group of people is varying hurriedly. Livestock is used to add to cash earnings and increase food security, hence helping as a vital component in the household’s source of revenue strategies, particularly at marginal planter’s level. The present study was conducted to assess the numbers of livestock farmers in the study areas, their livelihood options, the value chain of the farmers in different marketing channels and recommendation for the sustainable value chain of the livestock production cycle.

The study precise the baseline condition of marginal livestock farmers for access to value chain activities in terms of inputs, outputs, support services, production, yield, income and enabling environment to enhance livestock farming in the study area. The study was conducted through stratified random sampling of the context using some research tools like in-depth interviews, household surveys, expert opinions and focus group discussions. Structured questionnaires were developed to address issues, such as current livestock farming practices, access to support services, capacity and income.

The study revealed that this particular context is lagging behind to establish goat value chain activities in the targeted areas. The farmers do not have basic knowledge of goat farming, and the value chain actors are not working properly. The support services are not appropriate to turn the goat farming production to a standard level. Value chain of livestock and livestock products and their goals are essential to develop an idea on learning, investment, market access, sales assurance and quality. Variation in institutional contexts of end markets is linked to different types of coordination and control of enabling environment throughout the chains.

Livestock is an integral component of the complex farming system in Bangladesh as it serves as not only a source of meat protein but also a major source of farm power services as well as employment. Strong private sector alliance along with public–private ventures can bring sustainable agriculture value chain development in these most vulnerable coastal communities in Bangladesh. Strengthening the weak financial structure, reducing power imbalances in the governance structures and low political intervention in community-level organizations, and resolving socio-cultural and environmental concerns are the major concerns on the development of value chains in Bangladesh.

Geographical position and climatic condition of Bangladesh have made her coastal areas one of the highly productive areas for livestock production in the world. The study was conducted through qualitative and quantitative analysis, and after finding the authors recommended for sustainable value chain approach for livestock production to a marketing channel for improving the financial condition and self-employment for the communities.

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.

The issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator’s comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.

The discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.

As the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community’s agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.

Though the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the “Other”. Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

Cassava production surged noticeably in Southeastern Africa beginning in the 1990s. The purpose of this paper is to examine the commercial responses and food security consequences of cassava production growth in the region.

The paper incorporates a mix of quantitative analysis, based primarily on original analysis of national farm household survey data, together with key informant interviews with value chain participants in the three neighboring countries of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

In the cassava production zones, cassava's high productivity translates into per kilogram carbohydrate costs 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the cost of cereals such as maize and wheat, thereby opening up a range of profitable opportunities for commercialization of cassava‐based foods, feeds and industrial products. Despite this potential, cassava commercialization in Southeastern Africa remains in its formative stages, with only 10 per cent to 30 per cent of production currently marketed. Unlike West Africa, where cassava commercialization has centered on marketing prepared cassava‐based convenience foods, the emerging cassava markets in Southeastern Africa have centered on fresh cassava, low value‐added cassava flour, and experiments in industrial processing of cassava‐based starches, biofuels and feeds. Strategic investment in a set of key public goods (breeding, training in food sciences and food safety, and research on in‐ground cassava storage) can help to shape this transition in ways that benefit both commercial interests and the food security of vulnerable households.

The paper compares cassava commercialization across differing agro‐climatic zones, policy environments and food staple zones.