Even before the crisis outbreak in 2008, there was a pressing problem affecting both advanced and emerging economies: unemployment. The financial crisis first and the fiscal crisis later have put even more pressure on this issue, leading on many cases to social discontent.Opportunities in green...

Current literature on farmer participation in dynamic agri-food supply chains focuses predominantly on one kind of inclusion based on individual farmer characteristics. Relatively less attention has been devoted to spatial selection. This chapter contends that exclusion can often be based on...

In recent years, compliance with international food safety and quality standards, such as GlobalGAP, has become increasingly important for farmers in developing countries supplying high-value markets. Adoption of the GlobalGAP standard is challenging and external support by exporters, donors or...

Understanding the complexity and strength of innovation networks that disseminate knowledge about agriculture is important because these innovation networks allow actors to integrate needs, actions and results when public and private actors cooperate. The study shows that Conservation...

The importance of linking small-scale farmers to lucrative markets to improve livelihoods and food security in developing countries is well established (Singla et al., 2011). Increased agricultural productivity by small-scale farmers contributes to household food security while marketed surplus...

In general, sustained agricultural productivity, growth and poverty reduction require an enabling policy environment that encourages private sector investments in input, output and financial markets. Using South Africa's maize milling industry as a case study, this chapter analyzes the impact of...

In disadvantaged districts of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages, triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service...

The success of small agricultural producers in meeting the challenges of exporting high value products may be enhanced if interactions with intermediaries and market institutions support basic human needs. We use self-determination theory from social psychology to identify and examine the...

This chapter focuses on the inherent challenges in collective action and the institutional arrangements or regulations that hold market-oriented farmer groups together. It operationalizes the measurement of the capacity to contain these inherent challenges by mapping the presence and...

Sweet sorghum is a C4 plant with high photosynthetic efficiency producing high biomass with sugary stalks in a short time (4 months) under rain-fed conditions. The stalks can be crushed to make juice, which can be fermented to produce ethanol or boiled to produce syrup. The syrup can be...