New business models for sustainable trade
Millions of farmers in Africa depend on export markets for their livelihoods, but small farmers were missing out on this market.
While market trends had led to declining small farmer participation, these farmers had the skill and soil to provide the high-quality products sought by the food industry.
What IIED did
This collaborative initiative engaged with research, civil society and private sector partners to develop new business models across a variety of sectors that would enable smallholders to participate in sustainable trading relationships with international businesses and thereby improve their livelihoods.
The project also produced a practical toolkit to help facilitators of market linkage work understand conceptual frameworks, cases and practical processes for linking small scale producers to modern markets.
Publications
Additional resources
Public interest in private label. How new relationships between NGOs and retailers can help build trade to benefit the developing world's small-scale farmers, Sustainable Food Laboratory paper (2019)
Presentation: Linking smallholders: a guide on inclusive business models, CGIAR (2012)
Blog: Quality control helps Ghana's fine cocoa producers go global, by Stephanie Daniels (16 November 2012), The Guardian
Blog: New cocoa business model catching on, by Edward Millard (5 November 2012), The Guardian
Blog: How markets can bloom for Africa's smallholder farmers, by Abbi Buxton (5 September 2012), The Guardian
Think big go small. Adapting business models to incorporate smallholders into the supply chain, Oxfam (2010), Oxfam Briefing Paper