Making Markets More Inclusive

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 of local companies. 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 the management literature with original research on agricultural value chains in developing and emerging economies. This exciting work is the first to delve into the skills, capabilities, strategies and approaches needed for inclusive value chain development. McKague shows how NGOs and companies can connect poor producers in developing economies with the right markets to better create social and economic impact. He also 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 different value chains in Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, India, and Mali. Want more? Check out these compelling videos, which provide a glimpse into the stories and examples used throughout the book. Video Trailer for Making Markets More Inclusive. Farmer Training. Kallani Rani increased the productivity of her cows, become a cattle feed seller in her village (Chapter 6), and opened a fresh milk canteen in her local market (Chapter 7). She now trains other women farmersand works to improve opportunities for women in her community (Chapter 5). Animal Health Care Services. Asma Husna trained to be an animal health worker with CARE to provide important animal health services and education to local farmers on a fee-for-service basis (Chapter 6). Cattle Feed Shops. Fulera Akter started a business as a cattle feed seller after demand for nutritional animal feed grew due to farmers' improved knowledge of nutrition (Chapter 6). Savings Groups. Coauthor Muhammad Siddiquee, the Coordinator of Agriculture and Value Chain Programs at CARE Bangladesh, discusses the value of farmer savings groups (Chapter 6). Milk Collection. Sarothi Rani became a milk collector to earn an improved income for her family and provide an important service to other dairy farmers in her community (Chapter 7). Digital Fat Testing. Introducing digital fat testing machines into the dairy value chain helped reward farmers for making investments in producing higher quality milk, as well as ensuring transparent and timely payments (Chapter 7). Microfranchising. Supporting agricultural input shop owners with training, relationships to suppliers, common branding, and standardized customer services improves the productivity of smallholder farmers and the profitability of shops (Chapter 12). Bangladesh Dairy Value Chain Learning. Reflections from some of the 40 CARE staff from 17 countries who came to Bangladesh to learn from the experience of the dairy value chain project (Chapter 15).

"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!"

- Timothy J. Sturgeon, Author, The Governance of Global Value Chains; Senior Research Affiliate, Industrial Performance Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

"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."

- Tamara Abed, Senior Director, Social Enterprises, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee

"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."

- Christopher Coles, Author, Markets and Rural Poverty

"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."

- Raphael Kaplinsky, Author, A Handbook for Value Chain Research

"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."

- Aneel Karnani, Author, Fighting Poverty Together; Associate Professor of Strategy, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA

"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."

- Simon Winter, Senior Vice President for Development, Technoserve

"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."

- Beth Jenkins, Insights Director, Business Fights Poverty

"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."

- Mohammad Jabbar, former Senior Agricultural Economist, International Livestock Research Institute

'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.'

- Tilman Altenburg, Editor, Shaping Value Chains for Development

"This is a timely contribution to the literature on market and valuechain development, which provides unique and practical insights. It should feature as a key reading for practitioners considering designing interventions in this area."

- Jodie Keane, Author, A "New" Approach to Global Value Chain Analysis

Author Kevin McKague: Dr. Kevin McKague is a visiting professor at Cape Breton University, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Peace, Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability at York University, Toronto. Author Muhammad Siddiquee: Muhammad Siddiquee is the Coordinator of Agriculture and Value Chains under the Extreme Rural Poverty Program at CARE Bangladesh and is the Team Leader of the Strengthening the Dairy Value Chain Project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in northwest Bangladesh.