The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of clustering in the development of agriculture and rural communities in China. We shall examine in detail the food industry, which is the link in the food chain that propels the industrialization of agriculture, and identify instances of...

There is no consensus about how globalization –trade and foreign investments – affects poverty reduction. Using household survey data, this study contributes to the empirical literature on globalization and poverty by analyzing the household-level implications of increased foreign...

Even though it is clear that Substantial growth in inorganic fertilizer use is a prerequisite for sustained agricultural growth in Africa, fertilizer use is still one of the factors explaining lagging agricultural productivity growth in SSA. High transport costs and less policy support pose a...

The deregulation of Ghana’s domestic cocoa supply chain that took place in the early 1990s was expected to bring competition among different private buyers and to generate a number of production incentives to the farmers. Most notably, it was expected that competition would emerge by means of...

Limited empirical evidence exists either to confirm or refute the hypotheses that food-safety standards confer a positive external effect on farmers adopting it. This article makes use of health indicators obtained from a random cross-section sample of 439 small-scale export farmers in Kenya to...

This paper focuses on methods for assessing the territorial impact (economic, social and environmental) of geographical indication systems. First, in a review of methods, methodological difficulties and choices are discussed and major studies are briefly presented. We highlight that it is...

The marketing of coffee through group-based, certified market channels is often promoted by governments and donors as a viable business model for poor small-scale farmers. Organic and fairtrade coffees have become very popular among socially, environmentally and health conscious consumers in...

China has embarked on a major program to modernise agricultural and agribusiness structures with far reaching implications for rural development, international competitiveness / trade and food safety. There are, however, few studies that examine in detail how the modernisation program has...

This paper explores the current status of contract farming in China by examining data from a survey of Chinese householders. The survey indicates that the actual proportion of householders engaged in contract farming is relatively low and significantly less than the proportion of householders...

Using a survey data of 700 traders, this study scrutinizes contract choices and enforcement for agricultural traders in China. This study finds that market service and environment are very important for both contract choices and enforcement. Better market service and environment can increase the...