Publication database

Research Paper #21 assesses the risk mitigation capacity of weather index-based insurance for cotton growers in Northern Cameroon. It finds that weather index-based insurance is associated with huge basis risk and thus has limited potential for income smoothing. The authors use a tractable definition of basis risk to show that calibrating parameters in sub-regions allows to reduce dramatically basis risk and to avoid non negligible balancing out between distinct geographical zones.

This study aims to deepen our understanding of the range of possibilities available for engaging the private sector in food security and improved nutrition at the Base of the Pyramid (“BoP”), be it via smallholders, entrepreneurs, or the actual consumers of food and food products. In this context five different business interventions for BoP ventures were identified that achieve social impact, financial sustainability and, potentially scale. Key challenges and lessons are presented with respect to barriers to growth, the scaling of processes, objectives and adequate business models. The study is based on the analysis of 16 cases and expert interviews.

Microinsurance Paper #17 presents lessons from IFFCO-TOKIO's implementation of a livestock insurance product using radio-frequency identification technology. It outlines how IFFCO-TOKIO improved value for clients through new business processes. The case shows that if administered carefully, livestock insurance has the potential to be viable with scale.

Este informe presenta los resultados de la alianza AGEXPORT y la U.S. Agency for International Development en el empoderamiento económico de pequeñas y medianas empresas rurales de Guatemala a través de la generación de empleos, el encadenamiento productivo, acceso a mercados y generación de oferta productiva.

This note provides an introduction to the key issues agribusinesses should consider in the context of climate change. It outlines the Climate Change Strategy Development Framework (CCSDF) - a user-friendly tool to support decision-making - and it summarises the initial outcomes from adoption of the CCSDF by agribusinesses in Malawi and Zambia.

This paper discusses the insertion of small and medium-sized producers in national, regional and international high-value agriculture value chains. It identifies four major constraints that limit producers competitiveness, and it examines how project interventions, by overcoming these constraints, can improve competitiveness factors and ensure that producers’ inclusion in the value chain is based on a viable business case, rather than corporate social responsibility.

This report identifies key policy levers that can tip commercial investments in favour of either small or large-scale farming. It shows how policy levers influence market governance to constrain or to support the fair sharing of risk and reward between small-scale producers and the rest of the market.

This report examines what is meant by ‘inclusive agri-food markets’ and why they are important for business and other stakeholders. It includes a framework for analysing inclusive agri-business initiatives, provides summaries on ten challenges for going to scale, as well as identifies key lessons for government, business, producer organisations, NGOs and research institutes.

Este informe presenta diferentes investigaciones realizadas entorno a los procesos de asociación, inserción, posicionamiento y estrategias que siguen los pequeños productores en el mercado.

This report identifies innovations that can help bankers in developing countries to finance agricultural small and medium enterprises. It highlights the most promising examples of innovative financing, risk mitigation and distribution models drawn from a stocktaking exercise of 100 global cases.