Global change in agrifood grades and standards: agribusiness strategic responses in developing countries

The role of G&S has shifted from a technical instrument to reduce transaction costs in homogeneous commodity markets to a strategic instrument of competition in differentiated product markets. The nature of G&S has shifted from performance (realized characteristics of the product) to process standards. In developing countries, these changes have tended to exclude small firms and farms from participating in market growth, because of the implied investments. The three strategic responses to G&S change by agribusiness firms and farms include: (1) by large firms and multinationals, to create private G&S and private certification, labeling, and branding systems; (2) by medium-large domestic firms, to lobby governments to adopt public G&S similar to those in export markets in developed regions; (3) by small firms and farms, to ally with public and nonprofit sectors to form G&S and certification systems to access export markets and to bring institutional change to nontradable product markets. Governments should build the capacity of the poor to invest to “make the grade” implied by the new G&S. [1]

Agribusiness Economics and Management

Agribusiness scholarship emphasizes an integrated view of the food system that extends from research and input supply through production, processing, and distribution to retail outlets and the consumer. This article traces development of agribusiness scholarship over the past century by describing nine significant areas of contribution by our profession: (1) economics of cooperative marketing and management, (2) design and development of credit market institutions, (3) organizational design, (4) market structure and performance analysis, (5) supply chain management and design, (6) optimization of operational efficiency, (7) development of data and analysis for financial management, (8) strategic management, and (9) agribusiness education. [2]


Agricultural economics and agribusiness.

This book examines the structure and organization of the US agricultural industry, then discusses basic micro- and macro-economic principles as they apply to agriculture. The book provides the necessary background for more advanced agricultural economics, agribusiness, and economics courses. Chapters comprise: (1) introduction; (2) the farm and food system; (3) consumer behaviour and demand; (4) producer decision making: single-variable input functions; (5) producer decision making: two-variable inputs and enterprise selection; (6) production costs, supply, and price determination; (7) competition and the market; (8) imperfect competition and market regulation; (9) macroeconomics; (10) financial picture of agriculture; (11) agricultural prices and income policies; (12) marketing agricultural commodities; (13) natural resources; (14) rural development; (15) international economics; (16) agriculture’s role in economic development; and (17) global food demand and supply. [3]


Agribusiness and Food Processing Industries in Uttar Pradesh State of India

An experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of saline stress on rice (Oryza saliva L.) germination and early seedling characteristics, and genotypic differences in response to saline stress was conducted under lab conditions at College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Germination percentage (%), germination rate, emergence energy (%), germination speed, seedling height (cm), vigour index, seedling fresh and dry weights (mg) were recorded. Treatments consist of three different saline stress levels: 0 mM (Control), 100 mM and 200 mM, and eight rice genotypes; Basmati 385 and Super Basmati (Pakistani), Sakha 101, Sakha 102, Sakha 103, Sakha 104, Sakha 105 and Sakha 106 (Egyptian). It was conceived from results that saline stress significantly affected all the germination parameters in reverse order.         (0 mM < 100 mM < 200 mM). Genotypic differences among rice cultivars germinating under saline stress were also recorded significant. Most valuable outcome of the study: interaction between various levels of saline stress and rice genotypes were highly significant. Sakha 101, Sakha 103, Sakha 106 and Basmati 385 have performed better even under 200 mM NaCl; they have higher level of saline stress tolerance potential and could be used in future breeding programs. Uttar Pradesh is at the forefront in the production of the total food grains (20%), sugar cane (36%), potato (34%), livestock excluding cow (11%) and milk (17%), wheat (33%), lentil (45%), vegetables (30%) in the country. The purpose of the paper is to throw light on the process and structure of agribusiness and agro-processing in Uttar Pradesh. This study focuses on the  untapped potential and highlighted the scope for the agro based agro-processing and agri-business in Uttar Pradesh. Efficient arrangement with favorable policy support and incentives, by taking into account the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of decisive components like human and land resources, crops, livestock and agro-processing activities would lead to plan the state of Uttar Pradesh as one of the major players in the field of agro-processing as well as  agri-business sector of India. The diversified commodity mix in crop sector, livestock compositions, large geographical coverage, variety of soils and diverse agro climatic conditions, abundant availability of labour force,  varied availability of agricultural raw materials in state  offers excellent prospects for the development of high value agro-based industries and promotion of agri-business. Still state needs to address the issue of strengthen the agribusiness sector with proper implementation of business policies and to create strong mechanism for forward and backward linkages in it. [4]

Determinants of Access to Credit by Agribusiness Operators in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Aim: The study was conducted to analyze the factors that influence access to credit by Agribusiness operators in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Study Design: The study used a multi-stage sampling technique to select 151 SME operators engaged in the agribusiness sector. Well structured, mostly closed ended questionnaires were used to collect cross sectional data from the respondents.

Location and Place of Study: The study was conducted in the Kumasi Metropolis, which is the capital of Ghana’s second largest city with a population of about 2 million people and has a relatively large agribusiness sector, especially in the informal sector.

Methodology: Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to analyze data. The Logit model was employed as the statistical tool to quantitatively analyze the factors that influenced access to credit by the agribusiness operators in the study area.

Results and Discussion: The empirical results showed that the factors that significantly influenced credit accessibility for respondents in the study area were the credit management skills, borrowing experience, possession of collateral security, firm size, extra income earned by operators and membership of business organization. The major constraining factors faced by respondents in their credit application from the formal sector include high interest rate, inadequate loan amount and unfavorable loan terms.  

Conclusion and Recommendation: Agri-SME operators should be encouraged to form or join business organizations and also strengthen such associations for enhanced networking leverage. Agri–SME operators should be encouraged to build on their credit management skill by engaging more with financial institutions and strengthening relationship as a means of enhancing credit access. Financial institutions, especially the Rural and Community Banks and Savings and Loans Companies, should strive to offer more competitive terms and conditions, especially interest rates to Agri-SMEs that apply for credit as a group. [5]

Reference

[1] Reardon, T., Codron, J.M., Busch, L., Bingen, J. and Harris, C., 1999. Global change in agrifood grades and standards: agribusiness strategic responses in developing countries. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 2(3-4), pp.421-435.

[2] King, R.P., Boehlje, M., Cook, M.L. and Sonka, S.T., 2010. Agribusiness economics and management. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 92(2), pp.554-570.

[3] Cramer, G.L., Jensen, C.W. and Southgate Jr, D.D., 2001. Agricultural economics and agribusiness (No. Ed. 8). John Wiley and Sons.

[4] Shekhawat, R.S., Singh, K.N., Burark, S.S., Meena, G.L. and Shekhawat, N., 2017. Agribusiness and food processing industries in Uttar Pradesh State of India. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, pp.1-7.

[5] Opoku–Mensah, S. and Agbekpornu, H., 2015. Determinants of access to credit by agribusiness operators in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Journal of Experimental Agriculture International, pp.333-346.