Rural Agroenterprise Development Project. Project description and research highlights in 2002

The tropical world is rich in raw materials that have potential demand in local and international markets.
Changing market trends and consumption habits are creating niches for exotic fruits, nuts, medicinal
plants, and organic raw materials, such as essential oils, natural colours, spices, and tannins. New
opportunities have also arisen for traditional commodities (involving new products from cassava,
sugarcane, and livestock) and for local seed production.

Agro-based SMEs and markets: challenges and opportunities for the poor

Agro-based small- and medium-scale enterprises are increasingly recognized for their
contribution to employment generation, food security and poverty reduction in developing
countries. However, globalization and liberalized domestic markets are transforming the global
agri-food economy. This transformation offers several new opportunities for both these
enterprises and smallholder farmers in developing countries. But it also poses significant threats
of exclusion and further impoverishment for those enterprises that cannot meet the exacting

Sub-Plenary Session 2:
Agro-based Small & Medium-sized Enterprises
and Markets in developing countries. Issues for Discussion

The importance of a market oriented approach in the solutions of problems related to agricultural
development is central. This is clearly highlighted in the regional priority setting (RPS) exercise
facilitated by GFAR, as well as in the results of five Regional Workshops on Post Harvest conducted
by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Keeping in mind regional differences, it is important to highlight how various market approaches can

Case studies of successful research partnerships. New partnerships between public sector, private sector and NGOs contribute to sustainable agriculture through rationalised pest management in cotton. India as an example

Objectives: 1) To rationalize the management of insect pests of cotton in southern India, in terms of reducing the excessive amounts of pesticides that are currently applied. This is likely to have immediate beneficial effects on the health of the farming community, and on the agrobiodiversity of the various locales. A reduction in the release levels into the environment are expected to follow. 2) To reduce rural poverty by improving, agronomically, economically and socially, the highly unstable cotton-based cropping systems in northern Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring areas.

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