Responsibility of Agro Processing Industries in Rural Development
Most important point in the agro-processing is that a sizeable portion of raw material processed in them being rural based it has a very high employment potential with significantly lower investment. Agro-industry generates new demand on the farm sector for more and different agricultural outputs, which are more suitable for processing. On the other hand, development of these industries would relax wage goods constraints to economic growth by enhancing the supply of their products. In this context there is a need for improving the capacity of the agro-industries to harness backward linkages with agriculture and allied activities in order to efficiently convert part of the output to value added products acceptable to the domestic and international markets. This would generate employment opportunities for different types of skills through food processing, packaging, grading and distribution. At the same time this will transfer a size margin to farmers through market linkages.
Institutional Innovations and Models in the Development of Agro-Food Industries in India: Strengths, Weaknesses and Lessons
Agro-industries are given high priority in India particularly because of their great potential for contributing to development. The emphasis on village-based agro-industries was introduced almost a century ago in India by Mahatma Gandhi as an important ideology and corner-stone of the independence movement. The approach has undergone substantial transformation since then, but major challenges to its success in development remain: how to organize sustained production and procurement from large numbers of small farmers, how to ensure adoption of the right technology and practices to generate quantity and quality output at a reasonable cost, how to obtain capital for ensuring good processing technology and meeting the high working capital requirements in a fluctuating business, how to deliver strong marketing efforts to compete and open nascent markets, and how to ensure effective ownership, management and control to ensure performance for its main stakeholders of producers, consumers and investors. To address these challenges, effective institutional frameworks are a must, and a number of innovations and institutional models have emerged in India. These include the HPMC model, the AMUL model, the Pepsi model, the E-choupal model, the Nestle model, the Heritage model, the Suguna model, the Reliance model and more. The paper uses available literature and data to examine the performance of several of these models with respect to the above mentioned challenges. Many findings and lessons emerge which would be useful for business and for guiding supportive policies and practices in developing countries.
Recent developments in cassava processing, utilization and marketing in east and southern Africa and lessons learned
Cassava is one of the most important food crops in ESA. It is traditionally utilized in many processed forms, the most common being chips and flour. The traditional processing methods produce poor quality products; thereby pose major challenges to utilization and marketing of cassava. Recently, national institutions, NGOs and development agencies have given priority to agro-processing and value addition to cassava at small-scale. New processing technologies for transforming cassava into intermediate shelf staple industrial raw materials such as high quality cassava flour, chips and starch were introduced at project levels. The acceptance of cassava starch, chips and high quality cassava flour (HQCF) as substitutes for imported raw materials in the local industries began to emerge. Although there are several expressions of interests for investment by the private sector, their involvement in small to medium scale processing and value addition largely depended on the magnitude of institutional support or donor funding of processing projects. There is still paucity of private sector investment in large scale processing plants of the kind currently developing in West Africa.