products that are properly processed and stored can be a lifeline for smallholder farmers who are trying to break out of the feast/famine cycle and normalize household consumption as well as business activity and income flows. Handling and storage is often integrated into projects that focus on strengthening markets and better integrating smallholders into market systems.
For January's ASC, Agrilinks focused on how improved processing and storage can improve the resilience of the entire farm enterprise by improving the market value of crops, allowing farmers to be price makers rather than price takers, improving the variety and quality of food consumed by the farm household, and increasing the year-round availability of food and income.
AgResults, a multi-donor initiative funded by the governments of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is examining the efficacy of using pull mechanisms to promote the uptake of innovative technologies, and the efficacy of results-based economic incentives that contribute to improving smallholder resilience.