Crossfire: 'private sector engagement in smallholder value chains'.

Abstract

Improved access by disadvantaged smallholders and other poor people to lucrative agri-food value chains remains one of the most promising options for reducing rural poverty at scale. There is general agreement that the private sector plays a critical role in building value chains with the rural poor; however, debate in EDM and elsewhere has said little about the conditions under which the private sector is willing and able to lead the way in building inclusive value chains. This crossfire brings together two experts, John Belt of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Jonathan Hellin of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), to debate the following proposition: Value chains are more likely to include and substantially benefit large numbers of poor producers, and to continue to do so, if they are initiated, financed and managed by private for-profit businesses rather than by donors or NGOs.