Inclusive Agribusiness: The State of Play (Background Working Paper for the GDPRD)

This working paper has been prepared as background for the inclusive agribusiness work stream of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development’s (GDPRD). The paper outlines the concept of inclusive business and its application to the agri-food sector, maps the current state of play and explores implications for donors and the GDPRD.

According to the author, “inclusive agribusiness is one perspective or “lens” from which to view transformations in the agriculture and food sectors. This perspective recognises the critical role that the private sector, from small local businesses through to large international corporations, can play in contributing to poverty reduction. It also recognises that the resources of donors and development agencies must be used in catalytic ways to help drive solutions to poverty that can achieve scale through smart use of market solutions. However, public investments and enabling policies are also critically important - the private sector cannot succeed on its own. So inclusive approaches require the matching of public and private investments to achieve both commercial and public good outcomes”.

The paper makes clear how there is a vast body of experience and knowledge about how agricultural markets can help to tackle poverty and encourage sustainable practices. However, this has not been fully tapped, synthesised and communicated in ways that can help to tackle the ongoing structural barriers of taking inclusive agribusiness initiatives to scale, In order to contribute to the debate on the functions and the nature of inclusive agribusiness models for tackling poverty reduction, this background paper provides an overview of what it is considered inclusive agribusiness. what are the developments and results to date, what are the emerging issues and opportunities in going to scale, and finally, what are the implications for the GDPRD and more general recommendations.