Millennial Asia

It is widely accepted that farmer-based organizations are vital for empowering and improving small farmers’ access to markets. However, farmer-based organizations have not always been successful as it is the case with farmer companies in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this article is to examine some of these issues and propose solutions drawing from long-accumulated experiences of Japanese agricultural cooperatives. The article is based on review of scholarly literature, secondary data and discussions with stakeholders of farmer companies in Sri Lanka and agricultural cooperatives in Japan. This article highlights some important lessons related to structure, governance, collective action and integrated service provision valuable for strengthening farmer companies in Sri Lanka and farmer-based organizations in other countries. Based on these lessons, a federated model is proposed to overcome some of the issues impeding the performance of farmer companies in Sri Lanka.

In the current context of heightened concern for inclusive development, this article explores the link between trade liberalization and inclusive growth by analyzing the channels by which trade liberalization-induced structural change and employment patterns influence growth, inequality and poverty. Drawing from the empirical evidence from India, it is observed that trade-induced structural change has been associated with jobless growth and growing wage inequality. Hence, higher growth has not been inclusive, as it has not resulted in commensurate decline in poverty while inequality increased. To the extent that the nature of trade induced structural change is governed by the prevailing systems of innovation, the article calls for building and strengthening the learning, innovation and competence building systems at the national, regional and sectoral level such that growth becomes inclusive and human capabilities and freedoms are expanded.

South Asia has emerged as one of the fastest-growing regions of the world while global agricultural trade has expanded since its inclusion into the WTO framework, especially for developing agrarian economies such as India, which are expanding as suppliers of agricultural products to various markets. Within South Asia, agriculture still remains crucial to economic growth and poverty reduction. Though the relative contribution of agriculture has come down in all of the South Asian countries, but the value-added farm products exports have grown in importance and have direct implications for farm incomes and rural livelihoods. It is in this context that this article examines the nature and dynamics of Regional Production Networks (RPNs) or regional value chains in South Asia in the food sector with case studies of fresh onions and their product exports as they originate from India. It tries to understand the organization of value chains and the networks for smaller companies and farmers supplying to lead buyers or chain drivers, explores product, process, and labour standards and suggests mechanisms for leveraging RPNs for better trade, growth and poverty reduction.

In Malaysia, SMEs constitute 99.2 per cent of the manufacturing establishments while the food SMEs or SMFES account for only about 1 per cent of the total. The SMEs are engine of growth, growing at a rate higher than the country’s average growth rate. However, the SMFEs sector has not progressed in tandem with the increase in demand for food due to rise in population and income. Malaysia has instituted a number of policy innovations to steer its SME development through the National SME Development Council (NSDC), which mobilizes 15 ministries and 60 agencies to support this sector on all aspects—finance, infrastructure, entrepreneurial training, legal support and so on. This article provides a review of the SMFEs in Malaysia and examines the institutional support available for this sector. The article concludes that despite the support provided, the SMFEs are plagued with structural problems that require more than institutional support and that include R&D and innovation, infrastructural development and specific policies to address their unique problems.

Biotechnology and genetically modified crops has been the subject of debate, especially with respect to developing countries. Like in other countries, introduction of Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) cotton in India led to an intense scientific debate and public controversy surrounding yield advantage, multinational control of seeds, human health, environmental risk and ethics. An attempt has been made in this article to review the adoption and performance of Bt cotton in India. The commercial release of first GM (genetically modified) crop, Bt cotton in 2002 led to the beginning of a ‘Gene Revolution’ in India. Today, almost 90 per cent of cotton area is planted to Bt cotton in India, with farmers adopting it in a rapid manner. Studies that looked into the impact of the Bt cotton on different parameters are not uniform and many voices have been raised for and against Bt cotton. The inconsistency in the results surely played a role in fueling the controversy over the use of the Bt cotton and its benefits for India farmers and therefore gains of Bt cotton cannot be generalized to all farmers, all states, and all years.

William Dalrymple. Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, 2010, Cambridge: First Vintage Departures Edition, Vintage Books. ISBN: 978-0-307-47446-9 (pbk)

Sukhpal Singh. Modern Food Value Chains in India: Emerging Potential for the Poor , 2012, New Delhi: Samskriti. ISBN 9788187374763

G.S. Bhalla and Gurmail Singh. Economic Liberalisation and Indian Agriculture, 2012, New Delhi: SAGE. ISBN: 9788132108580

Kenize Mourad. In the City of Gold and Silver: The Story of Begum Hazrat Mahal, 2012, New Delhi: Full Circle. ISBN: 978-81-7621-237-3