AJAD Volume 13 Issue No. 2 December 2016

Smallholder farmers constitute a sizable subset of the population in the ASEAN region and therefore are important stakeholders to consider in realizing the broader goals of inclusive development and poverty reduction. Linking them to various agriculture-related activities across the value chain paves the pathway of opportunities to expand their access to markets and build capacities. As such, determining policy and institutional conditions that enable inclusive agribusiness development as well as key barriers to their engagement would provide greater leverage for smaller agribusiness players to move up the value chain. By reviewing the extant literature on agribusiness models, we provided a survey of the inclusive agribusiness structure most prevalent in the ASEAN region. The study draws from the "Hierarchy of Enabling Needs" model and socio-organizational structure model to offer an integrated conceptual framework that maps out the environment that facilitates stronger linkages and deeper inclusion of small-scale players in the agribusiness structure. To better situate the conditions of inclusive agribusiness, the sets of enablers are further assessed across varying country contexts. The paper suggests that there is no single model that could encapsulate deeper linkages in the sector. Notwithstanding ASEAN’s fundamental diversity, the region is bound by its outward looking and market-oriented policy frameworks that serve to enable pathways and corridors toward greater inclusiveness in the agribusiness sector.

Income has been found to be a strong determinant of consumers’ demand for agricultural commodity such as banana, and has been strongly correlated with consumer preference. However, literature on consumer preferences vis-à-vis fruit quality as segmented by income group is lacking. This study aims to determine the table banana preferred by consumers in low-, middle-, and high-income groups and its effect on price. Descriptive statistics and hedonic regression were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that high-income consumers were more discriminating than low- and middle-income consumers in terms of cluster size and fruit length. This means that high-income consumers are willing to pay premium price for banana quality. Consumer under different income class in the society have their own preferences when making purchase decisions with respect to the embodied attributes of banana. A well-informed clientele can be chosen and proper market segmentation and marketing plan can be prepared. Taking into account quality considerations will enable both farmers and traders to further increase their profit.

Rural households in many countries have used temporary or seasonal migration as a strategy to cope with natural shocks such as drought, means of employment and income generation during lean season, and to move out of poverty. This paper studies the linkages between migration, employment in economic activities, asset accumulation, and poverty reduction among rural households in a droughtprone village of India over the last four decades. The Dokur Village of Mahbubnagar District in Telangana State of India experienced persistent drought over a decade. To cope with this situation, many households of the village temporarily migrated to the nearby and faraway cities. ICRISAT had conducted household surveys in Dokur under the Village Level Studies (VLS) and Village Dynamics Studies (VDS) program since 1975. The present study has used the VLS-VDS dataset (1975–2012) and reorganized sample households into 46 dynasty households. Based on their participation in migration, sample households were grouped into two categories: migrant and non-migrant households. Household income was computed by sources for all households for all the study years. Contribution of migratory income and remittances to the total household income was quantified. To identify the factors responsible for migration decision, probit analysis was carried out. For each year, sample households were grouped into poor and non-poor category using both lower (USD 1.25 ppp per day per person) and upper (USD 2.00 ppp per day per person) poverty line. The study revealed that seasonal out-migration helped many households to come out of poverty even though they had experienced a decade of drought. In-depth analysis of asset accumulation behaviour of the households over time revealed important insights regarding their coping mechanism and the process of moving out of poverty.

Coffee development has big potential as coffee is one of the globally traded commodities in the world. Arabica and Robusta are the most popular coffee varieties produced by smallholder farmers in Indonesia, including those in Flores Island, Nusa Tenggara Timur Province. The produce of this island is well known in the global market as Flores coffee. Coffee farmers have poor knowledge and skills in farm management, which, along with poor postharvest practices, had contributed to low productivity and low quality of coffee beans. A project (AIP-PRISMA) has been implemented in Ngada District in Flores Island with the goal of increasing productivity and developing goodquality coffee. This study aims to describe the model business implemented in coffee development and the roles of actors involved in the business model. Ngada District was purposively selected as study site because a coffee development center exists in the island. Data were collected using focus group discussion (FGD) and documentation techniques. In this study, data collected is fully analyzed using descriptive method. The results of study pointed out that there are five main value chain actors involved in the market system. The first three are the coffee farmers' cooperative, PT. Indokom Citra Persada (coffee exporter), and the Bank of Nusa Tenggara Timur (a local government bank). Also, there are two supporting value chain actors, namely the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI, a research institution), and VECO-Indonesia (an international non-government organization or NGO). Inclusive business among the actors was based on a business model. There is a strong partnership among the five actors locally called panca datu (panca is five, and datu is element). Sustainability of inclusive business is happening because each actor plays the roles and generates an economic incentive for each.

The purpose of this paper is to compare trends in the bioeconomics of tropical spiny lobster and mud crab mariculture in Vietnam between 2010 and 2013 using survey processes and bioeconomic analysis. Results show that tropical spiny lobster and mud crab grow-out mariculture remained strongly economically viable in Vietnam despite significant changes in the bioeconomic environment over a three-year period. The most notable changes to the grow-out of tropical spiny lobster were a significant decrease in harvest biomass due to decreased stocking densities and poor feeding techniques. Findings highlight the potential for improvement in stocking and feeding regimes in Vietnam’s lobster and crab mariculture industry, which is likely to have positive environmental and economic benefits. There remains significant scope for increasing the size and quality of the seed used and, in the case of crabs, improvements in availability and affordability of hatchery-produced seed. Similarly, there remains significant scope for optimization of feeding rates and improvement of feeding quality.

This book integrates current research in peasant agriculture with appropriate and relevant cases, and practical relevant examples. The beauty of the book lies in the individual chapters that delve into the density issues of Chinese peasant agriculture in readable and entertaining style. I see this book as a perfect outlet for readers who are curious about Chinese peasant agriculture and for students to explore this material through both assigned and optional reading.