Comments on: Tackling Inequality is a game changer for business and private sector development (which is why most of them are ignoring it)

By: Garth Luke

Garth Luke — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 03:38:07 +0000

A very important issue and I suspect one that will only be resolved through better producer organisation and action. PS Last time I looked Rwanda and Kenya were not immediate neighbours.

By: Thomas Dunmore Rodriguez

Thomas Dunmore Rodriguez — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 19:14:01 +0000

In terms of worker-owned enterprises, our colleague at Oxfam, Ana Arendar, wrote a great piece about the Occupy cooperative movements in Buenos Aires recently, highlighting the potential of these alternative business models, but also the threats they now face http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/10/occupy-buenos-aires-argentina-workers-cooperative-movement

By: Erinch Sahan

Erinch Sahan — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:02:48 +0000

Good point Ken and yes I agree that primary production does seem to be decreasing in value for consumers. But workers across value chains are getting a smaller piece of the pie, including those in processing, as returns to capital overall continue to rise (see graph above). There are models like Cafe Direct and Divine Chocolate that result in the primary producers owning greater share in the higher value added parts of the chain (like branding and processing) and models where workers own the enterprises (e.g. John Lewis). So there are structural ways that businesses can channel the fruits of what consumers value to workers and farmers, but it means we become more deliberate about a vision for a private sector that is structurally transformed.

By: Ken Smith

Ken Smith — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:52:44 +0000

Isn’t the problem that for most of us consumers the value isn’t added by the farmers but by the multinational. So we buy the coffee not because of how it tastes but because of the millions of pounds of advertising , the celebrity endorsements , the shape of the jar. The actual coffee is becoming a smaller and smaller consideration in our buying decision so that is reflected in the weaker position the farmer has in the supply chain. I think we all need to look at ourselves as consumers , maybe like governments we get the companies we deserve.

By: Narayan Manandhar

Narayan Manandhar — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 01:38:32 +0000

This is an interesting article and want to inform the writer that in Nepal there is also a standard that says 75 percent of the milk produced should go to the milk producing farmers and 25 percent to the factories. I doubt this is happening.

By: Erinch Sahan

Erinch Sahan — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 10:01:23 +0000

Hi Milford, yes let’s indeed cooperative ownership of the most value adding parts of global supply chains is a huge part of the answer in agriculture. Though this prioritises one stakeholder (farmers) and can be just as neglectful of other stakeholders (workers, community, environment) it certainly beats being completely beholden to rich shareholders (ie the 1%). I think the future is in developing and favouring business models that are wired up to promote interests of a broader set of stakeholders, particularly the least powerful.

By: milford bateman

milford bateman — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 09:18:23 +0000

Good article. But isn’t this where northern Italy-style cooperatives come in, with the members taking over the entire supply chain and thereby completely displacing individual profit-seeking entrepreneurs and companies from the whole exercise, rather than always trying to negotiate with them to ‘get a better deal’ which generally never comes off (e.g., Fairtrade). Actually, its even worse in practice since we spend so much on development programs that are all about raising the productivity of farmers, often through agricultural coops too, when the additional value generated is then gratefully appropriated by the private firms higher up the supply chain with access to the market and willing to (be persuaded to) buy from them.