Beyond the farm: promoting agribusiness as a way out of poverty

If we're serious about ending poverty and feeding a growing planet, it's imperative that we focus on the 2 billion people who live and work on small farms in the developing world. Often, the best way to support these smallholders has less to do with things they can do to improve their farms and more to do with the systems in which they operate.

What happens at the farm level is important, and farmers need access to knowledge that enhance productivity inputs and tools. But to create sustainable growth in agricultural industries, that can provide opportunities for increasing economic benefits for farmers now and in the future, we need to take a broader approach to development that targets the entire market system.

What does this look like in real life? The African cashew industry offers a compelling example. The cashew industry has been transformed over the past decade, first in Mozambique, and subsequently in west Africa, with the leadership and support of Technoserve, a nonprofit organisation that works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. Our experience has shown that a market systems approach can create growth that lifts families and communities out of poverty.