Recently, local purchases aiming to directly benefit smallholder farmers have gained significant support as a development tool. While a range of approaches exist, many of the commonly held assumptions that underpin the logic of smallholder-focused local purchases need to be revisited. This paper recommends that moving forward, implementing agencies develop strategies that are more inclusive of market actors throughout the value chain, that fully account for the risks associated with re-distributing marketing margins, and that manage expectations of the potential of such smallholder-focused approaches.
Publication tags: Policy Reports - Food Aid, Local and Regional Purchase