The quiet revolution in agri-food value chains in Asia: Understanding the fast emergence of cold storages in poor districts in India

In disadvantaged districts of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages, triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service provision and governance. Almost all potato farmers, small and large, participate in these cold storages. The availability of cold storages has seemingly led to improved efficiency in value chains because of lower wastages and some cold storages have become heavily involved in input, output, and especially credit markets. This emergence of cold storages thus leads to important changes in traditional potato value chains, with significant implications for smallholders.