We examine the implications of the rise of a middle class in East and Southern Africa for food consumption patterns and the food system. A unique classification of food items shows that highly processed food has one-third of the purchased food market, wit

The Indian government has provided large subsidies to stimulate the take-off of the cold storage sector. However, the impact of this policy is not well understood. In a case study of the potato sector in Bihar, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of cold...

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...

There have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate. These investments have been triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service provision and...

This document presents a research method to analyze the access of small and medium farmers to the supermarket market, and the effect of such access on the producers' decisions and net incomes. The method was developed for and used in a study carried out in 2004 in three Central American countries.

This report is an output of the 2005/06 project "Supermarkets and Agricultural Development in Mexico" funded by USAID via USDA, implemented by Michigan State University, directed by Thomas Reardon. One component of the project involves analysis of the participation of wholesalers in the main...

Market liberalization in Zambia has led to a rapid and fundamental transformation of its dairy sector. Mainly through foreign direct investment and international partnerships, a new formal dairy sector, characterized by institutional, organizational and technological innovation, emerged from the...

This paper introduces social learning into irreversible investment theory through parameter uncertainty, and shows that social learning could reduce parameter uncertainty to facilitate irreversible investment technology adoption. The theoretic model is tested by using household level data from...