Global retail chains are becoming increasingly dominant in the global food trade, and their rise leads to dramatic impacts on agricultural supply chains and on small producers. However, the prospects and impacts of a food retail revolution in poor countries are not yet well understood. Here, I...

This study looks at public service delivery in rural areas of Madagascar. The blockade of the central highlands of Madagascar by a defeated president let us examine the short-term effect of a large unanticipated macro shock and subsequent elimination of user fees on the rural delivery of health...

Some African food markets can still seem to operate inefficiently after price liberalisation. This seems mainly due to the existence of significant transaction costs because of small-scale operations, and is influenced by lack of grading, deficient infrastructure and information systems. It is...

Local capture of public expenditures is an important problem for service delivery and poverty reduction in developing countries. Standard anticorruption institutions may not be effective, as these tend often to be corrupt themselves. This paper analyses the impact of monitoring and information...

All members of the United Nations have pledged to meet eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. This study looks at the MDG objectives and linkages between poverty, education, access to water, and household water use based on primary data collected in Madagascar. We find...

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains and what the implications are for consumers and producers. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and dynamics of the diffusion of modern food retail in India. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on detailed sales data from retail chains in India, short case studies of retail chains, and review of literature....

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the fast emergence – a doubling over 5years – of more...