Publications

'More management for less poverty'

Posted on 17/12/2009

Small-scale producers in developing countries often live in poverty. How can their economic situation be improved without damaging the environment and the climate? By letting them manage this improvement process themselves, according to the new book Inclusive Improvement: Standards and Smallholders.

In their book, authors Coen van Beuningen (Hivos) and Peter Knorringa (International Institute of Social Science) adopt a point of view that Hivos holds high. In Inclusive Improvement, small-scale producers express their ideas on sustainable progress in their own words.

Market players

The book also points to the biggest obstacle for these entrepreneurs. Van Beuningen: 'They frequently have very good ideas, but they encounter a lack of coordination between the parties whose help they need – from local civil society and international donor organisations to trainers, buyers, standardisation and certification bodies.'

These parties are the primary target groups of the book. Inclusive Improvement gives them a transparent picture of the market where smallholders fight to keep their place. Against this background, the book offers tips to help market players work together better. Van Beuningen: 'If they can coordinate their objectives and progress indicators better, everyone gains. Including the smallholders.'

Pilot projects

The tips given in Inclusive Improvement are largely based on pilot projects in Kenya and South Africa, where Hivos and partners work with a generic management system. This instrument is successful in getting the market parties to see eye to eye and thus to improve the position of small-scale producers.

Click here
to download Inclusive Improvement: Standards and Smallholders. Or order it at: info@hivos.nl

Written by schrijf-schrijf

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