Evaluating the effectiveness of a ‘whole of chain’ approach in rural industry development in developing countries: a case study of Pakistan mango industry

Abstract

Linking farmers to markets has become an integral part of the development agenda of world donor agencies in developing countries in the current decade as a result of the changes in the competitive environment brought about by globalization. It recognises the need to connect the rural economy more effectively with modern economic processes by building forward and backward linkages with rural producers. These linkages help to define rural development as rural industry development in the context of supply chain management.Under the Australia-Pakistan Agriculture Sector Linkages Program (ASLP) there is an initiative aimed at developing the Pakistan mango industry, which is one of the major and important industries in the horticulture sector of Pakistan. Various constraints associated with the mango industry development were identified using a rapid supply chain appraisal approach (RSCA). These constraints are being addressed under a project "Optimizing mango supply chain for more profitable horticultural enterprises in Pakistan and Australia", which uses a "whole of chain" approach to development.The RSCA process involved field visits and interviews with various stakeholders, including growers, commission agents, transporters, exporters, importers and retailers in Singapore, quality management companies, freight forwarders, shippers and support agencies such as PHDEC, universities, government departments and wholesale market committees. Consequently, three critical areas such as quality management, market understanding and supply chain management had been addressed in years of project activities. This is consistent with participatory approach that practitioners have sought to accommodate in rural industry development projects in developing countries.Various approaches have been taken in building relationships between producers and their counterparts in the chain to improve their competitiveness. There is little evidence in the literature that provides a demonstration model of supply chain development which adopts a "whole of chain" participatory approach involving all key stakeholders, either in developed or developing countries.The overall objective of this research is to evaluate can an industry development project that adopts a "whole of chain" approach be effective in linking farmers to their markets.. ii A system-based approach has been taken to evaluate the results being achieved under the mango industry development project of the ASLP. This study is qualitative, adopting an ontological and epistemological stance referred to as constructivism. Longitudinal evaluation is the overall research strategy consisting of three rounds of data collection in different time intervals over the ASLP project duration. The research is framed around a case study of the mango industry therefore case study methods guided the data collection and analysis.The overall findings of data analysis indicated that the respondents all along the chain recognized the issues of Pakistan mango in three critical areas, such as quality ...

Consumers' insight and behaviour towards mango quality and safety attributes: implications for integrated value chain development

“…proportionate share in consumer price with little added value for consumers (Mehdi, 2012;Ghafoor et al, 2010), thus undermining the VC development opportunities. This paper aims to address the need for more consumer research in the rapidly changing context of the Pakistan's fruit industry and identify product's VC development opportunities.…”

“…In contrast to a global trend of supermarket-led agri-food retail concentration (Rangarajan, 2016;Reardon et al, 2009), the domestic retailing system in Pakistan is still diversified, where small shops, middle agents, wholesalers and supermarkets are competing to serve consumers of varying needs and preferences on a major dimension of price (ADB, 2022). While supermarkets such as the Hyperstore and Metro Cash & Carry stores are growing in big cities, but even their growing presence and market dominance have not enhanced the availability and sales of high quality fruits through efficient and responsive VCs (Mehdi, 2012;Ghafoor et al, 2010). This lack of modern VCs development in the Pakistan's fruit industry, despite having the infrastructure and opportunities, is attributed to the lack of adequate consumer research and thereby limited knowledge about consumers among VC actors and policy makers.…”

A Comparative Study of Traditional Versus Best Practices Mango Value Chain

“…These outlets are increasing in the major cities but are still in an introductory phase of procuring premium quality fruit from reliable sources. The problems such as market regulatory measures, inadequate knowledge about storage, grading and packing facilities, poor communication due to weak database and market intelligence and lack of participation by people (local bodies, NGOs farmers' organization and industrial association) were the major bottlenecks to establish a value chain in the domestic market (Mehdi, 2012). Consequently, an information gap emerges between producers and consumers, strengthening the position of middlemen in the chain.…”

“…It was witnessed that market does exists for such quality fruits at the high end market in the big metropolitan cities. The common reaction among the growers regarding premium quality mango market is continuing to be successful to produce the desired mangoes for the market (Mehdi et al, 2014). However, the mango growers have not been able to find a positive response from the wholesalers and retailers over the time.…”