Kenyan Supermarkets, Emerging Middle-Class Horticultural Farmers, and Employment Impacts on the Rural Poor

Are the rural poor excluded from supermarket channels in developing countries? We analyzed the farm-level impact of supermarket growth on Kenya’s horticulture sector, which is dominated by smallholders. The analysis reveals a threshold capital vector for entrance in the supermarket channel, which hinders small, rainfed farms. Most of the growers participating as direct suppliers to that channel are a new group of medium-sized, fast-growing commercial farms managed by well-educated farmers and focused on the domestic supermarket market. Their heavy reliance on hired workers benefits small farmers via the labor market.     

Producing and Procuring Horticultural Crops with Chinese Characteristics: The Case of Northern China

The main goal of our paper is to understand what types of farmers have been able to participate in the horticultural revolution, how they interact with markets and how supply chains affect their production decisions and incomes. We also want to understand if the rise of supermarkets has changed supply chains. Our analysis uses spatially sampled data from 200 communities and 500 households in the Greater Beijing area. In contrast to fears of some researchers, we find small and poor farmers actively participate in the emergence of China’s horticulture economy. Moreover, there has been almost no penetration of modern wholesalers or retailers into rural communities.     

Global Retail Chains and Poor Farmers: Evidence from Madagascar

Global retail companies (“supermarkets”) have an increasing influence on developing countries, through foreign investments and/or through the imposition of their private standards. The impact on developing countries and poverty is often assessed as negative. In this paper we show the opposite, based on an analysis of primary data collected to measure the impact of supermarkets on small contract farmers in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost 10,000 farmers in the Highlands of Madagascar produce vegetables for supermarkets in Europe. In this global supply chain, small farmers’ micro-contracts are combined with intensive farm assistance and supervision programs to fulfill complex quality requirements and phyto-sanitary standards of supermarkets. Small farmers that participate in these contracts have higher welfare, more income stability and shorter lean periods. We also find significant effects on improved technology adoption, better resource management and spillovers on the productivity of the staple crop rice. The small but emerging modern retail sector in Madagascar does not (yet) deliver these benefits as they do not (yet) request the same high standards for their supplies.     

Urban Shopping Patterns in Indonesia and Their Implications for Small Farmers

In developing countries, the expansion of supermarkets and other modern food retailers has raised concerns about the potential impact on traditional retailers and fruit and vegetable farmers. Will small farmers, in particular, be squeezed out of this growing, remunerative market by the quality standards imposed by supermarkets? In an attempt to answer this question, we analyse data from a stratified random sample of 1,180 urban households in Indonesia. We find that only a small share of fruits and vegetables are purchased from modern outlets, even among high-income urban households. On the basis of the relation between income and shopping patterns in our data, we project that even after 15 years of income growth, supermarkets will account for less than 40% of urban food spending. The impact of supermarket standards on small farmers may be less dramatic than has been feared.     

Producers, Processors, and Procurement Decisions: The Case of Vegetable Supply Chains in China

This study examines how different supply chain characteristics impose different coordination costs on vegetable processors. The results provide a basis for understanding the relative importance of four alternative supply chain characteristics to vegetable processors: (1) the size of the producers’ production base; (2) the distance between the producer and the processing plant; (3) the level of detail specified in the contract between processors and grower; and (4) whether the producer has food safety certification. Vegetable processors from Laiyang County, Shandong province, China’s largest horticultural production and export region, provide the data underlying the following analysis. Conjoint analysis suggests that the vegetable processors consider the size of the production units as the most important supply chain characteristic influencing their choice of producers, followed by distance to producer, type of contract and food safety certification.     

新时期黑龙江省农民种粮增收困境之探析

粮食是一种具有战略意义的特殊商品,是国家安全战略的重要组成部分。当前,持续稳定提高粮食主产区种粮农民的收入水平是发展粮食生产、保障国家粮食安全的关键。文章以黑龙江省为例,分析了粮食主产区农民收入的增长特点,从成本和收入角度指出了主产区农民增收面临的困境,并提出了增加农民收入的对策。     

农民被征地的意愿与影响因素:陕西462个样本

利用对陕西省关中地区实地调查所得数据,采用Logistic模型对失地农民被征地意愿及其影响因素进行实证分析。结果显示,失地农民被征地意愿受到诸多因素的共同作用和影响,不仅包括家庭政治面貌、家庭非农收入比例等,还包括对土地征收后生活水平的预期、就业机会的预期以及社会治安条件的预期,这些都会对失地农民被征地意愿产生影响。     

建国初期集体合同制度的发展评析及其现实意义

建国初期,我国把曾经作为解决劳资纠纷的形式集体合同制度作为建立正确劳资关系的途径之一,从而使集体合同制度成为当时新的劳资关系起到了重要作用。但是,该制度一度被取消,到20世纪80年代才渐渐恢复起来,而在当今建立和谐社会的背景下,继续完善集体合同制度,则具有极大的现实意义。     

Unemployment, Poverty and Income Disparity in Urban China

This paper studies the issues of unemployment and poverty that have been appearing recently in urban China. It estimates the urban unemployment rate, poverty rate and income disparity using a new sample survey data set. Meanwhile, it analyzes the relationship between unemployment and poverty, and the effects of poverty on urban inequality. The main findings are that: (i) the urban unemployment rate reached 11.6% in 1999 and was a major cause of urban poverty; (ii) growing urban poverty is becoming the significant source of worsening urban inequality; and (iii) migrant households have an increasing influence on urban poverty and the pattern of urban income distribution. The paper concludes that urban income distribution has worsened since 1995, and urban unemployment and poverty are the major factors in this worsening.