Title:
Analysis of existing business models for organic agriculture in developed as well as developing countries and identification of limitations and opportunities to promote markets for organic agriculture in Mexico and Russia
Idea:
Sustainable agriculture is a worldwide growth industry and it can be a profitable, sustainable business. This can be observed in many developed Western countries such as US, Japan or countries of the EU where, in the context of steadily increasing demand for “healthy” organic products, many new businesses have emerged.
Within the scope of this project, firstly, successful business models, such as Wal Mart’s contracting with local organic producers in the US or small retail chains like Bioland or Reformhaus in Germany shall be analyzed.
Secondly, chances and obstacles for replicating these business models in developing countries, particularly in Mexico and Russia, shall be analysed.
The focus will be put on compulsively organic farms in remote areas of the two specified countries (as opposed to voluntarily progressive organic farms as they can be found in many developed countries) where farmers, due to insufficient access to modern technologies, genetically modified seeds, pesticides, etc. are left with the only option of organic agricultural practices. Such areas typically lag behind in terms of well-functioning markets for organic products and efficiency of production whereas argo-diversity is remarkably high. In this context, the project’s target will be to identify opportunities and development strategies to support and enlarge markets for organic products in these areas.
Analysis of existing business models for organic agriculture in developed as well as developing countries and identification of limitations and opportunities to promote markets for organic agriculture in Mexico and Russia
Idea:
Sustainable agriculture is a worldwide growth industry and it can be a profitable, sustainable business. This can be observed in many developed Western countries such as US, Japan or countries of the EU where, in the context of steadily increasing demand for “healthy” organic products, many new businesses have emerged.
Within the scope of this project, firstly, successful business models, such as Wal Mart’s contracting with local organic producers in the US or small retail chains like Bioland or Reformhaus in Germany shall be analyzed.
Secondly, chances and obstacles for replicating these business models in developing countries, particularly in Mexico and Russia, shall be analysed.
The focus will be put on compulsively organic farms in remote areas of the two specified countries (as opposed to voluntarily progressive organic farms as they can be found in many developed countries) where farmers, due to insufficient access to modern technologies, genetically modified seeds, pesticides, etc. are left with the only option of organic agricultural practices. Such areas typically lag behind in terms of well-functioning markets for organic products and efficiency of production whereas argo-diversity is remarkably high. In this context, the project’s target will be to identify opportunities and development strategies to support and enlarge markets for organic products in these areas.
1) Compulsively organic farms are usually that way due to poor transport infrastructure.If we are building such infrastructure to help evacuate the farm produce,then the carbon impact/foodmiles should be counted for the cost benefit analysis.
ReplyDelete2)In places like India, public policy tends to use these lands for industry purpose/biofuel crops etc. So one would need to contrast those economics with such organic agriculture
I think this is a great idea.. I just have one query..Would you take your business model to the implementation phase in your project?
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to know at which stage of the value chain would you like to focus on?
ReplyDeleteYou could also look at the retail behemoth like Reliance, which tried to get into organic produce but was unsuccessful. Can look at why were they unsuccessful.
ReplyDeleteComing to compulsive organic farmers, they are most of the time exploited and the middle men have more bargaining power. But if we can have packing and grading units at source and look at some cooperatives, the middle men can be cut off and we may also be able to provide them with employment via value added activities like grading, packing, transport etc