Evidencing what works in developing new market opportunities for GLDC crops: Lessons from six case studies

Abstract

This paper aims to cast light on the effectiveness of interventions to promote the use of Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereal (GLDC) crops by consumers and industry. Underpinning this activity is the hypothesis that interventions which promote GLDC crops (particularly in new/ non-traditional uses) will create new and or more profitable and scalable market opportunities for smallholder farmer, increasing their income and helping drive technology adoption. These hypotheses remain largely untested, with no systematic evidence base of the sort of “promotion” activities that can create enduring, inclusive market opportunities at scale for the small holder sector producing GLDC crops. Here, we examine six case studies: i) Global competition: sorghum beer in Kenya, ii) The power of incentives: aflatoxin control for groundnuts in Malawi, iii) Marketing modernity: Smart Food in India and Eastern Africa, iv) The Politics of pricing: sweet sorghum as a biofuel in India, v) Too many moving parts? precooked beans in Uganda and Kenya, and vi) Market-led plant breeding: pigeonpea in Eastern and Southern Africa. The analysis of these case studies will allow to draw five key lessons on what works and why, and what causes failure, when implementing interventions aimed at developing new market opportunities for the GLDC crops.