Agriculture Marketing System

1. Agriculture Marketing System • Understanding agriculture marketing system • Key players (stakeholders) involved in agriculture marketing system • Interest of these key players? • Are these interest conflicting in nature? • If yes, how to reconcile the conflicting interests? • “Perform Stakeholder Analysis”

2. What is stakeholder analysis? • It is an approach for understanding a system by identifying the key actors or stakeholders in the system, and assessing their respective interests in, or influence on, that system. • Stakeholder analysis is useful for assisting in decision-making situations where various stakeholders have competing interests and stakeholder needs must be appropriately balanced.

3. Who are Stakeholders • Stakeholders are those who have rights or interests in a system. • Stakeholders are any group or individual who can affect, or is affected by the achievement of the organisation’s purpose. It includes interested parties as well as affected parties.

4. Stakeholders • Stakeholders can be individuals, communities, social groups, or organisations. • For example, stakeholders in agriculture marketing policy might include farmers, traders, agri-business firms, processors, support service providers, consumers, and Government agencies

5. Stakeholder Analysis – Approach • Develop purpose of analysis and initial understanding of the system • Identify key stakeholders • Investigate stakeholders’ interests, characteristics and circumstances • Identify patterns and contexts of interaction between stakeholders • Assess stakeholders’ power and potential roles • Assess options and use the findings to make progress

6. Characteristicsof Stakeholders • Location - rural/urban dwellers • Ownership - landowners/landless, managers, staff, trade unions • Function - producers/consumers, traders/suppliers/competitors, regulators, policy makers, activists, opinion-formers • Scale – small-scale/large-scale, local/international communities • Time - past, present, future generations

7. Four R in Stakeholder Analysis • Role of each stakeholder in the system • Rights, Responsibility, Revenue (Benefit) and Relationship

8. Stakeholders and their Interests • Farmers: Highest possible returns from the sale of their produce - Maximum price, unlimited quality irrespective of quality • Consumers: Highest food value at the lowest possible price - Low price, limited quantity of high quality

9. Stakeholders and their Interests • Middlemen: Earn the greatest profit - low purchase price, high quality, high selling price, low cost of operation, reliable supply • Government:Consistent to macro-economic policies - Equitable distribution, food security, natural resource conservation, low pollution, employment, foreign exchange earning • How to reconcile these conflicting interests? – One of the primary task of agriculture marketing system.

10. Stakeholders and their Interests • Each players think in its own interest having short run perspective • But in the long run, no player can survive without others • Evolve a long run relationship among the players allowing each group to take care of its interest – Is it possible? • Probably yes! Recent strategic partnership models between farmers, government, corporate houses can provide high hopes in Indian context.

11. Laws and Govt. Policies Domestic and Global Economy Science and Technology Customs and Values • The Food Marketing System : • Firms, organizations • Product flows, distribution channels • Management and Marketing Activities Competition Consumer Tastes and Preferences Infrastructure (transport, communication, education etc.)