Potential and limits of inclusive business as a pathway for enhancing inclusivity and sustainability in African agriculture: A critical analysis in Tanzania and Ghana (EU)

Over the past decade and half, inclusive businesses have become ubiquitous in development policymaking. In the agricultural sector, its assurance of poverty reduction for smallholders has taken the center stage in strategies of many development institutions (Kelly et al. 2015), attracting donor finance in the order of 3 to 4 billion dollars per year (Woodhill 2016). Yet, scholars caution that such popularity and promise of inclusive businesses in the agricultural sector stand on shaky empirical grounds (Likoko & Kini 2017; Pouw et al. 2019; Woodhill 2016). While the inclusive business approach is well conceptualized in theory and principals (e.g. Schoneveld 2020; Vermeulen & Cotula 2010), few studies have empirically examined how they work on the ground (Woodhill 2016). Against this backdrop, 15 years after inclusive business was mainstreamed into development policymaking (Likoko & Kini 2017), this study invests into the generation of systematic evidence on the experiences with inclusive agribusinesses in Africa, to provide a realistic view on its potential and limitations, and to distil lessons for improvements and scaling. This includes the following specific objectives: (1) to understand how inclusive agribusinesses address critical issues related to inclusivity and sustainability in their designs; (2) to examine the effects of inclusive agribusinesses on smallholder livelihoods and their environment, and the contributing factors across cases and commodities; and, (3) to critically assess the scope of action to influence the above-identified factors for more positive outcomes.

This doctorate research is carried out in two countries, Tanzania and Ghana, chosen for being popular destinations of donor and private-sector investments in inclusive businesses, and due to their coverage of a diversity of crops produced in the region. To comply with the first objective, semi-structured interviews are conducted with managers of 45 inclusive agribusinesses in Ghana and Tanzania identified in a scoping study using expert interviews, document scanning and snowball sampling. For the second objective, a cross-section of these initiatives will be selected for in-depth studies based on their representativeness and comparability across commodities and institutional set-ups. For each selected case, household surveys and focus group discussions with smallholders will be conducted to evaluate effects of inclusive businesses on household livelihoods, community-level social dynamics, and land-use dynamics, adopting the five-asset approach within the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (Scoones 1998). Finally, to assess the scope of action for addressing shortcomings and scaling benefits through the manipulation of the identified underlying factors, key informant interviews and stakeholder workshops will be held. Particular attention will be given to the identification of leverage points at the local level, such as business plans, methods of service deliveries and modalities of smallholder participation and organization.