Linking small-scale vegetable farmers to supermarkets: Effectiveness assessment of the GMED India project

This report evaluates the Growth-oriented Microenterprise Development Project (GMED) in India and its effectiveness in linking small-scale farmers to competitive value chains.

Main findings

The findings within this report indicate that the project was significantly successful in achieving the outcomes of increased access to information and product upgrading.

• By 2009, the project promoted improved cultivation techniques to 2,666 farmers
• Results confirm the efficacy of the farmer-to-farmer approach as a mechanism for the diffusion of upgrading information about the local area
• Depending on the practice, up to 40% of farmers upgraded production practices
• In four of the six upgraded production practices, over 75% of farmers stated that upgraded practices were useful
• Results in a couple of the regions signal that conditions in the global market and enabling environment constrained project effectiveness and prevented the market linkages component from reaching anticipated scale.

Intervention description

The project assessed in this report followed a two-pronged approach that (i) provided technical assistance to facilitate upgrading of farming techniques and product quality, and (ii) established mutually beneficial vertical relationships that linked small-scale  farmers to corporate buyers. 

Evidence methodology

The evaluation examined outputs, outcomes and impacts by employing four methods within four clusters in different regions of India over a four year period. These methods include (i) a base assessment in 2006 to design the evaluation, (ii) a quasi-experimental survey in which 712 farmers in treatment and control groups were interviewed in 2007 and 2009, (iii) a process evaluation to assess the implementation history of the project, and (iv) a qualitative field study to understand the project's potential impact.

Useful for:

Anyone interested in the market systems approach, specifically focused on improving the role and competitiveness of small-scale farmers in agricultural value chains in India. This might include potential investors and partners, as well as development practitioners and researchers.