The Enterprise, Trade and Food Management Group has been formed to createa multidisciplinary systems approach in developing appropriate, responsible, innovative and practical solutions that benefit poor people through facilitating wider market participation and improved market efficiency, and by adopting viable socio-economic, technical and environmentally-responsible policies and practices. The team of twenty market and commodity economists, value chain specialists and natural scientists has extensive commodity experiences (crop and animal) gained world-wide and with a range of public and private sector clients. Staff.

Skill base

Our work is clustered through Programmes encompassing expertise in:

• Development of smallholder production, management and marketing systems to meet public and private sector standards and market needs;
• Innovations in value chain governance and partnerships for smallholder and SME development;
• Evaluation and design of finance packages for rural households and entrepreneurs, and promoting rural financial initiatives;
• Support to commodity trade and finance, including market liberalisation in Africa;
• Supporting the demand from farmers and processors for remunerative market through systems-based approaches to post-production technical, socio-economic and regulatory challenges;
• Understanding the impact of trade measures and agreements on the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries;
• Capacity development through teaching (up to MSc level) and professional development training for developmental specialists, farmers, SMEs, trade negotiators, regulators and food inspectors.

Our programmes of work:

The Group undertakes research, advisory and training activities under the following thematic areas:

• Making agriculture work for the poor
• Food and trade
• Change and vulnerability
• Capacity strengthening