This book explains the theory and practice of rural marketing. The theory deals with profiles of rural consumers, techniques of rural marketing research, product pricing and distribution in rural areas, sales force management and promotion. It also deals with the economics of agriculture, especially agricultural finance. Carefully selected case studies illustrate how this theory works in practice.
India is a country where majority of the population lives in villages. Appreciating the size and business potential of rural sector, major companies, including Hindustan Unilever and P&G have made special strategies for targeting rural markets. The thrust on rural markets is getting stronger day by day and it needs complete knowledge base of rural marketing. The book Rural and Agriculture marketing has been written looking into the needs of the students pursuing their management degrees. It is meant to create interest in business management students to get into the rural marketing mind set for bringing the desired organizational focus on the subject. Considering the importance of rural markets, most business schools have included Rural Marketing Management as a key knowledge area in their syllabus. Rural Marketing as a separate discipline in management teaching has emerged recently. The growing importance of the subject has been well realized by the marketers, policymakers and management interns. The present book has endeavoured to cover the entire gamut of rural marketing. There are few books on rural marketing which mostly deal with this subject and I hope this book will be a great help to student communities. The book is written in simple, easy to understand language. So wishing you all a very happy reading. - Partha S. Senapati (Author)
The authors go beyond the traditional presentation of economic principles, offering instead a series of applied methods for data collection and analysis. Drawing on extensive experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, they not only describe specific procedures, but also provide a wealth of illustrative research results. This book will be particularly useful to teaching professionals, development specialists, and applied researchers working in developing countries.
With 700 million prospective consumers including about 40 per cent of the country middle-income group, the sheer size of India rural market itself speaks of its huge This new textbook discusses how the application of traditional marketing theories transforms when the ‘fourth sector’, or the emergence of social business, comes into play. Drawing from latest research, Rural Marketing: Challenges and Opportunities closely analyses two crucial components of the rural market—marketing to rural areas and empowering the ‘bottom-of-pyramid’ (BoP) markets to create successful business ventures. Written as per the prescribed curriculum of rural management and rural marketing courses offered by the major universities in India, this book goes beyond discussing just the strategies to sell products to village economies. Infused with numerous real-life case studies of companies that have ventured into the field, this book will prove to be an extremely useful resource in understanding the uniqueness, dynamics and challenges of marketing in rural areas. Key Features: · Rich pedagogy including opening and closing case studies, mini case studies, engaging chapter-end exercises and project assignments · Inclusion of references to recent research data, important journal articles and videos for classroom teaching · Comprehensive overview of the future of rural marketing through BoP approach, social enterprises and use of big data
Agricultural performance is influenced by agricultural commodity markets. However, the importance of these markets has largely been ignored by agricultural policymakers and mainstream economists. This pioneering study, covering both the pre- and the post-liberalization periods, and West Bengal's transformation from a seriously deficit to a surplus state, conceives of the post-harvest sector as a system of markets. It shows how, while West Bengal enjoyed the results of a reformed agrarian system, the market system remained unreformed until recently. The book sheds light on the role and importance of distribution and commodity markets in shaping and spreading the benefits of higher productivity across society. An original analysis of the regulation of markets by institutions of collective action and social identity, as well as by the state, the book discusses a regulatory policy that could be adopted by any government, irrespective of its ideology. Barbara Harriss-White's quarter-century of field work in West Bengal has yielded new insights into the political economy, where ethno-cultural networks and informal finance have led to a polarization of agro-commercial power on the one hand, and a proliferation of livelihoods for small traders in the post-harvest market system on the other. Challenging many of the claims of orthodox political economy, this well researched volume offers a new interpretation of rural development over three decades of communist rule.
This book focuses on empirical experiences related to market development, and specifically new markets with structurally different characteristics than mainstream markets. Europe, Brazil, China and the rather robust and complex African experiences are covered to provide a rich multidisciplinary and multi-level analysis of the dynamics of newly emerging markets. Rural Development and the Construction of New Markets analyses newly constructed markets as nested markets. Although they are specific market segments that are nested in the wider commodity markets for food, they have a different nature, different dynamics, a different redistribution of value added, different prices and different relations between producers and consumers. Nested markets embody distinction viz-a-viz the general markets in which they are embedded. A key aspect of nested markets is that these are constructed in and through social struggles, which in turn positions this book in relation to classic and new institutional economic analyses of markets. These markets emerge as steadily growing parts of the farmer populations are dedicating their time, energy and resources to the design and production of new goods and services that differ from conventional agricultural outputs. The speed and intensity with which this is taking place, and the products and services involved, vary considerably across the world. In large parts of the South, notably Africa, farmers are ‘structurally’ combining farming with other activities. By contrast, in Europe and large parts of Latin America farmers have taken steps to generate new products and services which exist alongside ongoing agricultural production. This book not only discusses the economic rationales and dynamics for these markets, but also their likely futures and the threats and opportunities they face.
This is a revised edition of the well established book on the subject. Undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as, teachers and research scholars, specialists in marketing, policy makers and those interested in the welfare of the farmers can benefit from this book. Contents: Agricultural Marketing - Definition and Scope / Markets and Market Structure / Agricultural Marketing and Economic Development / Marketing Functions / Marketing Agencies, Institutions and Channels / Marketing of Farm Inputs / Government Intervention and Role in Agricultural Marketing / Cooperation and Cooperatives in Agricultural Marketing / Marketing Integration, Efficiency, Costs, Margins and Price Spread / Training, Research, Extension and Statistics in Agricultural Marketing / External Trade in Agricultural Products.
Friendly and readable, Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis presents a comprehensive approach to agricultural price analysis, agricultural market structures, and agricultural marketing strategies. The authors engage students with very little exposure to economics and with only a basic grasp of algebra. The text utilizes a fresh approach and supplies thorough coverage of core topics, as well as complex topics such as general equilibrium models, game theory, and econometrics. It also provides an introduction to data analysis and incorporates many examples. Supplemental materials are available for additional practice and further exploration. Unique to the Second Edition is the inclusion of a chapter on consumer behavior and food preferences, as well as relevant areas of research. The authors introduce readers to the agricultural supply chain, including forecasting and inventory management. Succinct and approachable, this text sets the stage for an enjoyable and effective learning experience.
This publication, produced by FAO and Zhejiang University, examines how rural e-commerce could advance the digital transformation of agri-food systems, including increasing production efficiency, expanding farmers’ market access, improving poverty alleviation, fostering agricultural entrepreneurship, and attracting young generations back to their villages for economic revival and rural revitalization. It is highlighted that an enabling ecosystem with favourable government policies and strategies, public-private partnerships and innovative business models is of great importance to accelerate the development of rural areas in China, and generate larger economic, social and environmental impacts. As the largest developing country in the world, the experience of digital agriculture transformation in China could be shared with other developing countries. The report also discusses some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned during the development of rural e-commerce, as well as the proposals for the way forward.
