Poverty Alleviation in the Horticulture Sector: Insights from Uganda and Vietnam

There is increasing insight into how household poverty in rural and peri-urban areas is affected by developments in the markets for fruit, vegetables and flowers. This study extends the knowledge, and feeds into the debate on agricultural growth policies. Based on a positive outlook on the growth of horticultural production and distribution and marketing in the low income countries of Uganda and Vietnam, this paper asks whether poor and vulnerable groups in society share in the benefits of the foreseen economic expansion. Primary survey data is collected on the differentiated position of low-income households in different supply structures (with varying levels of vertical coordination) and markets (national, regional and international markets). The data support the following hypotheses: (i) For many resource-poor agents, horticulture-related activities make substantial contributions to their livelihood security certainly in the short term. (ii) Farming, trading services, small-scale retail, and farm labour are activities to which members of resource-poor and economically vulnerable households have the best access given their endowments. (iii) A move from food production for home consumption towards cash crops or off-farm labour is supported when there are sufficient options to reduce livelihood risk in the household. (iv) Both value creation and the generation of opportunities for (self-) employment in domestic marketing channels are substantial, and possibly outweigh the economic impact of overseas export marketing. Policy support is best tailored to specific conditions and specific actors to achieve a maximum impact on poverty alleviation. For that purpose, a three-tiered grouping of marketing channels for livelihood development is proposed.