Markets and Rural Poverty: Upgrading in Value Chains

This book explores the place of poor people within a rich variety of value chains, focusing upon lagging, rural regions in Africa and Asia, and how they can 'upgrade' within such chains. Upgrading is a key concept for value chain analysis and refers to the acquisition of technological capabilities and market linkages that enable firms to improve their competitiveness and move into higher-value activities.

The authors examine a range of evidence to assess whether the 'bottom billion' people, ...