J.E. Austin Associates, Inc.

Assisting Business & Government since 1986

Agribusiness, Agriculture and Food Security

Some of our recent experience includes:

Agriculture and Agribusiness is a key element of the economies of many developing countries, often accounting for a significant percentage of employment, and a substantial portion of the value of goods and services produced in a country. Despite the massive human and financial resources typically devoted to agriculture, yields, labor productivity, investment and value addition all tend to be lower than other components of the economy, and much below potential.

Agriculture and agribusiness are also basic to the livelihoods and food security of populations worldwide.

Recent trends and even shocks have refocused the world’s attention on food availability and agribusiness productivity. JAA’s professional roots are in agribusiness, and for more than two decades we have provided impactful, innovative, market-directed services to improve the competitiveness of clients’ agricultural sectors and agribusiness.

On hundreds of projects throughout the world, JAA has provided a wide range of technical, facilitation, training, policy and advisory services to a wide range of organizations and stakeholders in this arena.

JAA helps clients to identify the productive and competitive potential inherent in their agricultural sectors, and to and implement develop strategies to achieve this potential. We help governments and their development partners to target high-potential sectors, and help value chain actors to realize their competitive opportunities. We help to identify and remove policy and regulatory barriers, and improve the investment and business environment for agriculture and agribusiness. Our approach is focused on helping producers achieve the scale and productivity to engage with the market; it is enterprise-driven to encourage investment, innovation and a business outlook; and it is market focused, helping value chain stakeholders to understand market opportunities and needs, and to respond to those needs.

JAA has developed innovative approaches that have been readily adopted by the consulting industry: replicable business models, competitive positioning, comparative benchmarking, decentralized economic drivers, entry point targeting, and value chain based investment identification are a few examples. JAA’s practice and thought leadership is reflected in our recent book, Building Competitiveness in Africa’s Agriculture: A Guide to Value Chain Concepts and Applications, prepared for the World Bank as its guide for implementing value chain concepts.

JAA’s experience in agribusiness and agriculture development projects is closely tied to JAA’s competitiveness and private sector development experience. But many of the requirements of agribusiness projects are very subsector specific, and JAA has proven its capability to meet these needs. For example:

Country Agriculture-Related Industry Clusters/Sectors
Armenia Agritourism*
Bolivia Quinoa, horticulture, cut flowers, soy beans
Bulgaria Processed foods, wine
Burkina Faso Small ruminants, poultry
Cambodia Inland fisheries
Central America Coffee
Colombia Rubber, cocoa, vegetable oils and meal, organic and other specialty coffee, pepper, hearts-of-palm, fish, bamboo, cut flowers
Croatia Wood products, agritourism, culinary tourism*
Dominican Republic Fruits and vegetables, dairy, aquaculture, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, cigars, tree crops, sugar, sorghum
Ecuador Organic horticulture, shrimp
Egypt Horticulture
Ghana Domestic staples (including cassava, plantains, yams), cocoa
Guyana Fruits and vegetables, dairy, aquaculture
Haiti Poultry, honey, rabbits
India Maize, corn, sugar
Kazakhstan Processed foods, cotton
Laos Coffee, cotton
Lebanon Olives
Mali Mango, potato, onion/shallot, tomato, small ruminants, poultry
Mexico Cacao
Mongolia Meat, cashmere
Mozambique Cashews
Nicaragua Fruits and vegetables, dairy, aquaculture, agritourism
Nigeria Ginger, sesame, hides & skins, gum arabic, shrimp, livestock, cashew nuts, poultry, meat
Pakistan Dairy, strawberries, mango, grapes, deciduous, honey, livestock
Panama Dairy, livestock, tree crops
Romania Pork, agritourism
Rwanda Horticulture, pyrethrum, anthurium, roses, coffee, chili peppers, honey, dairy
Senegal Cashew nuts, fonio, neem, bissap (hibiscus), millet, sorghum, mango, banana, cotton, poultry, rice, maize, seeds
Sri Lanka Coir, rubber, rubber services, spices, tea, cocoa, cashews, agritourism
Tanzania Food processing, horticulture
Thailand High value added agriculture, seafood, silk, marine fisheries
Uganda Coffee, cotton, cut flowers, dairy, fisheries, fish processing, maize, tea, rice, millet/sorghum
Venezuela Palm oil, sesame seeds and oil, agribusiness consumer products, mayonnaise
Vietnam Fruit
Zambia Oilseeds, dairy, tree crops, coffee, maize

*Agritourism is visiting a farm or ranch for an unspecified period of time; culinary tourism refers to experiencing the food of the country, including slow food