The Enabling Environment for Inclusive Agribusiness in Southeast Asia

Smallholder farmers constitute a sizable subset of the population in the ASEAN region and therefore are important stakeholders to consider in realizing the broader goals of inclusive development and poverty reduction. Linking them to various agriculture-related activities across the value chain paves the pathway of opportunities to expand their access to markets and build capacities. As such, determining policy and institutional conditions that enable inclusive agribusiness development as well as key barriers to their engagement would provide greater leverage for smaller agribusiness players to move up the value chain. By reviewing the extant literature on agribusiness models, we provided a survey of the inclusive agribusiness structure most prevalent in the ASEAN region. The study draws from the “Hierarchy of Enabling Needs” model and socio-organizational structure model to offer an integrated conceptual framework that maps out the environment that facilitates stronger linkages and deeper inclusion of small-scale players in the agribusiness structure. To better situate the conditions of inclusive agribusiness, the sets of enablers are further assessed across varying country contexts. The paper suggests that there is no single model that could encapsulate deeper linkages in the sector. Notwithstanding ASEAN’s fundamental diversity, the region is bound by its outward looking and market-oriented policy frameworks that serve to enable pathways and corridors toward greater inclusiveness in the agribusiness sector.