Building Businesses With Small Producers - Successful business development services in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Paperback, Illustrated Ed)

This book presents the findings and comparative analysis of seven case studies of non-governmental agencies providing business development services (BDS) to small and microenterprises across the developing world: from Bolivia, El Salvador, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A range of different industries is examined, from food processing to light engineering. The studies focus on three common aspects of BDS: marketing, access to technology, and the development of business and management skills. The results are presented with regard to impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. Building Businesses with Small Producers makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate regarding market- and demand-based provision of non-financial services to small and microentrepreneurs and businesses in the developing world, a debate which originated in the success to date in standardizing and commercializing microfinance programmes. The editors and contributors raise questions about the limits of market-based BDS provision and challenge some current beliefs about good practice in BDS provision.