Food and nutrition security remain at the top of development priorities in low income countries. This is especially the case for smallholder farmers who derive their livelihood from agriculture yet are often the most deprived. Inclusive agribusinesses have been championed as a key strategy to address local constraints that limit smallholders’ participation in regional and global value chains, thereby enhancing their livelihood, and food and nutrition security, accordingly. In this paper, based on a mixed method research approach, we explore the potential food and security contribution of inclusive agribusiness in Makueni county, Kenya. We focus on the smallholders’ constraints and needs, exploring the extent to which these are addressed by such purported pro-poor approach. First, using independent sample t -tests and a probit regression model, we explore who are able to participate in an ongoing intervention. We compare how participants and non-participants differ in terms of key socio-economic characteristics and establish which of these attributes are associated with successful integration into the business. Second, we again use independent sample t -tests to determine how the participants and non-participants compare in terms of their food and nutrition security. The household food and nutrition security is assessed with the conventional measurement tools: the household food insecurity access scale and the household food dietary diversity score. We find that participation in the inclusive agribusiness favors smallholder households with relatively higher production capacity in terms of better physical capital (land and number of mango trees, financial capital), access to loans, and human capital (age, education, and family size). Following income improvement, the participants’ household food security situation is significantly better than for non-participants. However, participation does not improve household dietary diversity, implying that improvement in income does not necessarily lead to better household nutrition security. To address the limitations of inclusive agribusiness, we propose policymakers and development actors to critically explore the contextual background prior to intervention design and implementation, and accordingly devise a broader approach for more inclusivity of the very poor and marginalized, and better food and nutrition security outcomes as a result. Given that not every smallholder could benefit from inclusive agribusiness for their food needs due to resource scarcity, alternative livelihood supports, including social protection programs and safety net plans, should be considered.

中文翻译：

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包容性农业综合企业在促进小农社区粮食和营养安全方面的局限性。肯尼亚马库埃尼县芒果计划案例

粮食和营养安全仍然是低收入国家发展的重中之重。对于以农业为生但往往最贫困的小农来说尤其如此。包容性农业综合企业被认为是解决限制小农参与区域和全球价值链的当地制约因素的关键战略，从而相应地改善他们的生计以及粮食和营养安全。在本文中，我们基于混合方法研究方法，探讨了肯尼亚马库埃尼县包容性农业企业对粮食和安全的潜在贡献。我们关注小农的限制和需求，探索这种所谓的扶贫方法在多大程度上解决了这些问题。首先，使用独立样本 t 检验和概率回归模型，我们探索谁能够参与正在进行的干预。我们比较参与者和非参与者在关键社会经济特征方面的差异，并确定这些属性中的哪些与成功融入业务相关。其次，我们再次使用独立样本 t 检验来确定参与者和非参与者在食品和营养安全方面的比较。家庭粮食和营养安全使用常规测量工具进行评估：家庭粮食不安全获取量表和家庭食物膳食多样性得分。我们发现，参与包容性农业综合企业有利于生产能力相对较高的小农户在更好的物质资本（土地和芒果树数量、金融资本）、获得贷款、和人力资本（年龄、教育和家庭规模）。收入提高后，参与者的家庭粮食安全状况明显好于非参与者。然而，参与并不能改善家庭饮食多样性，这意味着收入的提高并不一定会带来更好的家庭营养安全。为了解决包容性农业综合企业的局限性，我们建议政策制定者和发展参与者在干预设计和实施之前批判性地探索背景背景，并相应地设计一种更广泛的方法，以提高非常贫困和边缘化人群的包容性，以及更好的粮食和营养安全成果因此。鉴于由于资源稀缺，并非每个小农都能从包容性农业综合企业中受益，以满足他们的粮食需求，