Climate Smart Agri-Food Marketing: Conjugating Climate Smart Agriculture with Agri-Food Marketing in Bottom of the Pyramid-Subsistence Markets in Developing Economies

Abstract

The aim of the research was to attempt to appraise, ascertain and diagnose climate smart agri-food marketing in BOP-SM contexts in developing economies. Interestingly, the literature and sources of secondary data and information that directly addressed, in its own right, climate smart marketing were scant and more in specific to climate smart agri-food marketing were sparse, if not inexistant. However, in terms of climate smart marketing, in the literature and sources of secondary data and information, this emerged mostly indirectly, within the evolution of green and then sustainable marketing over recent years, where there has been, a greater focus on climate change matters. In terms of climate smart agrifood marketing, in specific, this has mostly emerged indirectly, within literature and sources of secondary data and information on climate smart food systems, agri-food value chains and agri-food supply chains. This all providing evidence that there is a lack, within literature and sources of secondary data and information, of directly and specifically addressing climate smart agri-food marketing. Hence and in this regard the research focused on attempting to delineate an agri-food marketing paradigm that specifically focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation. This also derived from the fact that climate smarting agricultural production outputs requires agri-food marketing to be climate smart. Indeed, if agri-food marketing is not made climate smart, it would partly off-set all the benefits that derived from climate smart agricultural production outputs and de facto agri-food marketing that is not climate smart contributes to climate change. As per the findings of the research, climate smart agri-food marketing finds it roots in the green, circular and low-emission economies, is within the realm of climate smart food systems, agri-food value chains and agri-food supply chains and derives from green marketing and sustainable marketing. In this regard, sustainable marketing covers the triple bottom line of people, profits and planet, and green marketing focuses on planet, and within planet, climate smart agri-food marketing focuses specifically on climate smart mitigation and adaptation. The research found that climate smart agri-food marketing in BOP-SMs needs to be localized, rural, urban, survival, system, service, relational, social, digital and entrepreneurial-oriented and consider the micro, meso and macromarketing levels. This all inherently implying that climate smart agri-food marketing needs to be adaptable, flexible, variable, versatile, agile and innovative. The process provided for climate smarting agri-food marketing is based primarily on learning from BOP-SMs in terms of locally-based innovations of technologies, activities, processes, systems, knowledge, know-how and behaviour that may be climate smart in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Such learning being locally based can be replicated within the same BOP-SM context, shared with other BOP-SM contexts as well as with other countries, both developing and developed to sustain the development of climate smart agri-food marketing. In turn such an approach does not exclude ‘importing’ innovations in terms of technologies, activities, processes, systems, knowledge, know-how and behaviour from other BOP-SM contexts within the same country and from other countries, both developing and developed, but not being locally generated, may require adaptations and modifications, for example, to be applied to make such innovations more locally palatable and thus implementable within agri-food marketing to make it climate smart.