ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to analyze the ways in which companies implement sustainable procurement practices in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector has to face several challenges related to the procurement of sustainable practices; hence, policymakers have been involved in adopting sustainable business practice to improve farm yield as well as strengthen the social welfare of marginalized farmers in emerging markets such as India. The authors have conducted a descriptive single case study of a leading organic product manufacturer in India to analyze the ways of implementing sustainable procurement processes at the field level. This chapter highlights the instrumental role of business model innovation—through the lens of the sharing economy—in incentivizing different stakeholders of the procurement process, with specific emphasis on marginalized farmers. Moreover, the authors have depicted the achievement of sustainable procurement regarding environmental and social sustainability in the supply chain structure through business model innovation. Further, the proposed framework highlights the role of innovation in removing the existing barriers to sustainable procurement in the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) market in India through an example from the organic farming industry.
Keywords: Organic farming, sustainable procurement, procurement contract, access-based business model innovation, case study, BoP
