Food value chains: A different direction for research

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 3, 2011 -- Shanhua, Taiwan—3 June 2011—The first step in ensuring safe, wholesome farm products reach consumers in developing countries is to admit how little we know about complex food value chains and their effects on poverty and the environment—and then address the gap through research concepts that better integrate disciplines including agriculture, nutrition, and economics.

That’s the determination of an article “Research Principles for Developing Country Food Value Chains” published today in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. Dyno Keatinge, Director General, AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center and Dr. Ray-yu Yang, AVRDC Nutritionist, contributed to the article in the journal’s Policy Forum. The Center is an international agricultural research institute with headquarters in Taiwan and offices in Asia, Africa, India, the Middle East, and Oceania.

“If horticultural research is to really help overcome malnutrition and poverty in the developing world it must span the field to the fridge to full health,” said Keatinge. “The real-world complexity of food chains—which encompass seed science, crop diversity, sustainable agronomy, employment, postharvest value maintenance and addition, storage, marketing, infrastructure, transport, supermarkets, consumer preferences, prices, home economics, nutrition, digestion, and human health— demands broad disciplinary vision.”

The policy manifesto presents six principles to guide researchers in the rapidly changing agricultural landscape of the developing world. By working across disciplines and integrating existing disciplinary research into more flexible models, scientists can better elucidate and evaluate the multidimensional nature of how food moves from the farm to the table. The six principles are:

1. Focus on domestic markets.

Exports account for only about 8% of domestic production in developing countries. To improve livelihoods, research should identify public policies and innovations that can facilitate the functioning of domestic food chains as well as export channels.

2. Pay attention to indirect effects as well as income generation.
Direct participation in food value chains as producers or traders may raise incomes for some. But addressing different aspects of the food production and distribution process, such as providing safer working conditions for laborers in commercial agriculture and processing have indirect benefits to alleviate rural and urban poverty.

3. Enhance marketing channel efficiency.

National and regional investment in roads and market infrastructure can increase farmer earnings without driving up food prices.

4. Put postharvest issues on the agenda.
From field to fork, 15-50% of the food harvested in developing countries is lost due to poor handling. Improved food storage and energy-saving technologies can ensure more food, and safer food, reaches consumers. Access to processing facilities allows farmers to add value to surpluses.

5. Involve farmers in natural resource conservation.

Food production will need to increase to meet growing food demand. Scaling resource-conserving, productivity-boosting innovations for small-scale farmers, such as simple drip irrigation kits, can help producers in the developing world participate in food value chains without degrading land or scarce water resources.

6. Certification: a means, not the end.
Compliance with various product standards assures consumers, and may result in a price premium for farmers. But certification schemes are costly to implement and maintain, and may ultimately exclude smallholders from high-value markets. It is more important to develop sustainable farming practices and enhance quality and safety through farm-level innovation.

Researchers from the following institutions contributed to the article: Cornell University, USA; International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, Kenya; Catholic Relief Services, USA; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA; University of New South Wales, Australia; Michigan State University, USA; Radboud University, Netherlands; Fairtrasa, Mexico; Katholieke Universiteit, Belgium; and the Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture, Indonesia.

More information: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/332/6034/PAGE/DC1

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AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center is the principal international nonprofit institute for vegetable research and development. Founded in 1971, the Center develops vegetable lines and sustainable technologies to increase the production and consumption of nutritious, health-promoting vegetables in developing countries, leading to more income opportunities and healthier diets for the poor. Primary target groups are small, disadvantaged landholders in Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Headquartered in Taiwan, AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center has offices in Thailand, Tanzania, India, and Dubai UAE, and staff located in many developing countries. www.avrdc.org

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