Resource information
This paper provides the results of an
international survey of practitioners with experience in
facilitating the participation of African smallholder
farmers in supply chains for higher-value and/or
differentiated agricultural products. It explores their
perceptions about the constraints inhibiting and the impacts
associated with this supply chain participation. It also
examines their perceptions about the factors affecting the
success of project and policy interventions in this area,
about how this success is and should be measured, and about
the appropriate roles for national governments, the private
sector, and development assistance entities in facilitating
smallholder gains in this area. The results confirm a
growing 'consensus' about institutional roles, yet
suggest some ambiguity regarding the impacts of smallholder
participation in higher-value supply chains and the
appropriateness of the indicators most commonly used to
gauge such impacts. The results also suggest a need to
strengthen knowledge about both the 'old' and
'new' sets of constraints (and solutions) related
to remunerative smallholder inclusion, in the form of the
rising role of standards alongside more long-standing
concerns about infrastructure and logistical links to markets.
