Opportunities and Challenges for Producers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Temu A.E and N.W Marwa

Horticultural trade, especially exports of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) from Sub-Saharan African countries to the European market, has received a great deal of attention over the past decade. This is due to its rapid and sustained growth. This rapid growth has undoubtedly contributed to increased national income and reduced rural poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa with clear evidence from Kenya, South Africa and partly Zimbabwe. Yet, despite this growth, the inclusion and proportion of the rent obtained from this lucrative business for smallholder farmers, who in the past used to be major players, have worsened in the past decade. One of the major contributing factors of this is the dynamic changes in the global governance of fresh fruits and vegetables value chain. These changes in the governance of global value chains for FFV have taken the form of changes from sport market based trade to vertically integrated explicit coordination. In addition, such factors as stringent phytosanitary measures, Private standards like EurepGAP, and increased consumers' demand and choices have led to the exclusion of smallholder farmers in FFV value-chain. This is because of the changes in the governance of the value chain and the ensuring stringent phytosanitary standards and as well as product delivery requirements have gone beyond the compliance capacity of smallholder producers in developing countries. This poses a potential threat to efforts in addressing the chronic poverty and wellbeing of the rural poor in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

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