Key Findings and Policy Recommendations

IIED and NRI have been working with DFID for the past three years to explore opportunities for more favourable outcomes for small producers in developing countries to participate in international horticultural supply chains, given the rise of private standards. This paper summarises the major findings and subsequently draws policy recommendations for retailers, exporters, donors, service providers and researchers. This summary links to source papers in two series: the two-page Fresh Perspectives and full length Fresh Insights, available at www.agrifoodstandards.net.

The full "Key Findings and Recommendations" document can be downloaded  below.

Major findings relate to : Trends in private agrifood standards, FFV exports from Africa to the UK (who grows, who trades, who sells?), benefits and costs of compliance with GlobalGAP (smallholder and exporter perspectives), opportunities for cost reduction, what happens to excluded producers?, international opportunities for non-certified produce and the sustainable development context.

Policy recommendations concern: Exporters, retailers and their associations, standard-setters, DFID and other donors as well as researchers and service providers.

Key publications cover:

Fresh Insights:

1. EU legal requirements for imports of fruits and vegetables: a supplier's guide

2. Sub-Saharan African horticultural exports to the UK and climate change: a literature review

3. Virtual water trade: A case study of green beans and flowers from Africa

4. A lifecycle analysis of UK Supermaket imported green beans from Kenya

5. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Zambia

6. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Kenya

7. Mapping Different Supply Chains of Fresh Produce Exports from Africa to the UK

8. Ecological space and a low-carbon future -- crafting space for equitable economic development in Africa

9. Fair Miles? Weighing environmental and social impacts of fresh produce exports from sub-Saharan Africa to the UK

10. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Uganda

11. Trade, development and poverty: the role of air-freighted horticultural products

12. Opportunities for Sub-Saharan African Small-Farmers to supply the UK Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Markets

13. Cost and benefits of EurepGAP compliance for African smallholders: a synthesis of surveys in three countries

14. EurepGAP revision 2007-2008: implications of Version for small-scale exporters of fruit and vegetables in East Africa

15. Small-scale farmers who withdraw from GlobalGAP: results of a survey in Kenya

16. Making GlobalGAP smallholder friendly

Fresh Perspectives:

1. "Fair miles"? The concept of "food miles" through a sustainable development lens

2. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Kenya

3. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Zambia

4. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Uganda

5. African Air Freight of Fresh Produce: is ‘virtual' water transport causing drought?

6. Air-Freighted Fresh Food: guilty pleasure or sustainable development champion?

7. Costs and benefits of GlobalGAP compliance for smallholders: synthesised findings

8. Understanding stakeholder drivers for introducing and complying with Private Voluntary Standards - a fresh produce example

9. Miles better: how ‘fair miles' stack up in sustainable supermarkets?10. Impact of EurepGAP on small-scale vegetable growers in Uganda

10. GlobalGAP version 3: threat or opportunity for African small-scale growers?

11. Making GlobalGAP smallholder friendly - Can GlobalGAP be made simpler and less costly without compromising integrity?

12. Mapping different supply chains of fresh produce exports from African to the UK

13. Markets for non-certified fresh produce in the UK?

14. Room to move ecological space and emissions equity