The Pesticides Initiative Program (PIP) was set up by the EU at the request of ACP (African Pacific and Caribbean) states for the purpose of enabling ACP companies to comply with European food safety and traceability requirements and to consolidate the position of small-scale producers in the ACP horticultural export sector.

According to the November PIP magazine, private voluntary standards (PVS) have been described as "the next big thing" in determining trade flows. In a recent interview with the Financial Times (September 22, 2007), Pascal Lamy, Head of the WTO, noted that the proliferation of standards is likely to cause a clash with developing countries, who fear new barriers to their exports. Lamy said "Developing countries are certainly beginning to have a real problem, and the question of standards is becoming a real issue". This in focus article summarises what PIP has to say on current private voluntary standards and emerging carbon labelling standards.

The latest World Development Report calls for greater investment in agriculture in Africa and warns that the sector must be placed at the center of the Region's development agenda if the goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized.

Titled ‘Agriculture for Development,' the report says the need for action is especially urgent in Sub- Saharan Africa, where agricultural productivity growth has lagged behind other regions. Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa employs 65 percent of the labor force and generates 32 percent of GDP growth.

"In Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 229 million extremely poor rural people, agriculture is about much more than simple food security," said Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank Group President.  "A greater focus on agriculture will help boost overall economic growth and can offer multiple pathways out of poverty."

WRENmedia, UK, 2007

During 2005-6, over 70 key stakeholders (including farmers, advisors, exporters, government agencies, NGOs, policymakers and the media) took part in regular WRENmedia workshops. Prominent radio, television and print journalists were taken to visit smallholder farmers and their technical advisors in 3 different districts within Kenya to help them understand the practices and procedures involved in good agricultural practices and the requirements for successful certification to EurepGAP and other similar standards. The document contains 19 case studies, used as examples of aspects of good agricultural practice (GAP).

Source: Freshinfo 2 Jun 2007

EurepGAP has appointed Dr Johannes Kern as the observer for Africa in the EurepGAP sector committees, for an initial period until December 2008.

The role is expected to provide technical support to EurepGAP members in developing nations, with Kern also expected to play the part of smallholder ambassador by further facilitating compliance of smallholder farms to the food-safety standard.

Kern will operate in a largely independent capacity linking with key stakeholders and contributing to the standard-setting process. He will be involved in establishing new frameworks for best practice in smallholder certification.

Building bridges between processors and smallholders in Africa: are contracts an answer?

Sautier, D.; Vermeulen, H.; Fok, M.; Biénabe, E. / Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP) , 2006

This paper presents specific experiences in Africa, involving small and medium farmers and agri-processors. It illustrates the capacity of farmers and food processors to leverage agricultural growth , take advantage of untapped sources of growth and generate pro-poor development through adequate institutions.

Acknowledging that small and medium size farmers in Africa face unique and difficult market constraints, the paper highlights the potential of contractual arrangements in governing relationships farmers and agroprocessors. Although the effectiveness of contracts can vary, the case studies in this document show ways through which contractual arrangements can support the market participation of small and medium farmers and foster agricultural growth for poverty alleviation.

A new feature article by Sarah Murray in the UK Financial Times looks at trade and the environment in perspective. She examines the long history of trade from the ingenious methods used by our ancestors to transport goods from all over the world to current demands for buying local and reducing carbon footprint.

Murray discusses the complexity of calculating the true carbon footprint of a particular good, including the use of carbon-heavy fertilisers, imported feed, and whether to include the high energy element of cooking and transporting from the supermarket to domestic home in calculating whether a raw potato has a heavier footprint than pre-packed mashed potato.

Producers of fresh fruit and vegetables in Eastern and Southern Africa face stringent food safety and environmental standards set by private retailers in key export markets. A joint UNCTAD/FAO workshop "Good Agriculture Practices in Eastern & Southern Africa: Practices and Policies" which took place in Nairobi, Kenya. 6-9 March 2007, addressed this challenge and explored related opportunities.

The workshop was organised by FAO, UNCTAD (under it's Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries), and the Kenyan National Task Force on Horticulture as part of their on-going activities on appropriate good agricultural practices to foster national food safety and quality, sustainable natural resource management, fair working conditions and facilitate market access.

photo: WREN mediaNew Agriculturist March 2007

In many developing countries smallholder export horticulture is proving to be a powerful new engine for growth in rural economies. Kenya has been one of the quickest to develop as a supplier of air-freighted fresh vegetables from smallholder fields to consumers in Europe. More than a million livelihoods have been created in farm production and a further three million in associated employment. Now Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and others want to follow suit.

New Book from CABI: Global Supply Chains, Standards and the Poor: How the Globalization of Food Systems and Standards Affects Rural Development and Poverty

Part of the Fresh Perspectives Series

The concept of "food miles" presents an argument to buy goods which have travelled the shortest distance from farm to table, and to discriminate against long-haul transportation, especially air-freighted goods. The long-distance transport of food is associated with additional emissions due to increased transportation coupled with greater packaging, as well as negative impacts on local rural communities, and a disconnection between the public and local farming. Furthermore, "food miles" encapsulates (and is at the vanguard of) the climate change debate in the UK. In light of growing international concern over the speed and scale of climate change, the concept of "food miles" has captured public attention and apparently is changing some consumers' behaviour, although only around one-third of shoppers know of the concept.