Smallholders and rural people: Making food system value chains inclusive

Abstract

Smallholders often struggle to connect with actors in the middle of the food supply chain as a result of limited access to land and inputs and lack of capacity to scale up or implement new practices.
KEY FINDINGS
- Propelled by urbanization, rising incomes, and changing diets, food markets are expanding in Africa and South Asia, creating enormous potential for job and income opportunities along food supply chains.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises have prolifer­ated in storage, logistics, transportation, and wholesale and retail distribution to meet growing rural and urban food demands. This so-called quiet revolution appears to be taking place out of sight of policymakers, leaving much of the potential for inclusive value-chain develop­ment untapped.
- Smallholders often struggle to connect with actors in the middle of the food supply chain as a result of lim­ited access to land and inputs and lack of capacity to scale up or implement new practices to meet qual­ity requirements.
- Lack of infrastructure and skills is holding back the devel­opment of food supply chains in low-income Africa and Asia, especially where the potential is greatest: in small towns and intermediate cities near rural farmlands.