Agri-Food Systems and Economic Development: Lessons from European, North American and Asian experiences

This book draws on a three-year programme of research undertaken in sub-Saharan Africa, involving research teams in six countries looking at the role of donor interventions in the context of African smallholder participation in higher-value markets for agricultural and food products, both domestically and through exports to industrialized countries. . In so doing, it explores the interface between donor-led interventions and the actions of the private sector, and of government, in developing countries. Put bluntly, this book investigates #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;what works and what doesn#xE2;#xAC;"t#xE2;#xAC;". Thus, the chapters #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;throw light#xE2;#xAC;" on the nature of higher-value markets for agricultural and food products, presents the critical processes determining smallholder participation in higher-value markets for agricultural and food products and relations to the level and forms of quality standards applied and examines the extent to which smallholders are actually participating in higher-value markets with differing levels of quality standards and the challenges they face in doing so and the role of donor interventions in facilitating the participation of smallholders in higher-value markets for agricultural and food products and the interface with private and public sector initiatives in developing countries.