Institute of Development Studies

Global Value Chains and Standards in Horticulture and Aquaculture

Trade in food products is regulated by increasingly complex and stringent standards. These standards can be both public and private, and can regulate not only food safety, but also issues such as environmental and social impact. This project examines the policy responses to new challenges for producers of food products in East Africa and South-East Asia. It specifically analyses how these challenges are interpreted by donors, governments and business, and the way that value chains are restructured in response to the requirements of the new standards.

• IDS key contact: John Humphrey
• Project dates: January 2005 - June 2007
• Project status: Closed
• Funder: Rockefeller Foundation
• Total project value:$ 300,000

Researchers

• John Humphrey
• Sally Smith
• John Njoka, Institute for Development Studies, Nairobi
• Dias Pradadimara, PusKIT
• Pepijn van de Port, Vrije Universitat

Partner Organisations

• Institute for Development Studies, Nairobi
• PusKIT, Indonesia
• Vrije Universitat, The Netherlands

Selected Outputs

• Humphrey, J. (2009) 'Private Standards in Kenyan Horticulture: Did the Donors Respond Effectively to the Challenge?' , paper prepared for ILRI/AGRA workshop 'Towards Priority Actions for Market Development for African Farmers', Nairobi, 13-15 May
• Henson, S. and Humphrey, J. (2008) 'Understanding the Complexities of Private Standards in Global Agri-Food Chains' , paper presented at 'International Workshop on Globalization, Global Governance and Private Standards', Leuven
• Humphrey, J. (2008) 'Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EUREPGAP in Kenya', IDS Working Paper 308, Brighton: IDS
• Humphrey, J. (2006) 'Horticulture: Responding to the Challenges of Poverty Reduction and Global Competition', Acta Horticulturae 699:19-41
• Humphrey, J. (2006) 'Policy Implications of Trends in Agribusiness Value Chains', European Journal of Development Research 18.4:572-92

Selected Events

• Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EUREPGAP in Kenya - 13/11/2008
  

  On 13 November 2008, John Humphrey, IDS Globalisation Team Leader, presented a paper on 'Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EUREPGAP in Kenya' at a seminar in Washington as part of a 'Linking Small Firms to Competitiveness Strategies Breakfast Seminar Series' sponsored by the USAID Microenterprise Development Office. He addressed the market access conditions faced by farmers as they work to comply with EUREPGAP process-based standards and certification.

• Workshop on standards in the global food trade - 30/11/2006
• Workshop on the impact of EU regulations on export of shrimp from Indonesia - 16/05/2006
• Workshop of the Standards and Rules of Trade (SMART) Network - 10/10/2005