Value chains and trade

By helping farmers improve the quality and safety of what they grow, process and sell, CABI helps create sustainable value chains and breaks down barriers to trade

The challenge

With global population growing fast, and food demand expected to double by 2050, creating sustainable food value chains and breaking down the barriers to trade has never been more important.

While small-scale farmers in developing countries produce most of the world’s food, they often face hurdles accessing information and technologies to supply lucrative local, national and global markets. Young people in particular can benefit from new opportunities in agricultural trade.

Providing solutions

By combining our expertise in value chains and trade with our knowledge of crop health, development communication, digital development, invasive species, and publishing, we have helped private and public sector partners improve market access.

We have successfully increased value chain efficiency and helped people working in the food supply chain improve their safety compliance for the benefit of consumers by sharing information, skills and technologies. We help farmers meet Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards, so that they can protect their produce from contaminants such as diseases and pests and export to markets.

Our knowledge of crop production and processes has helped smallholders produce better harvests and yields, and our expertise in invasive species and pest management has helped strengthen countries’ plant biosecurity.

By working with our donors and partners, we help poor and vulnerable rural communities produce food safely and sustainably, connecting them into value chains and boosting their livelihoods.

Our value chain and trade expertise in more detail

Horticulture is an important source of income for many farmers. We help smallholders access value chains by building their knowledge of integrated crop management.

Palm trees produce a variety of commercial products including coconut oil and dates. We help farmers address the specific issues associated with growing palm trees and access export markets.

Tree crops, such as cocoa, produce a variety of commercial products. We help farmers address the specific issues associated with growing tree crops and access export markets.

Working with partners, CABI improved Ghana’s food safety systems, enabling vegetable exports worth US$15 million a year to resume following an EU-wide ban

Find out more

Lead contact

For more information and enquiries about our expertise in value chains and trade, please get in touch.

CABI In Wallingford

Neil Willsher

Global Director, Value Chains & Trade

T: +44 (0) 1491 832111 E: n.willsher@cabi.org

Stories of Impact

Read about the variety of work CABI delivers, and the difference we make

Boosting the role of agro-input dealers for sustainable pest management

Empowering women in Pakistan: A story of entrepreneurship and transformation

Siddarth Khadka from CASA Nepal addresses the Nepal Agriculture Investment Meeting — Story Of Impact

CASA highlights investment gap limiting smallholder engagement in commercial markets

Related Projects

Explore our recent projects from around the world

Strengthening phytosanitary research programming and collaboration: from European to global phytosanitary research coordination

As a result of increased global trade and transport and climate change, the likelihood of pest introductions has grown. However, public resources and budgets to invest in research, including national phytosanitary research budgets, have typically declined. Combining resources to investigate challenges that countries share and develop solutions of mutual benefit can address some of the difficulties researchers and their funders face. In this project, CABI will be working as part of the European Phytosanitary Research Coordination (EUPHRESCO) network to help guide national, regional and global research funding. CABI will use its African knowledge and expertise to develop a regional phytosanitary research agenda for Africa.

Managing scale insects in fresh fruits in East Africa to enhance market access

Trade in mango, avocado, papaya and citrus within the East African Community region, the European Union and China at import and export levels have been rising. However, meeting the increasing demand is being affected by a number of crop pests and diseases. In East Africa, scale insects – mealybug pests such as Papaya mealybug and fruit tree mealybug – are impacting cultivation and yields. To tackle these pests and increase trade, CABI is working with partners to increase compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements through improved surveillance and management of scale insect pests in East Africa.