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Integrating Smallholder Farmers to Commodity Value Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Prospects and Policy Issues

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Abstract

The participation of smallholder farmers in commodity value chains in sub-Saharan Africa has generally been low. Commodity and location-specific factors in favour of and against farmers’ participation in agricultural value chains have been documented in contemporary literature. However, the analysis of farmers’ prospects to integrate into such value chains has predominantly focused on specific commodities or groups of related commodities, leading to recommendations that apply to studied commodities only. There is a need to compare and contrast farmers’ prospects to integrate into different agricultural commodities and generate comprehensive lessons on what works and under what circumstances. This chapter has adopted a multi-commodity approach to assess such prospects for smallholder dairy and vegetable farmers in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The approach is deemed appropriate because it identifies challenges and reveals opportunities for a wider group of actors within the value chains. The main objective is to identify several productivity, quality and market linkage-enhancing interventions that can increase farmers’ participation in value chains and their incomes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the context of the milk value chain, a formal value chain is defined as a chain whose actors are licensed to handle milk after complying with defined minimum standards for competence in hygienic milk handling and processing to safeguard consumers’ health. This chain is operated as an organized system of milk collection, using well-established mechanisms of bulking (e.g. through cooperative societies or agents) and transportation in insulated tankers to factories where it is processed and packaged before marketing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moshi Co-operative University, Moshi, Tanzania

    Fredy Timothy Mlyavidoga Kilima

  2. Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Lusato Revocatus Kurwijila

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  1. Fredy Timothy Mlyavidoga Kilima
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Correspondence to Fredy Timothy Mlyavidoga Kilima .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Bal Ram Singh

  2. Animal Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Lilongwe, Malawi

    Andy Safalaoh

  3. Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Nyambilila A. Amuri

  4. Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Lars Olav Eik

  5. Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Bishal K. Sitaula

  6. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Rattan Lal

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Kilima, F.T.M., Kurwijila, L.R. (2020). Integrating Smallholder Farmers to Commodity Value Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Prospects and Policy Issues. In: Singh, B., Safalaoh, A., Amuri, N., Eik, L., Sitaula, B., Lal, R. (eds) Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource Sustainability in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_24

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