Promoting Agricultural Value Chains
In the OIC Member Countries
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quality is a significant challenge in the light of poor infrastructure and a general lack of
knowledge on quality standards. This calls for enhanced efforts to adopt quality standards and
implement quality control.
7. Identify market opportunities for standard compliance
While standards for food safety and quality are often difficult to comply with, considerable
market opportunities exist for those producers who are compliant. Depending on type of
produce and the type of target market, opportunities lie in Halal production/processing aimed
at Muslims around the world and in certified production for high-income countries, such as
organic and Fairtrade.
8. Work towards more transparency and traceability
Modern markets require that the origin of the produce is known and that there is a clear chain
of custody. Such transparency is not possible in informal value chains, but only in modern
chains where systems of traceability can be put in place.
9. Collaborate with relevant standardisation efforts
Voluntary standards have become tremendously successful in international markets, such as
GlobalGAP, Fairtrade, organic, and some standards developed by multi-stakeholder initiatives,
such as the Better Cotton Initiative and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Governments
of OIC countries can promote capacity building for increased standard adoption.
10. Close the infrastructure gap
Closing the infrastructure gap in many OIC countries is critical for increasing agricultural
productivity and promoting value chain development. Dimensions of infrastructural
development include irrigation, quality control, product storage, transport infrastructure,
processing facilities, electricity, water supply, physical market places, and trading facilities.
11. Promote public-private partnerships for infrastructure development
Many agricultural value chains in OIC countries currently suffer from insufficient investment
and other challenges associated with inadequate and outdated infrastructure. Governments of
OIC Member Countries can promote public-private partnerships to develop the agricultural
industry and infrastructure in particular.
12. Organise chain supporters
Many OIC countries lack a well-developed service sector to support value chain actors. In these
countries buyers or the public sector have to play a role in building a professional service
sector through complementary, possibly non-competitive, investments.
13. Developing smallholder agriculture
Small-scale farmers constitute the majority of agricultural producers in the OIC. Given that
they will continue to be the mainstay of agricultural production, policy-makers should design
strategies that promote their transition to commercial farming able to cater for growing urban
markets. This entails systematically addressing the main challenges that smallholders face:
lack of knowledge on enhancing productivity; difficult access to high quality inputs;
noncompliance with international standards; and lack of supporting services.