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Promoting Agricultural Value Chains:

In the OIC Member Countries

56

Table 4-2 Smallholder integration approaches in selected OIC Member Countries

Integrated

development

Producer

organisations

Public-private

partnerships

Donor/NGO

programmes

No specific

policies

Malaysia

Indonesia

Senegal

Egypt

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Mauritania

Palestine

Turkey

Egypt

The Gambia

Jordan

Uganda

Egypt

Indonesia

Nigeria

Mauritania

Mali

Cameroon

Tajikistan

Sudan

Saudi Arabia

Oman

Chad

Source: Authors’ elaboration

Upgrading, which is defined in terms of increased productivity, efficiency and quality, plays an

essential role in bringing smallholders into formalised, higher value markets because it

increases smallholder contributions to value added (Dunn, 2014). While informal markets

require no standard quality or grading norms, modern retail chains and export markets often

require the delivery of specific crop cultivars with characteristics (e.g. size, shape, taste) that

consumers prefer and the adherence to quality and food safety standards related to pesticides

or bacterial contamination. Quality control measures may include public inspections (e.g. for

CODEX Alimentarius adherence) or independent third-party inspection (e.g. for GlobalGAP and

organic production).

However, in many OIC countries smallholder products are often not compliant with the

demands of high value markets, owing to a generally weak institutional environment with

lacking extension support or absence of financial services in rural areas, and a lack of

resources and capacities on the part of producers. Particularly the lack of well-defined food

quality standards and quality control makes it difficult for smallholders to access formalised

value chains. As agricultural produce passes through numerous middlemen, traders and

wholesalers, there are more chances for it to be exposed to unhygienic conditions and failing to

meet even basic food safety requirements.

Box 2. Helping farmers to become certified for increased value added: The Jordan Exporters and

Producers Association (JEPA)

In Jordan, fresh fruit and vegetables constitute most of its agricultural exports. The EU has been identified as

the most lucrative market for value capture compared to, for instance, other Arab countries. Since exports to

the EU are held to high quality standards, such as GlobalGAP, market access was initially restricted to a small

number of large Jordanian producers. However, due to the initiative of the Exporters and Producers

Association (JEPA) – an organisation that comprises members from all stages of the agricultural value chain –

the number of GlobalGAP certified producers has been growing rapidly in recent years. Since 2006, it provides

advisory and training services for GlobalGAP as well as other standards (HACCP, ISO 9000, organic). The

number of certified farmers increased from 1 with the start of the training programme to 100 in 2012 (Oxford

Business Group, 2012a). By now, JEPA members are responsible for 100 percent of Jordanian agricultural

exports to Europe (USAID & EAT, 2012).