Background Image
Previous Page  82 / 142 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 82 / 142 Next Page
Page Background

Promoting Agricultural Value Chains

In the OIC Member Countries

73

However, a variety of challenges are noted. At the production level, these include the high

incidence of pests and diseases, and high levels of bacterial contamination of dates. As many

farmers continue to sell their produce through traditional, mostly informal marketing

channels, few incentives exist to enhance quality through improved agricultural practices and

post-harvest management.

At the processing part of the value chain, facilities operate well under capacity which points

towards a gap between growing national date production on the one hand and increased

specialization opportunities, which could create and satisfy demand for processed date

products.

At the trade level, export levels remain low, particularly to high income markets. The majority

of dates are exported to countries that have experienced considerable political instability of

late, which makes the respective markets highly volatile and uncertain.

At the same time, a number of opportunities to enhance the performance and competitiveness

of the date value chain have been identified. These encompass organic date production, taking

advantage of the newly established infrastructure for organic certification, and product

diversification to increase the value added, such as processed and manufactured date

products. Critical for both is a focus on quality management to reduce the percent of

widespread bacterial contamination of dates. The modern marketing channel seems to be

particularly suitable to explore these opportunities, as systems of quality control and

traceability are already in place. Efforts should be undertaken to integrate more date farmers,

who usually sell through traditional marketing channels, into the modern date value chain.