Smallholder agricultural markets are critical for food security, livelihood development, climate protection, gender equity, and economic development in many developing countries, but these markets often struggle to deliver outcomes across these areas. Commercializing smallholder farmers in the agricultural sector is an indispensable path to boosting the economic growth and development of most developing countries, including Ethiopia.
Agri-food value chains are changing rapidly in low and middle-income countries. Central in these changes is the issue of food quality, where attributes of taste, cleanness and safety are increasingly demanded by a growing urban middle class. This evolution can have large consequences for domestic small-scale farmers, depending on whether quality pays and whether farmers are able to satisfy these quality requirements.
It is estimated that over 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food. Population increases and the shift in diets presented by a growing middle class create a huge need and opportunity for a production boost in smallholder agriculture. At the same time, smallholder farming does not provide the level of income needed for the farmers themselves to sustain a dignified livelihood, with many of those dependent on it comprising a significant proportion of the world’s rural poor. This seminar will summarize existing evidence on the existence of domestic markets for quality and their inclusion of small-scale farmers.
This seminar will propose avenues for a policy-oriented research agenda seeking to promote healthier diets through domestic food supply in low-income countries. Professor Tanguy Bernard, who is a Professor of economics at Bordeaux University, France, will give a detailed briefing about market for quality in smallholder agriculture in low income countries. Dr. Kaleab Baye from Addis Ababa University and Dr. Alemayehu Seyoum from International Food Policy Research Institute will share the Ethiopian experience too.
The audience will have an opportunity to interact with the speakers during the Q&A session.
Introduction:
Dr. Aregash Samuel, NIPN Ethiopia National Coordinator, Senior Researcher at the Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate, EPHI
Moderator
Dr. Endale Amare, Researcher at the Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate, EPHI
Speaker: Professor Tanguy Bernard, Director at Bordeaux University, School of Economics, France.
Panelist 1: Dr. Kaleab Baye (Associate professor), Center for Food Science and Nutrition, Addis Ababa University
Panelist 2: Dr. Alemayehu Seyoum, Senior Research Fellow/Program Lead-Ethiopia, IFPRI
Panelist 3: TBA,
Time: 10:00 am (Addis time)
Venue: National Training Center
