Over the last decade, increasing international fragmentation of production has affected both trade and production: these activities have become increasingly organized around what is commonly referred to as global value chains (GVCs). Increased fragmentation has brought with it challenges of tracing and measuring international divisions of labor, value-added, and so forth. In fact, conventional measures of trade only measure the gross value of exchanges between partners. They are not able...

Trade liberalization has long been advocated as a means to foster growth and welfare. In developing countries, the expansion of global value chain (GVC) participation of agriculture and food sectors could support transformation from a subsistence-oriented and farm-centered system to a commercialized, productive and off-farm centered one. While empirical evidence examining the linkages between GVC participation and economic performance in the agricultural sector has traditionally relied on case studies at the...

This technical paper includes: -A literature review of the impact of trade policies and domestic support measures (for example, subsidies) on global value chain (GVC) participation including the effects of tariffs and non-tariff measures, Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Rules of Origin, as well as recent market developments and trade tensions on GVC linkages. -The computation of indicators and decomposition for 18 agri-food sectors and 29 countries and aggregate regions, derived from...

FAO is analysing and providing updates on the emerging COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on agricultural markets—effects that are still largely unknown. Most current assessments generally foresee a contraction in both supply of and demand for agricultural products, and point to possible disruptions in trade and logistics. On the supply side, widely different views remain on the duration of the shocks, the price dynamics, differential impacts between domestic and international markets, differences across...

At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and in collaboration with the appropriate Government agencies, an FAO assessment Mission visited Lebanon between 2 and 13 February 2020 to conduct an examination of the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the domestic agricultural sector. The Mission put forward recommendations for appropriate actions to be taken by the Government and the international community to minimize the negative impacts...

Digital technologies have a high potential to enable further development of the agricultural sector, significantly reshape food value chains (FVCs), and greatly contribute towards more productive, resilient and transparent food systems. This paper provides a non-technical overview of digital technologies that have a high potential to revolutionize the agriculture and food industry, and contribute towards inclusion of small farmers into FVCs. The particular focus is on digital platforms providing e-commerce...

With the global population approaching 8 billion, the role of agricultural value chains (VCs) is increasingly important in ensuring sustainable and equitable food production. However, in developing countries, market failures can prevent small farmers from fully participating in domestic and global value chains, and issues related to climate change create further challenges. Moreover, greening policies and actions, as well as concerns regarding nutritional outcomes, add complexity to providing nutritious high-quality...

FAO assesses that globally 45 countries, including 34 in Africa, are in need of external assistance for food. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through the loss of income and jobs related to containment measures, have severely aggravated global food security conditions, as well as increasing the number of people in need of assistance. Conflicts and weather shocks remained critical factors affecting the current high levels of severe food...

The FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance System (CCBS) is a database of annual supply and utilization balances for main cereals, covering all countries of the world. Since 1980, the FAO/GIEWS Team maintains and updates it continually. This statistical report contains a subset of CCBS data and presents updated cereal supply and demand balances for all sub-Saharan African countries. It complements the information of the FAO/GIEWS Crop Prospects and Food Situation report...