Strengthening the resilience of agricultural supply chains: the case of fresh fruits and vegetables

FAO commodity and trade policy research working paper series 55

Format:

Corporate Author:

Food and Agriculture Organization Markets and Trade Division

Author:

Sabine Sylvia Altendorf

Publisher:

FAO

Fresh fruits and vegetables constitute important commodities in world agricultural production, trade and consumption. Their typically high nutritional value makes fresh fruits and vegetables a critical component in ensuring global food security and nutrition. Since a large share of fruits and vegetables are produced in low income countries, concerns regarding equitable smallholder incomes and foreign exchange generation also play a special role. Over the past decade, global trade in fresh fruits and vegetables more than doubled in response to rising demand, placing this commodity group among the most valuable food commodities in terms of export value. As such, fresh fruits and vegetables constitute telling examples of high value and sometimes delicate export crops with challenging transport needs, with supply chain disruptions negatively impacting on producers, exporters and end users. The need to keep supply chains functioning and to facilitate the availability and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables, is of eminent importance in times of crises, whether these are linked to economic difficulties, disease outbreaks, conflict, natural disasters or other factors. This paper lays out some of the salient features of global trade in fresh fruits and vegetables and the special characteristics pertaining to their supply chain needs. It presents an investigation of market developments observed in 2020/2021 and investigates the potential implications of shocks to supply chains, in order to highlight bottlenecks to be addressed to strengthen the resilience and preparedness of supply chains in times of crises