Donors and Agro-food standards

A large number of donors have supported projects and programmes to improve the capacity of developing countries to conform to the current generation of international agro-food standards. However, research carried out jointly by DIIS and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania suggests that the impacts of these activities have been limited. Donors need to be more realistic about the conditions under which government capacity in the area can be improved, and under which smallholders can achieve standards conformity in ways that generate sustainable welfare benefits. Improved coordination around better-targeted support to governments, a more critical relation to standards initiatives, and tightened eligibility criteria in programmes of support for smallholder certification are proposed. The research project is financed by Danida.