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Agrifood value chains are an integral part of food systems, moving food from farms where it is produced to retailers where it is sold to consumers. Agrifood value chains can be quite simple—consumers can buy directly from farms at farmers’ markets, for example—or they can be quite complex, involving processing steps on multiple continents before products reach retailers. Yet research often sets aside these distinctions and depicts agrifood value chains as highly stylized and simple—typically as a simplified series of steps involving traders, aggregators, processors, and/or wholesalers between farms and retailers. The most common method for studying multiple intermediary actors within agrifood value chains—“stacked surveys” that randomly sample respondents within each of these steps—follows this simplified approach.

One of the emerging developments in agrifood systems worldwide is the rise of enterprises which provide farmers with “outsource” agricultural services. These services are emerging in various agricultural operations traditionally carried out by farmers themselves. But what has driven this growth? And how might they impact the future of farms?

The initiative Rethinking Food Markets - CGIAR team organized a one-day stakeholders’ workshop for WP1 global coffee value chain in Honduras on February 2nd, 2023, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. In Central America, the Initiative is led by the Alliance of Biodiversity International & CIAT (ABC), it focuses on two work packages: WP1 focuses on increasing participation and profitability of smallholders and agrifood SMEs in the global coffee value chain, and WP2 on innovations for inclusive and sustainable growth of domestic maize and bean value chains.

Common beans and maize are an important part of the diet of Hondurans and are the two main staple grains consumed in the country. A team from the Rethinking Food Markets Initiative hosted a half-day workshop with stakeholders in Tegucigalpa on November 29, 2023, to present research progress on two components: the production and marketing component, and the food processing industry component.

Shrimp is Bangladesh’s main agricultural export and a substantial source of income and employment. However, global supermarket supply chains require traceability and certification systems that are challenging for many small-scale farms to meet. Can organizing farms into clusters overcome this challenge? 

Bangladesh’s shrimp production and exports have been in steady decline in recent years. Most shrimp exports from Bangladesh are used by niche food markets in Europe, but there is rising interest to enter global supermarket supply chains as these can be more profitable.