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A quantitative analysis of trends in agricultural and food global value chains (GVCs)

Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020










Dellink, R., Dervisholli, E. & Nenci, S. 2020. A quantitative analysis of trends in agricultural and food global value chains (GVCs). Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020. Rome, FAO.



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    Mapping global value chain (GVC) participation, positioning and vertical specialization in agriculture and food
    Technical note for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020
    2020
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    This Technical Report includes: • A policy note with: 1) a short review of the literature on the state-of-art methodologies for computing indicators for global value chain (GVC) participation, positioning and vertical specialization; and 2) a mapping and short analysis of agriculture and food GVCs by world region. • A Data set, in Excel format, that includes time series of GVC indicators computed at country/industry level for the period from 1990 to 2015 for agriculture and food sectors for all countries with data in the EORA dataset.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    The effects of global value chain (GVC) participation on the economic growth of the agricultural and food sectors
    Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020
    2020
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    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 product level, the availability of new aggregate data on trade in value added, now provides an unprecedented opportunity to carry out a global empirical assessment of the linkages. The present paper examines new measures of GVCs participation and positioning from the EORA panel data for the period 1995–2015 (Nenci, 2020) and tests their effects on changes in agriculture value added per worker. The results show that changes in GVC participation are, on average and ceteris paribus, positively associated with changes in agriculture value added per worker, net to time-invariant confounders, whereas mixed results are found on the effects of countries’ positioning along the value chain. In the conclusive remarks, the authors argue that import tariff and non-tariff barriers – including barriers to service trade – should be seen as the first obstacle to increase GVC participation and improve domestic value-added. The presence of signs of heterogeneity by geographical location confirms that general universal recipes do not exist.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Agricultural value chains and social and environmental impacts: Trends, challenges, and policy options
    Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020
    2020
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    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 food to feed a growing population. In this context, it is critical to examine how markets can be shaped to be pro-poor and to reduce negative social and environmental externalities. The current paper examines policies, institutional arrangements, and initiatives that target and affect different agricultural supply chain actors to improve environmental and social outcomes. Specifically, it reviews the non-economic consequences associated with the current operation and structure of global and domestic food value chains and identifies successful private and public strategies to shape food markets that foster non-economic benefits (social and environmental). The paper provides key lessons and discusses policy implications on how markets can generate balanced economic objectives that also achieve desired nutritional, social, and environmental outcomes. It also highlights areas of future research to further understand the linkages between market forces shaping food value chains (FVCs) and non-economic outcomes.

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