Two activities have been carried out under the auspices of the FAO programme on "Enhancing Food Quality and Safety by Strengthening Handling, Processing and Marketing in the Food Chain".

Quality and Safety in the traditional horticultural marketing chains of Asia, by Andrew W. Shepherd (1mb)
endeavours to examine what happens within the horticultural supply chain to affect safety and quality and what are the constraints faced within that chain that impact adversely on the ability to make improvements. The paper tentatively concludes that traditional marketing systems presently provide little motivation or incentive for farmers to make improvements to either quality or safety. Improving quality and safety will require recognition that farmers and traders need to be motivated by the marketing system to make changes. The availability of information and resources to enable those involved to make those changes is also essential. The paper further argues that governments need to improve the condition of many markets through upgrading management and reinvesting market fees in physical infrastructure. Wholesale markets need to investigate the feasibility of developing separate sections to handle fruits and vegetables that meet defined safety and quality standards. Ways in which farmers can link with retailers through traditional channels, including through organization into groups, clusters, associations, cooperatives, etc. should be explored.

Proceedings of the FAO/AFMA workshop on Quality and Safety in the Horticultural Marketing Chains of Asia (0.5mb), wich was convened in Bangkok from 7-10 November 2005. Emphasis was on identifying ways of overcoming constraints to improvement of traditional marketing channels. It was noted that regulations on quality and safety often failed to be implemented because of a lack of resources or because farmers and traders lack incentives to comply with the rules. Consumers remain suspicious of the safety and quality of the produce they buy; in some cases despite official quality labelling.

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