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Guarantee funds have been used over the years in many countries, forms and contexts as a way to increase the flow of funds into targeted sectors and groups. Various types of guarantee systems and scheme are used to make lending more attractive by sharing or absorbing the risks associated with lending to the targeted sector or type of enterprise. Such systems can also increase the amount of loan funds available to an enterprise beyond its own collateral limits, because the guarantee is a form of loan collateral. The guarantee manager can assume the additional role of loan assessor and monitor, [...]

"Four case studies on credit guarantee funds for agriculture" is an in-depth analysis of different models of guarantee system. An assessment of these cases, together with a review of the global industry of agricultural guarantee systems, was published as "Credit guarantee systems for agriculture and rural enterprise development". The four case studies in this document provide the reader with a more detailed description of how these individual programmes have worked over time. Three of the programmes are among the largest and longest standing agricultural guarantee funds in the world, and have had both successful and difficult experiences as they evolve [...]

Wheat is of paramount importance in Pakistan, with 80 percent of farmers growing it on a total of about 9 million hectares (ha) - close to 40 percent of the country’s total cultivated land. The crop is grown by predominantly small (0.5 to 5.0 ha) and medium-sized (5 to 10 ha) farmers, whose livelihoods depend on it. Wheat yields in Pakistan remain low, lagging behind those in other countries with comparable agroclimatic conditions. The agro-ecological potential for irrigated wheat in Punjab, Pakistan’s primary production area, suggests that yields of about 6 tonnes/ha could be attained, compared with current yields of 2.5 to 3 tonnes/ha. Assuming that this potential [...]

Malnutrition in all its forms - undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity - imposes unacceptably high economic and social costs on countries at all income levels. "The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: Food systems for better nutrition" argues that improving nutrition and reducing these costs must begin with food and agriculture. The traditional role of agriculture in producing food and generating income is fundamental, but agriculture and the entire food system - from inputs and production, through processing, storage, transport and retailing, to consumption - can contribute much more to the eradication of malnutrition.

Voluntary standards are rules, guidelines or characteristics about a product or a process. They are not mandatory regulations, but are used voluntarily by producers, processors, retailers and consumers. These voluntary standards are usually developed by private sector actors (e.g. firms or consortiums), representatives of civil society, or public sector agencies. Voluntary standards are part of a growing trend in global markets. As a result, FAO and member countries are being asked to respond adequately to the opportunities and challenges presented by business models that could foster both increased food security and better market access for small-scale producers. FAO reviewed the current evidence of the impact of voluntary [...]

These guidelines provide users with the key notions required to carry out analyses of policy impacts by means of a value chain approach and show how to do it in a practical way by making use of relevant tools. In particular, the reader will find this material useful to: Identify the basic units operating in a given value chain (=agents) and the activities they undertake; Quantify the gross revenues, value added creation and profits of every agent; Build different scenarios and measure changes in revenues, value added creation and profits for the different scenarios; Build a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) and compute protection and [...]

This document presents a set of guiding principles that are conducive to responsible contract farming operations. It is intended to serve as guidance for farmers and buyers engaged in contractual relationships, in order to promote good business practices and maintain an atmosphere of trust and respect that is essential if contract farming is to prove effective. This brief is a complement to other publications available on FAO’s Contract Farming Resource Centre (www.fao.org/ag/ags/contract-farming).

The FAO Value Chain Analysis for Policy Making: FAO VCA Tool 3.2  is a programme that has been developed for Value Chain Analysis to analyze and compare the effects of different policy options for agriculture and sustainable rural development. This tool allows you to create an accounting framework for value chain analysis and to compare different scenarios. It also helps you to build and handle your own database. More specifically, the software enables you to systematically gather, store and use data for the implementation of Cost-Benefit and Value Added Analyses. The FAO VCA-Tool software provides you with an effective alternative to spreadsheets, where you can [...]

This volume provides a global review of experiences and learning on the broad subject of value chain finance for agriculture in developing countries. Value chains in agriculture comprise a set of actors who conduct a linked sequence of value-adding activities involved in bringing a product from its raw material stage to the final consumer. Value chain finance, as described in this volume, refers to the financial flows to those actors from both within the value chain and financial flows to those actors from the outside as a result of their being linked within a value chain.

This publication provides insight into the nature and operations of agricultural investment funds and draws lessons for development agencies, governments and investors. It was developed from “Agricultural investment funds for developing countries” (2009), a research study undertaken as a joint collaboration of ConCap Connective Capital (ConCap) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in order to better understand the growth and potential of agriculture and agribusiness investment funds. It included a stocktaking analysis of agricultural investment funds as well as case studies of distinct funds and fund management structures. This publication is enhanced with a complementary analysis of agricultural funds in the broader context [...]