IN THIS MODULE Overview. The market for safe and traceable food can exclude small-scale producers who lack the resources to comply with strict standards. Wider access to information communication technologies (ICTs) may lift some of these barriers. The proliferation of mobile devices, advances in communications, and greater affordability of nanotechnology offer potential for small-scale producers to implement traceability systems and connect to global markets. This module examines the effects of food traceability requirements and describes traceability systems implemented in the developing world. For small-scale producers, group systems development and certification may ease some of the constraints in implementing traceability systems, along with capacity strengthening in selecting appropriate technologies for traceability. Networks and partnerships with public, private, or nonprofit organizations can help finance and build traceability systems. Traceability technologies implemented for high-value crops may also expand smallholders' ability to reach key markets. Topic Note 12.1: The Importance of Standard Setting and Compliance. Traceability is becoming an increasingly common element of public (both regulatory and voluntary) interventions and of private systems for monitoring compliance with quality, environmental, and other standards. Stringent food safety and traceability requirements trigger new transaction costs for small-scale producers without adequate capital investment and public infrastructure. This note provides an overview of the wide and growing array of public and private standards, domestic and international standards, and data standards, with special attention to issues that impinge on developing countries' capacity to comply with them.  Mango Traceability System Links Malian Smallholders and Exporters to Global Consumers Topic Note 12.2: Traceability Technologies, Solutions, and Applications. Smallholders face serious challenges in complying with standards, particularly with tracking requirements. The mobile wireless and nanotechnology revolution offers the potential to change all that as remote producers and smallholders gain access to ICTs. Mobile phones, radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, wireless sensor networks, and global positioning systems (GPS) are some technologies that enable compliance with food safety and traceability standards. They also make it possible to monitor environmental and location-based variables and communicate them to databases for analysis.

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