Agro-Food Standards and Africa: An Introduction

Global sustainability standards and food security: Exploring unintended effects of voluntary certification in palm oil

“…Today, there are in total 447 labels (www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels (accessed 17 March 2014)), addressing different aspects of the production and trade process. Over time, these labels have come to include more substantive issues and become more detailed and stringent (Auld, 2014;Auld et al, 2009;Gibbon and Lazaro, 2010). Table 2 illustrates the rapid growth of some selected certified commodities and their relative share of global production and consumption.…”

Exporting to Russia? Entry barriers for food suppliers in a territory in transition

“…Compliance with standards has been singled out as a fundamental chain entry barrier to GVCs governed by Western buyers (see, e.g., Nadvi, 2008;Kaplinsky, 2000). Buyers' determination of the terms of trade and co-operation throughout chains have come to include governance through standards over the past three decades, due to a rise of new discourses on transparency and accountability (see, e.g., Gibbon and Lazarro, 2010). This development is closely related to the restructuring of the organization and distribution of production in, for instance, large supermarkets.…”

The Rise of India in the Development of Africa: The Case of the Agro-food Sector

“…Water management, pumping, and irrigation are the most frequently mentioned illustrations of so-called appropriate technologies. But seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanical equipment also rank high in Indo-African cooperation and trade (Gibbon et al, 2010).…”