Global agrifood supply chain, EU food-safety standards and African small-scale producers [Elektronische Ressource] : the case of high-value horticultural export from Kenya / von Solomon Asfaw

Solomon Asfaw

Sujets

• Social work

Informations

• Publié par: gottfried_wilhelm_leibniz_universitat_hannover
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Global Agrifood Supply Chain, EU Food-safety Standards
and African Small-scale Producers: The Case of High-
value Horticultural Export from Kenya

Von der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät
der Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doktor der Wirtschaftswissenschaften
– Doctor rerum politicarum –
genehmigte Dissertation
von
Solomon Asfaw (M.Sc.)
geboren am 12.03.1977 in Dambi-Dollo (Ethiopia)
2008 ii


















Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Hermann Waibel
Lehrstuhl Entwicklungs- und Agrarökonomik
Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Gottfried Wilhelm
Leibniz Universität Hannover
Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Grote Umweltökonomik und Welthandel
Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Gottfried Wilhelm Universität Hannover

Tag der Promotion: Fritag, 21. November 2008
iii












This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my father, Asfaw Tekle
(circa 1944 – 2005)
iv
Acknowledgements
For undertaking the research and writing the thesis, I am indebted to numerous
persons and institutions. I feel blessed, and I am very grateful, for all the support I
received throughout my doctoral study at Leibniz University of Hannover.
My foremost appreciation and thanks goes to my first supervisor Prof. Dr.
Hermann Waibel, for offering me the opportunity to undertake my Ph.D. research,
his constant guidance, invaluable advice, constructive criticisms, and keen interest
in the study. I am grateful to him for the encouragement, friendly approach and
his moral, intellectual and financial support. I also deeply appreciate his kindness,
concern for my well being, and for opening the doors to so many opportunities for
me. I am also very grateful to Dr. Dagmar Mithöfer, International Centre of Insect
Physiology and Ecology (icipe), for her useful and valuable comments and kind
advices starting from the early design of the proposal. I am grateful to her for her
constant support and outstanding efficiency in responding to my questions and
writings, which made the completion of this work possible. She was very
generous with her time and patiently and carefully read several drafts of this
dissertation. I would also like to thank her family as a whole for their hospitality
during my stay in Kenya.
Without the kind cooperation of those involved in the data collection, this study
would not have been possible. The enumerators deserve special thanks for the
effort they made to collect reliable data. I would also like to thank the farmers who
participated in our study and provided us with all important data through out the
survey. I am also indebted to staff in International Centre of Insect Physiology and
Ecology for their logistic, material and moral support. My special thanks
especially go to Dr. Bernhard Löhr and Mrs. Eddah Nan’gole. The co-operation
and technical support by the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and export
companies also deserve great appreciation.
A unique atmosphere of mutual support and collaboration pervades the Institute
of Development and Agricultural Economics community. This invaluable social v
capital made my graduate studies in Hannover one of the most enjoyable
experiences of my life. I particularly want to thank Mrs. Renate Nause and Mr.
Florian Heinrichs for their friendship and all the many administrative
arrangements they have to make on my behalf.
I would also like to thank my mother, Almaz Bati, for her invaluable impetus and
encouragements for successful completion of my study. Without her scarifies
during my early school age, I could not have been where I am right now. Sincere
thanks are also due to my brother, Getu Asfaw and my sister Alemnesh Asfaw for
their unreserved and relentless support and love. My special thanks also go to
Anna Jankowski (my fiancée) for her unconditional love and support throughout
my study.
I am cordially indebted to the financial support by the German Development
Cooperation (BMZ/GTZ) for the field survey. All of these things are made
possible through the grace and mercy of the almighty loving God.

Solomon Asfaw
November 2008, Hannover vi
Abstract
Many sub-Saharan African countries have been diversifying their export portfolios
away from primary commodities into non-traditional high-value crops to increase
their export earning and as a pro-poor development strategy to reduce poverty.
Several studies have documented the positive contribution of the horticultural
export sector in reducing poverty. However, there are concerns that the
proliferation and enhanced stringency of food-safety standards that are imposed
by high-income countries can negatively affect the competitiveness of producers
in developing countries and impede actors from entering or even remaining in
high-value food markets. In parallel with changes in official standards,
supermarket chains in Europe have developed prescriptive, production-oriented
standards, e.g. the European Union Retailers Produce Working Group for Good
Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP), and are asking their suppliers for produce to
be certified according to food-safety and quality standards.
Compliance to these standards for developing countries small-scale producers
necessitate costly investment in variable inputs and long term structures. Thus
unlike larger commercialized farms, smallholder farmers are faced with financial
constraints and human resources limitations in complying with standards.
Consequently, small-scale producers, which are the very target of many
agricultural development programs that aim at poverty reduction in line with the
first Millennium Development Goal (MDG), could become losers of this
development. Yet, in some cases, others argue that such standards can play a
positive role, providing the catalyst and incentives for the modernization of export
supply and regulatory systems and the adoption of safer and more sustainable
production practices. The central item of this research is therefore to test these
propositions using data collected from Kenyan small-scale vegetable producers.
Data were collected by means of farm household surveys in five export vegetable
producing districts of Kenya from September 2005 to August 2006. Overall, 21
sub-locations were randomly selected from the five districts by Probability
Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique and a total of 539 vegetable vii
producer households were selected randomly for the interviews. For each
randomly selected household the survey combined a single visit (re-call survey)
and a season-long monitoring of production practices.
Different econometric models are applied to address the research questions. First,
two-stage standard treatment effect model and propensity score matching
techniques are used to investigate small-scale producers’ decision to adopt
GlobalGAP private production standards and examine whether investment in
food-safety standards compliance pays off for small-scale producers. Next, the
impact of standards on value of production and pesticide use are investigated by
applying three-stage damage control production framework that enables to
control for a multiple endogeneity problem. Finally, health and environmental
impact of adopting standards are evaluated by making use of a two-stage Poisson
regression model.
The results of the study can be summarized into three major categories. First,
smallholders as compared to large-scale farmers face difficulties in complying
with the standards due to a range of constraints. Results show that access to
information, capital, services and availability of labor are major factors influencing
the ability of small-scale producers to adopt standards and exploit export
opportunities for agricultural and food products in developed country markets.
Standards do not however eliminate smallholder farmers as a whole from export
markets but they discriminate within the group of smallholder producers. Hence,
the results support the findings of studies which submit that resource poor
farmers with limited access to information and services face difficulties to comply
with certification schemes. On the other hand small-scale farmers who do adopt
the standards enjoy a range of benefits including higher net-income and stronger
bargaining positions with exporters. The financial internal rate of return on
investments in standards compliance at farm level is remarkably high even when
pessimistic assumptions are made. Comparing the financial internal rate of return
to the medium term lending rate by banks in Kenya, it is reasonable to conclude viii
that investment in standards compliance pays off for small-scale producers in
Kenya even in the absence of external support.
Second, there is indication that adoption of standards can induce positive changes
in production systems of small-scale farmers. Although there is no significant
difference in pesticide expenditures, export producers complying with standards
si