Working with smallholders: a handbook for firms building sustainable supply chains

Smallholder farmers are becoming more important players in global food chains as agribusiness companies seek to secure future food supplies for the world’s growing population. For some crops, smallholders are already an important source of production, but their role is expanding as land constraints limit the potential for growth in plantation agriculture and as the locus of future food market growth shifts to emerging markets. Those markets face increasing demand for affordable, nutritious foods for low-income urban populations. These shifts offer opportunities—particularly for economic growth and poverty alleviation in rural areas—but also pose challenges to upgrade and integrate smallholder agriculture against a backdrop of climate change and increasing water scarcity. Moreover, agribusiness companies, under increasing pressure from consumers, shareholders, governments, and other stakeholders, are making important public commitments on sustainability, including adoption of environmental and labor standards. Meeting these competing demands will require new ways of working and new partnerships to deliver change. This handbook is written for the operational managers in agribusiness companies responsible for integrating smallholder farmers into value chains as suppliers, clients, or customers.