Fostering the Integration of Agricultural Value Chains of Commodity-Dependent Landlocked Developing Countries into Regional and Global Value Chains
24 November 2021
Excellency,
Distinguished panellists,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is with pride that we could implement our project on “Integrating Landlocked Commodity Dependent Developing Countries into Regional and Global Value Chains" despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
This project is supporting four landlocked developing countries in enhancing their capacities to develop policies and strategies to promote better integration into regional and global value chains.
In each country, the focus was on a specific product and value chain, namely: Roasted coffee in Ethiopia, maize in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, meat in Mongolia and dried fruits in Uzbekistan.
During the project, we have carried out a range of activities, including conducting research, discussing policy implications with stakeholders, and implementing support and capacity-building activities in consultation with the authorities.
We have identified a number of areas where policies need to be strengthened so that producers of the studied products in the beneficiary countries can successfully integrate as exporters into regional and international markets.
I want to highlight some key findings:
First, our research indicates that cooperatives that provide marketing services can increase the prices received by small producers. This is very important given that it matters for the vast majority of farmers. A total of 84 percent of the world’s farms are smaller than two hectares, and 94 percent are smaller than five hectares. The finding is also important in the context that climate change exerts increasing pressure on the income of farmers in developing countries, especially smallholders. Smallholders are also those who have little access to finance and thus few means for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The second finding relates to the need to boost quality along agricultural value chains in order to diversify market access and obtain higher prices for exports. The project showed that there is a need for boosting certification and adopting international standards. For example, more than 80 percent of surveyed farmers in Uzbekistan do not have any form of certification, and no farmer had organic certification. This is problematic in light of the increasing relevance of mandatory and commercial standards for integrating into agricultural international value chains.
We also looked at and want to discuss in this workshop complementary issues for fostering trade in landlocked developing countries, namely, transport and logistics costs, and market access and trade facilitation.
We know that landlocked developing countries face high transport costs and are heavily dependent on connectivity conditions in their own countries as well as in the transition countries through which their trade must pass to reach international markets. This is precisely the case in the four countries of our project.
This situation also means that for many landlocked developing countries market access and trade facilitation measures are essential to successfully export beyond their immediate region. We see that challenge in the four countries of our project. The exports of several of their products go predominantly to neighbouring countries or countries in their region. For example, maize from Lao People’s Democratic Republic is exported almost exclusively to China, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Dried fruits from Uzbekistan are exported mainly to China and the Russian Federation, in addition to the transit countries Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
We hope that the discussions during this workshop will contribute to ongoing and future policy efforts in Ethiopia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Uzbekistan to foster capacity for successful integration into regional and global value chains.
Dear participants,
Commodity dependence, the specific challenges of landlockedness, regional and global value chains and their relationships with sustainable and inclusive development remain central topics for UNCTAD. This was reconfirmed in our recent ministerial conference UNCTAD 15 and our new mandate – the Bridgetown Covenant.
Finally, I would like to thank China for funding this project through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund of the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund for funding this project.
I would like to conclude by wishing you all fruitful discussions during the workshop, and to thank for your attention.
