Green value chains offer smallholder farmers in Africa’s drylands a more sustainable future

In Africa’s drylands, small-scale farming is characterised by low productivity and financial returns. Smallholder farmers primarily produce food for their families and their local community. They operate within informal ‘short’ agri-food value chains. However, the income from these short value chains is inconsistent, and opportunities to grow and expand into other markets are few and far between. Gaining entry to higher-value informal or formal agri-food value chains can put a small-scale farmer on a different track. The development of new agri-food value chains, or expansion or formalisation of existing value chains can expose smallholders to new markets, opportunities to pivot to higher-value crops, new skills and technologies and greater income security. In line with this understanding, Resilient Food Systems and its partners, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provide guidance and technical assistance to country projects in support of the development of resilient and sustainable, or ‘green’, agri-food value chains.