The persistence of undernutrition and the increasing levels of overweight and obesity worldwide (with their associated societal costs) are calling for a transformation of food systems towards healthier diets. Fruits and vegetables are key components of a healthy diet; however, their consumption is considerably below the minimal levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This underconsumption is particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries and among low-income socio-economic groups in all countries. This paper uses the value chain approach to analyze the factors that affect the availability and affordability of fruits and vegetables. It examines major challenges across the value chain and identifies opportunities for improvement as seen through a nutrition-sensitive lens. Factors that negatively affect the availability and affordability of fruits and vegetables discussed in this paper include low production and productivity, the loss of agrobiodiversity, inadequate technology, logistics and infrastructure, weak organizational, business, and technical skills, and inefficient market linkages across the supply chain. The paper proposes a number of policy recommendations based on insights from documented cases of good practices and on lessons learned in domestic and export-oriented value chains. The paper makes a case for reviving native, underutilized, and neglected fruit and vegetable varieties to improve nutrition and increase agrobiodiversity. In addition, short value chains delivering to local markets are recommended as a resilience strategy for smallscale producers and low-income consumers in the face of climatic and economic shocks.

Policies with a focus on fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) need special consideration because of the high perishability and susceptibility of F&Vs to waste and loss, high labour demand, yield variations, and high consumer prices. Factors that limit the availability and affordability of F&Vs include low production and productivity, the loss of agrobiodiversity, inadequate technology, logistics and infrastructure, weak organizational, business and technical skills, and inefficient market linkages across the supply chain. Many value chains for F&Vs need improvements, investments and shortening as well as gender-responsive approaches, including gender-sensitive investments, to achieve better producer prices, lower risk and higher quality, especially for small farmers.

Using sustainable food value chain development (SFVCD) approaches to reduce poverty presents both great opportunities and daunting challenges. SFVCD requires a systems approach to identifying root problems, innovative thinking to find effective solutions and broad-based partnerships to implement programmes that have an impact at scale. In practice, however, a misunderstanding of its fundamental nature can easily result in value-chain projects having limited or non-sustainable impact. Furthermore, development practitioners around the world are learning valuable lessons from both failures and successes, but many of these are not well disseminated. This new set of handbooks aims to address these gaps by providing practical guidance on SFVCD to a target audience of policy-makers, project designers and field practitioners. This first handbook provides a solid conceptual foundation on which to build the subsequent handbooks. It (1) clearly defines the concept of a sustainable food value chain; (2) presents and discusses a development paradigm that integrates the multidimensional concepts of sustainability and value added; (3) presents, discusses and illustrates ten principles that underlie SFVCD; and (4) discusses the potential and limitations of using the value-chain concept in food-systems development. By doing so, the handbook makes a strong case for placing SFVCD at the heart of any strategy aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in the long run.

The International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021 (IYFV), as declared by the UN General Assembly in Resolution A/RES/74/244, aims at raising awareness of, directing policy attention to, and sharing good practices on the nutritional and health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption, the contribution of fruit and vegetable consumption to the promotion of diversified, balanced and healthy diets and lifestyles, and reducing loss and waste of fruits and vegetables. This background paper outlines the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption, but also examines the various aspects of the fruit and vegetable sector from a food systems approach: from sustainable production and trade to loss and waste management. This paper provides an overview of the sector and a framework and a starting point for discussion for the Year, highlighting the interlinkages of stakeholders and key issues to be considered for action during the IYFV.

The 2024 AATM investigates critical issues related to African agricultural trade. As in previous editions of the report, we have developed a database that corrects discrepancies in trade flow values, as reported by importing and exporting countries, as the basis for analyzing Africa’s international, domestic, and regional economic community (REC) trade. Given the pressing need to address climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions, this year’s AATM takes an in-depth look at the relationship between climate change, water use, and emissions and African agricultural trade.

This background paper summarizes the evidence on the effects of fruits and vegetable intakes on direct and indirect health outcomes. Modeling and observational research studies have reported benefits to sustainability outcomes and a reduction of inequities in food systems with the production of fruits and vegetables grown within agroecological systems and distributed through short supply chains. Such systems require protection from large-scale monocropping and industrial methods of food production and supply.

In view of the upcoming International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV) to be observed in 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) organized the FAO/WHO International Workshop on Fruits and Vegetables 2020. The aim was to review global evidence surrounding the effectiveness of interventions and the policy, programmatic and scientific advances in the decades since the Joint FAO/WHO Workshop on Fruit and Vegetables for Health (Kobe, Japan, 2004). The overall goal of the FAO/WHO International Workshop on Fruits and Vegetables 2020 was to develop evidence-based, actionable recommendations for future policies, laws, regulations and programmes aiming to improve F&V consumption, production and value chains.