Intervention Package 4

Improving agricultural value chains and trade is crucial for reducing rural poverty, promoting economic transformation, and fostering inclusive growth in developing economies. Southeast Asia has made progress in these areas through increased market integration. However, challenges remain, including engaging with globalized value chains affected by various factors. These factors can exacerbate hunger, hinder market development, and prevent smallholders from benefiting. To address these challenges, policy, institutional, regulatory, and technological innovations are vital. Priority areas include reducing trade barriers, increasing market integration, improving inclusive and efficient agricultural value chains, and managing complex trading arrangements while promoting inclusiveness, harmonizing food safety standards, and enhancing facilitation and knowledge sharing.

IP4 aims to create a globally competitive, resilient, and inclusive food system in ASEAN by enhancing trade facilitation, market integration, and value-chain innovations. It will foster knowledge sharing, policy reforms, and economic assessments to support a sustainable and equitable food system that improves efficiency, nutrition, and food safety.

IP4 seeks to stimulate inclusive, efficient, safe, and sustainable agri-food trade and value chains, by providing evidence for and engaging in the best innovations and policies for: 

• improving inclusive trade and market integration by quantifying distributional effects of actual and potential trade under alternative policy and regulatory frameworks,

• generating evidence on improving value chain efficiency through economic assessment of innovative models,

• improving sustainable and resilient agri-food transformation across AMS by using harmonized risk-based assessment for interventions, and

• implementing pilot innovations and assessing their potential for scaling up through national engagement, capacity sharing, and regional cooperation

1. Decreased number of trade barriers and increased capacity in global trade negotiations

2. Increased food market integration at both intra and inter ASEAN level

3. Increased benefits of agri-food value chains to smallholders, women and youth in AMS

4. Enhanced security, safety, sustainability and resilience of agri-food systems in ASEAN

• Improve International Trade and Market Integration, particularly for under-trading countries

• Enhance Agricultural Value Chain Efficiency

• Harmonization of Food Safety Standards and Approaches to Facilitate Regional Trade

• National Engagement, Capacity Sharing and Regional Cooperation

The IP aims to improve agri-food trade and value chains in ASEAN, benefiting smallholder farmers, SMEs, and rural households. Targeted beneficiaries will include women and youth. The innovation will be co-designed and scaled up with AMS partners, capitalizing on the immense potential of agri-food trade in developing countries.

Kevin Chen
Intervention Package 4 Convener
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

k.chen@cgiar.org