As the global supply chain crisis continues to affect farmers around the world, the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce Industries has called on world authorities to declare fruits and vegetables as ‘strategic goods’. They hope the measures they propose would ease the financial pressures that food producers around the world are feeling right now.
In a declaration published earlier this month, the coalition asked public authorities and multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to respond urgently to crises in the industry. These include significant cost hikes in logistics, inputs such as fertilisers, packaging materials and energy, and an overall shortage of labour which is "jeopardising the economic viability of the fresh produce industry globally".
The coalition estimates that about half of the 1.6 billion tons its members produce worldwide every year is consumed locally while the rest is shipped around the world. Global trade of fruits and vegetables amounted to a market value of 220 billion US dollar in 2020 with more than 200 origins and 200 destinations and including farmers of all scales.
Source: foodformzansi.co.za