Vegetables are mankind’s most affordable source of vitamins and minerals needed for good health. Today, neither the economic nor nutritional power of vegetables is sufficiently realised. To tap the economic power of vegetables, governments will need to increase their investment in farm productivity (including improved varieties, alternatives to chemical pesticides, and the use of protected cultivation), good post-harvest management, food safety, and market access. To tap the nutritional power of vegetables, consumers need to know how vegetables contribute to health, and find them at affordable prices or be able to grow them themselves.
Vegetable consumption must therefore be nurtured through a combination of supply-side interventions and behavioural change communication emphasising the importance of eating vegetables for good nutrition and health. To fully tap the economic and nutritional power of vegetables, governments and donors will need to give vegetables much greater priority than they currently receive. Now is the time to prioritise investments in vegetables, providing increased economic opportunities for smallholder farmers and providing healthy diets for all.
Food security has long been associated with a vision of an abundance of grains, roots, and tubers – the staple crops that provide affordable sources of dietary energy. But this picture is changing as the concept of nutrition security has become embedded in that of food security and the importance of dietary diversity for good health has moved to the fore.
Fruits and vegetables are essential sources for the micronutrients needed for healthier diets. Potassium in vegetables helps to maintain healthy blood pressure, their dietary fiber content reduces blood cholesterol levels and may lower the risk of heart disease, folate (folic acid) reduces the risks of birth defects, and vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy, while vitamin C not only keeps teeth and gums healthy but also aids in iron absorption. Recognising the important nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables, increasing vegetable production to respond to this demand creates important economic opportunities, especially for smallholder farmers.
Market-oriented vegetable farming not only creates income for smallholder farmers but also helps to build their resilience to external risks. Diversity of vegetable crops, short growing cycles, and efficient use of irrigation can reduce farmers’ vulnerability to climate change. For economic resilience, farmers may either opt to integrate vegetables into existing staple cropping systems or move into specialised vegetable production.
Vegetable production, processing, and marketing, offer potential opportunities that can be especially attractive to youth: production requires only small amounts of land, is technology-savvy, and high profits can be obtained in a relatively short period of time. Furthermore, low levels of mechanisation in vegetable production and the need for careful handling of produce often create a specific demand for female labour. Public investments in infrastructure, training, and subsidies in support of vegetable value-chains could advance such employment.
The potential of vegetables to generate positive economic and nutritional impacts, however, has been limited by the relatively low levels of support that national governments and international donors direct to public sector vegetable research and development. Public and private investments in agriculture are still largely focussed on staple crops and oil crops, not on commodities rich in micronutrients.
To the extent that private sector investments in lower income countries are directed at vegetables, these tend to be focussed on a narrow range of globally-important vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, green beans, peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers.
Tomatoes alone are the fourth most economically-valuable food crop produced in low- and middle-income countries, after rice, sugarcane, and wheat. Tomatoes accounted for US$63 billion per year in traded value (at farmgate) in 2012–13, with 35% of this value produced in China. There has been a rapid growth in tomato production in middle-income countries since 1990, with a remarkable six-fold increase in per capita tomato production in China, reflecting the country’s overall growth in horticultural production and the potential for economic gain associated with tomatoes. These opportunities are foregone in low-income countries as tomato production in these countries has shown little or no growth.
Rising vegetable demand is driven by rising incomes as well as population growth. Globally, a 1% increase in per capita income in developing countries is associated with a 0.5% increase in per capita vegetable availability. It follows that the bulk of the global supply of fruit and vegetables (77% of total value) is produced in populous middle-income countries. China accounts for 45% of the global value of vegetable production and 24% of fruit production (FAO, 2017). India comes second, accounting for 8% and 7% of global vegetable and fruit production, respectively.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data on food balance sheets suggest that the current per capita availability of vegetables in upper-middle income countries has converged to levels observed in high-income countries and that availability in middle income countries is increasing at the same rate. Low-income countries, on the other hand, have seen little growth in their average vegetable production, and availability is well below the recommended consumption level.
It is also likely that productivity of vegetable farming is not rising as rapidly as it could be. Technological progress relies upon systematic research efforts to develop new varieties, crop management techniques, and innovations in postharvest handling and processing.
Private sector research investment is important, particularly for vegetables. Data on private sector investments in vegetable R&D are difficult to collect. However, the extensive consolidation that has taken place in the global vegetable seed industry and competitiveness within the industry for market share are indicative of its large economic value.
To meet the growing market demand for vegetables at affordable prices, production has to increase. This can be achieved through diversification of staple crop systems to include vegetables as well as intensification of existing specialised vegetable systems.
Most vegetables are highly susceptible to damage from insect pests and plant diseases in the production phase. Certain pests and diseases can cause blemishes or odd shapes as well as reduce yields. Since consumers place a high value on the appearance of fresh produce offered in markets, farm managers often turn to excessive use of pesticides to reduce these economic risks. The use of pesticides is much more intense on high-value crops than on low-value crops and farmers tend to spray preventively to protect their investment
However, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the safety of vegetables. If vegetables regularly contain pathogens or exceed maximum pesticide residue limits, then consumers will associate fresh vegetables with health risks rather than health benefits and reduce consumption. Modernisation of supply chains (e.g refrigeration and quality control systems provided by supermarkets) only offer a partial solution.
Some middle-income countries have seen the development of innovative market channels aimed at offering consumers a more trusted supply of fresh vegetables, some of which is certified as conforming to safety and quality standards. Food safety goals require policymakers to define suitable standards for vegetable production and handling and to put in place systems for monitoring compliance, including regular testing for pesticide residues and pathogens at major markets and public dissemination of the test results.
The rising supply of global vegetables has been linked to investments in research and development of hybrid varieties, and the marketing of seeds appropriately matched to specific production constraints. Policies that have supported private investments in quality vegetable seed development and production have paid off in terms of vegetable supply volumes.
About the article
This article, the first in a planned series of Stabroek Business Features intended to highlight International Year of Fruit and Vegetables (IYFG) is an edited version of an article published in the volume 16, March issue of the publication Global Food Security, March 2018 title, pages 36-45
