By María Florencia Millán Placci, Senior Economist, Consultant on Agriculture, Trade and Logistics, World Bank

Adequate market access for agricultural production helps ensure that better prices are paid to producers and by final consumers, whether local or international. Efficient agrologistics also allows local producers to enter export markets and thus expand their production. At the country level, it permits greater competitiveness of export products. Furthermore, efficiently linking agricultural production to markets is key to maintaining food quality, maximizing shelf life and minimizing losses.

The movement of agricultural goods involves several steps from farm to market: on-farm post-harvest management; storage and handling, including cold storage; processing and packaging; transportation from farms to collection and processing centres and onwards to distribution networks; and distribution by wholesalers, retailers and exporters.

From a value chain perspective, the first step is post-harvest treatment at the place of production, with some agriculture products then being warehoused and others being directly transported. Transportation to collection centres and/or treatment plants, depending on the product, is done via rural and/or tertiary roads. In general, this transportation takes time, since these roads may not be paved. The vehicles used can be producers’ pickup trucks or small vans, in smaller countries and farms, or bigger trucks in the case of grain producers. Once the food reaches the collection or transformation centre, another road journey begins through secondary and primary networks to the wholesale centres, from which food is distributed to retailers or export outlets. Products destined for the international market also travel directly from the processing centres to the border, whether land, air or sea.

Deficiencies in agrologistics imply an increase in losses and may also imply lower quality. These deficiencies may occur during:

Food storage, transportation and marketing (post-harvest handling and storage) due to mechanical damage in post-harvest handling, the low quality of containers in the field or packaging for transport, a lack of adequate facilities for supply, or the poor condition of roads and related infrastructure.

Food processing (packaging of processed products) due to a lack of adequate food processing and packaging conditions or inadequate monitoring of product specifications (for example, size and cosmetic standards, among others).

Food retail trade and supply (distribution/marketing) due to delays in transportation and distribution or a lack of marketing options.

At any stage of the agrologistics chain, sustainability can help reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, decrease the water footprint, lower food loss and waste and obtain higher prices for sustainable, healthy and high-quality products. Some examples include cooling warehouses run by solar energy, fuel-efficient trucks for transportation, and eco-friendly product packaging. Not only are these measures important for national and international market requirements and climate change mitigation goals, but they also contribute to offering healthy products for demanding consumers.