On average, farmers receive 27 per cent of what consumers pay for the food they eat at home
Based on an approach originally applied to the US, researchers implemented a standardised method to evaluate the importance of food value chains between farmers and consumers. This yardstick was applied to data from 2005-2015 on 61 middle and high-income nations that account for 90 per cent of the global food economy.
The findings showed that, on average, farmers receive 27 per cent of what consumers pay for the food they eat at home. The study focussed on 3/4th of the food that is consumed in the same country where it is produced. For the other 25 per cent, that is consumer expenditures on imported foods, the farmer share is even less.
The study concluded that the already vast proportion of food money going to post-farm activities (processing, distribution and service activities close to the consumer) is only likely to increase.
The study highlights the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 and set for 2030, as a way to gauge the impact of the growing food value chain sector. What happens to food between farm and consumer will be crucial to many SDGs including those targeting hunger, poverty, and responsible production and consumption.
More to the point, the multi-step processing from farm to the table may not be compatible with sustainable development, the study says.
