This publication is intended to provide guidance to practitioners and policy makers on sustainable fruit and vegetable production, and value chain management, that is resilient to changes in the climate or in market demand.

The document has been divided into 5 chapters:

Conclusions of the report:

A fundamental shift toward more nutritious crops in more diversified cropping systems is necessary. Fruit and vegetables is a key contributor to greater ecological, economic and social equilibrium in food systems. Fruit and vegetables have enormous potential to achieve multiple SDGs due to their high nutritive contents, adaption to cultivation under different environmental conditions, and their resistance to prevalent pests and diseases

The high-value and yet perishable nature of fruit and vegetables offer significant opportunities for new businesses and decent work. These include technical advisory services, input supplies (seeds, trellising, protected cultivation systems, drip irrigation, fertilizer, pest and disease management technologies), post-harvest services (grading, washing, sterilizing, packaging, processing, transportation, storage) and market linkages (food technologies, branding, marketing, participatory guarantee systems, digitalization, traceability schemes and blockchain).

Sustainable fruit and vegetable production is knowledge intensive, particularly with regard to the conservation of soil fertility, managing water resources, developing and implementing biodiverse strategies to control pests and diseases, and ensuring stable market linkages. Progress in ICTs and digitalization make access to knowledge possible and can strengthen local advisory services. Management of this knowledge for high value fruit and vegetables offer the opportunity for several off-farm businesses (e.g. for post-harvest services) that are attractive to youth and can provide decent rural employment to mitigate the migration to urban areas.

Policy support and business prospects to recycle grey water, compost manure and organic waste, development of environmentally compatible options to control pests and diseases, and to manage natural resources are critical, as is the equitable provision of land, water, inputs and access to finance and technical guidance.

In summary, it is necessary to incentivize the provision of sound technical guidance, high-quality inputs and services, and new business opportunities to enable the fruit and vegetable sector to drive the transition from food security to global nutritional security. This can only be achieved if there is market demand from consumers who are encouraged to consume nutritious foods, and if there are political incentives for industrial food manufacturers to distance themselves from unhealthy foods and to formulate appropriate media messaging.