Quality standards for food products: A particular burden for small producers in developing countries?

This paper develops an analytical framework which structures the problem of whether, how and to what extent small producers in developing countries are disadvantaged by the increasing prevalence of food quality standards. Based on a literature review, the empirical evidence is structured and research gaps are identified. The paper finds that small and medium producers rarely comply without support from downstream actors. In case of well-educated and relatively wealthy farmers, forward integrat ion is also found. No empirical support exists for the intuitively appealing hypothesis of a lower cost of compliance per unit of output for large producers.