The adoption of food traceability systems (FTS) would benefit developing countries' food systems, as these countries bear a significant share of the global burden of foodborne illnesses and rely heavily on the competitiveness of their food operators for employment, smallholder supplier income and foreign exchange generation.

By supporting the introduction, adoption and implementation of FTS in developing countries, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implementing partners (IPs) can advance several U.S. government (USG) development priorities, including the U.S. Governments Global Food Security Strategy, USAID's Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy and USAID’s Digital Strategy, which together call for transparency in global food systems and the development of sound digital ecosystems.

To advance these strategies, USAID and IPs must first understand the factors that drive the adoption and successful implementation of FTS. By first conducting a comprehensive analysis of the enabling environment for traceability in a given country and market channel, USAID and its IPs will uncover the investments needed to improve FTS uptake.

A new resource suite from the Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security (EEFS) project presents, in detail, the various factors influencing FTS uptake to inform analysis prior to FTS investment. These investments may include not only an appropriate technology platform, but also national regulatory reforms, enterprise-level technical capacity building, consumer awareness campaigns, rural information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure expansion and industry association strengthening to promote information sharing between vertical supply chain partners.

Access the full set of resources from EEFS on the enabling environment for food traceability systems, including the technical report, blog series and webinar, to learn what factors enable the successful development and implementation of FTS in developing countries to support food security outcomes.

The Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security (EEFS) project is a pre-competed blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for USAID Missions and operating units to access evidence-based analysis of how the enabling environment influences agricultural market system performance, food security and nutritional outcomes. For further information on how USAID can access EEFS' expertise, please contact the chief of party, Adam Keatts, at akeatts@fintrac.com.