Farming and product quality in the tropics

Abstract

The requirements of quality concern the same regulations for the consumers of the South as well as the North. However, the contextof southern countries in terms of climatic conditions as well as sociological or economic leads to differentiated positions. The contextof the South returns to the need for setting up specific control systems, and for establishing standards according to the concernedmarkets. The characterization of the livestock products specific to tropical countries (for example creole animal meat in the WestIndies or camel milk in the Middle East) is a step to precisely tackle the question of the standards applicable in southern countries.Quality consequently becomes a social construction effectively being be based on a participative approach implying all the stakeholdersof a sector. Lastly, it is advisable to distinguish the niches from the market concerned, international, local or regional, withsouthern countries being able to adapt accordingly as with the cattle market in southern Africa.