The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a leading agency in the development of the value chain approach and in making it more applicable to the small-farmer agriculture context. If agribusiness development is to play a key role in reducing rural poverty, then governments will need to understand and have the capacity to create enabling conditions for agribusiness while also monitoring and taking necessary steps to protect and enhance the livelihoods of small scale farmers and others members of rural and urban communities likely to be affected by agribusiness and agro-industry development.