Key messages The participation of smallholder farmers in high-value and profitable value chains as well as contract farming remains low in Africa. Farmers with limited land resources are more likely to devote a larger share of their land to low-value crops such as cereals, while this pattern weakens with increasing land size and slightly reverses for high-value crops such as spices and herbs. Smallholders in Egypt face a trade-off between ensuring food security for their households and maximizing profit, and land plays a major factor in moderating this trade-off.