Global value chains (GVCs) have changed the nature of production and specialisation around the world, including in agriculture and food sectors. This study takes an in-depth look at the landscape of agro-food GVCs and explores the factors that influence GVC participation by making use of a newly developed database on trade in value added for 20 agro-food sectors derived from the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database. The study also explores the benefits of GVC participation, viewed through the lens of domestic value added creation and employment, with a focus on the policy factors that influence these benefits. The study points to considerable variation in GVC participation across agro-food sectors, driven not only by product characteristics but also by policy factors related to trade and investment, the agricultural enabling environment and policies influencing service markets. The study shows that for agro-food sectors, trade barriers act as a tax on exports, reducing the domestic value added created from participation in agro-food GVCs.