Value chain analysis

Seedlings being transported by boat for sale in Gisenyi, Rwanda Photo by Steven Franzel

Overview

Market-oriented production and commercialization of agriculture contribute to increased incomes and alleviation of poverty. However, access to and participation in input and output markets are often constrained by market failures such as high transaction costs or transaction costs skewed towards small and poor producers' households or other less well endowed actors in the supply chain.

Research questions

Our research targets the overall question: How can sub-sector and value chain analyses better inform market actors for improved marketing strategies and performance? Specifically, we examine:

• What improved methods and rapid appraisal tools can be used to analyze sub-sector and value chains, particularly for the benefit of the poor and women farmers?
• What are key constraints and opportunities in selected agroforestry product value chains and how can stakeholders (farmers, policy makers, the private sector and facilitating organizations) address them?

Answering these questions will help assess ways to expand smallholders' access to value chains for agroforestry products and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the chains so as to improve smallholder livelihoods.

Key Partners

• East Africa Dairy Development Project (EADD), Kenya
• Heifer International, USA
• University of Ghent, Belgium
• Hannover University, Germany

Funding

• Ford Foundation
• Sino-German Foundation, Germany
• Belgian Development Corporation, Belgium

Locations

Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines, China, Bolivia, Peru

Related Articles/Blogs

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