Background

It is increasingly becoming glaringly clear that many development interventions do not succeed in producing sustainable economic and financial outcomes for the poor. The growing focus on value chain development is to markets work for the poor. Value chain development empowers small businesses and those at the grassroots to sell to more stable, higher volume or higher value markets. Linkages improve the competitiveness of the industry and increase benefits for low-level producers especially through improved access to markets, both domestic and global consequent upon efficient flow of knowledge and resources along value chains.

This study on value chains helps diagnose underlying constraints affecting the performance of value chains as a whole. In principle value chains encompass the full range of activities and services required to bring a product or service from its conception to sale in its final markets (from source to sink)—whether local, national, regional, or global. Those on a value chain would include input suppliers, producers, processors, and buyers, as well as the support services and enabling environments that form a dynamic market system.

 

Value Chain Development (Pretoria, South Africa)

At the end of the course participants should:

  • Be conversant with the value chain approach and its importance
  • Have understood value chain principles that enhance organizational competitiveness
  • Be appreciative of market development foundations and promotion of value chain
  • Be aware of the needs of the market and identify constrains
  • Have understood stakeholders’ roles in value chains
  • Be conversant with strategies, interventions, and methods in development of value chain

The course targets

  • Professionals working in the agricultural sector
  • NGOs and governmental corporations
  • All interested in learning about value chain development

Introduction to Value Chain Development

  • Conceptualisation of issues
  • Significance of value chains
  • Limitations of value chains
  • Constraints in the value chain
  • The Rise of Global Value Chains
  • Value Chain Governance
  • Innovation and Upgrading in Value Chains
  • Inserting an industry into a Global Value Chain
  • Selection of value chain
  • Analysis of value chain
  • New or existing market-based solutions (mbss) identification
  • MBS facilitation identification
  • Market-based solutions assessment
  • Collaboration structuring and performance monitoring
  • Practical examples of value chains in agriculture
  • Value chain finance
  • Partnerships with lead players
  • Collaboration
  • Enabling environments
  • Local economic development
  • Framework of Risk management
  • Techniques of the risk management
  • Analysis of End market
  • Governance of Value chain
  • Inter-firm relationships
  • Value Chain Development Interventions
  • Monitoring and Results Measuring of Value Chain Interventions
  • Sustainable Solutions
  • Gender analysis and agricultural markets, services and value chains
  • Women’s access to productive resources and markets
  • Influencing the policy and legal environment
  • Types of market linkages
  • Principles for adopting market development approach for enterprise development
  • Profitable markets • Stakeholders’ role in value chains
  • Factors affecting the linkages success
  • The enabling environment for market linkages

The training approach is highly interactive. It uses a mixture of presentations by the facilitator and by participant(s), group or individual exercises, use of case studies and role plays. These proven learning techniques enhance understanding and retention of covered issues.